Notice the little ones in the picture, on the right.Click on the picture to see it bigger--it's delightful!
Every apostolate begins at the moment of conception.
Everyone matters, no matter how small!
A Letter To You, From Priests for Life.
We are calling on each of you to be a “Freedom Rider for the Unborn”. Not only are you invited to come to the nation’s second Pro-life Freedom Ride (Knoxville to Chattanooga, TN, October 15-16), but you are invited to participate in the Freedom Ride activities right in your own home beginning on the first of September.
How do you do that?
You can sign up at www.ProLifeFreedomRides.com and you will receive shortly thereafter the special training guidelines that will walk you through the two key themes of this Fall’s Freedom Rides, namely The Freedom of Healing and The Freedom of Justice.
The website explains more about these themes and the activities connected with them.
When you sign up to be a Freedom Rider, and commit to these special activities, you will also receive a Pro-life Freedom Rider button to wear.
We will also have a nationwide conference call/webcast on Tuesday evening September 7 to help you prepare. Details will be sent to you after you sign up.
One of the elements of our Freedom Ride will be the prayer campaign for the elections. This will be a nine-week novena of prayer, from September 1 through Election Day (November 2). Please see the prayer at www.PrayerCampaign.org ,and you can also order the election prayer cards for distribution to your family, parish, school, pro-life group, and beyond!
There is also a special prayer novena of nine days coming up in honor of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, whose anniversary of death is September 5. At PrayerCampaign.org you can also see the special prayer in her memory, and order those prayer cards too.
After today’s column you will find our media schedule for this week. Beginning on September 2, 2010 our Defending Life series on EWTN will be airing brand new shows and will have brand new airing time. The show will now air on Thursday’s at 11pm ET and will continue to air on Saturday’s at 2:30am. The show will no longer air on Friday nights. This will be a great opportunity for us to reach new audiences. We ask for your help to let others know about our new airing time, especially those who may have been unavailable to catch the show on Friday nights.
Blessings,
Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life
Praise for our work
Father Frank is a long-time supporter of our work at EWTN. His programs (the weekly "Defending Life" and the daily "Pro-Life Update" are a vital part of our ministry! – Thom Price, Director of Radio Programming, EWTN
Funding the Pro-life Movement (Part 2 of 3)
Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life
More money is being spent on killing babies by abortion than on saving them, and it’s up to the pro-life movement to turn that around. Yet all of us struggle with how to do that. This is the second part of a series to offer some recommendations about pro-life fundraising which we have found helpful at Priests for Life.
You don’t own your donors. – Some approach the acquisition of donors like the acquisition of a spouse, thinking that if the donor is “mine,” he or she cannot also be someone else’s. But we neither marry nor own our donors. Instead, a donor should be thought of as a friend. It is both normal and expected that your friends will have other friends. It is also understood that you can’t take friendship for granted. You have to nurture the relationship, and you need to have a give and take, paying attention to the donors’ needs just as you want them to pay attention to yours.
- People respond to service. – There are many techniques about how to write a fundraising letter, how often to mail it, how to get people to open it, and what to do when people do and do not respond. These techniques should be studied and practiced, because they work. Yet there is one thing we need to do that will multiply powerfully any results from these special techniquest. In a sense, it is the foundational fundraising technique: Provide a quality product.
A product may be a physical item, or information, or a service. Whatever it is, make it of the highest professional quality. Pay attention to the needs, desires, and patterns of response of the people you serve. Be available to them, and they will be generous to you and your organization. - Communicate a vision, not just a need – While we should state our needs honestly, the core of asking for money is not simply saying that we need it, but rather presenting a vision that you want the donor to grasp and be part of bringing to fulfillment. The excitement and promise of that vision will elicit generosity.
- Remind people of the God of Generosity -- Scripture is clear that those who do God’s work should be supported not only spiritually but materially. Scripture is also clear that one of God’s clearest traits is generosity, and that the people who strive to be like God should likewise be generous. Leaders, therefore, should call them to generosity, not simply so that the work can be supported, but so that the donors can fulfill a key aspect of their call to spiritual growth.
- Trust mightily in Providence – When I invited Mother Teresa to an event I planned, I was speaking to her about the financial needs connected with it. She urged me to trust God’s Providence, and said, “God has lots of money.” Foster that confidence within your heart, and then ask God to share some of that money with you through your donors!
