Pastors find the money's there, if they ask the right way

Published: 2005-06-27

CHICAGO (CNS) -- The money has been there but the task is to ask for it, pastors of several Chicago parishes learned this spring. Take Father Greg Sakowicz, pastor of St. Mary of the Woods on Chicago's North Side, who said he never thought he was good at asking for money to support his parish and the church's broader mission. This year nearly 350 parishioners pledged a total of more than $74,000 to the annual Catholic appeal to support archdiocesan services. That was about $27,000 more than the parish raised last year. The difference was a new way of asking, said Tim Dockery, archdiocesan director of development services. A pilot project, run in 14 area parishes and based on a process used by the Los Angeles Archdiocese, relied on what he called the "personal ask." "If you want people to donate, you have to ask them personally," Dockery told The Catholic New World, Chicago archdiocesan newspaper.

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