This column can be found online at http://www.priestsforlife.org/
Comments on this column? Go to www.AskFrFrank.com
Fr. Frank's columns are podcast. See www.PriestsForLife.org/Podcast
Financiando al movimiento pro-vida
Se gasta más dinero en el asesinato de niños por el aborto que en salvarlos, y le compete al movimiento pro-vida hacer que eso cambie. Sin embargo, todos nosotros nos debatimos sobre la forma de hacerlo. Esta es la segunda parte de una serie que ofrece algunas recomendaciones para recolectar fondos para la vida que hemos encontrado útiles en Priests for Life.
Uno no es dueño de los donantes. Algunos encaran la búsqueda de donantes como si fuera la búsqueda de una esposa, pensando que si el donante es “mío” no puede ser de nadie más. No nos casamos ni somos dueños de nuestros donantes. El donante debe ser considerado un amigo. Es normal y esperado que sus amigos tengan otros amigos. También se sobreentiende que no se puede tomar la amistad como algo garantizado. Hay que nutrir la relación, y hay que dar para recibir, prestando atención a las necesidades de los donantes, del mismo modo que Ud. desea que ellos presten atención a las suyas.
- La gente responde al servicio. Hay muchas técnicas sobre la forma en que se debe escribir una carta para recaudar fondos, la frecuencia con que se debe enviar, como hacer para que la gente la abra y que hacer tanto cuando la gente responde como cuando no responde. Deben estudiarse y practicarse estas técnicas, porque funcionan. Pero hay una cosa que debemos hacer que multiplicará poderosamente cualquier resultado de estas técnicas especiales. En cierto sentido es la técnica fundacional de la recaudación de fondos: Provea un servicio de calidad.
Un producto puede ser algo físico, información o un servicio. Sea lo que sea hágalo con la mejor calidad profesional. Preste atención a las necesidades, deseos y patrones de respuesta de la gente a la que sirve. Esté disponible para ellos y serán generosos con Ud. y con su organización. - Comunique una visión, no solamente una necesidad. Aunque debemos señalar nuestras necesidades con honestidad, el núcleo de la recaudación de fondos no es simplemente decir lo que necesitamos, sino presentar una visión que uno quiere que el donante abrace y de cuya realización sea parte. La excitación y promesa de esa visión moverán a la generosidad.
- Recuérdele a la gente la generosidad de Dios. La Escritura es clara que aquellos que hacen el trabajo de Dios deben ser apoyados no solamente espiritual, sino materialmente. La Escritura también es clara que uno de los atributos más evidentes de Dios es su generosidad y que la gente que se empeña en ser como Dios debe ser igualmente generosa. Por lo tanto, los líderes deben llamarlos a la generosidad, no solamente para que pueda apoyarse el trabajo, sino porque los donantes pueden cumplir con un aspecto clave de su llamado al crecimiento espiritual.
- Confíe poderosamente en la Providencia. Cuando invité a la Madre Teresa a un evento que había planeado, estaba hablando con ella de las necesidades financieras relacionadas con el evento. Me alentó a confiar en la Divina Providencia y me dijo: “Dios tiene mucho dinero”. Promueva esa confianza en su corazón y luego pídale a Dios que, a través de los donantes, comparta algo de ese dinero con Ud.
Esta columna se puede encontrar en la página de
www.priestsforlife.org/
Defending Life: Watch on EWTN every:
Friday at 10pm ET (starting Sept 2 the new airing time will be Thursday at 11pm ET) and also watch on Saturday at 2:30am ET.
Listen on EWTN radio every Friday at 1am ET, Saturday at 6:30pm ET and Sunday at 5am ET. For more information or to listen online go to www.ewtn.com.
August 20-22: Abortionists Admit the Truth
Gospel of Life: Watch on Catholic Familyland (www.familyland.tv) - Sunday at 1am, Monday at 9am, Wednesday at 3:30am and Thursday at 11:30 pm and on the National Religious Broadcasters network (NRB), Wednesday at 6pm ET.
This week on NRB: Update on the Silent No More Awareness Campaign
Hear us on EWTN radio on Catholic Connection with Teresa Tomeo. Fr. Frank Pavone is her guest every Wednesday from 9:35-10am ET and Janet Morana is her guest every Friday from 9:10-9:30am ET. For radio station information and to listen to the live show on the internet, go to www.avemariaradio.net.
Please tune in and spread the word! In fact, you can help us – and your whole parish -- by asking your pastor to place in the parish bulletin an announcement about our TV shows. Thanks in advance!
Priests For Life
PO Box 141172
Staten Island, NY 10314
Phone: 888-PFL-3448
718-980-4400
Fax: 718-980-6515
Email: mail@priestsforlife.org
www.PriestsForLife.org
God bless the heroic people at Priests for Life and pro-life advocates around the world!
God is at work in you!
If you or someone you know is in need of healing
from abortion,
please contact:
http://www.rachelsvinyard.org
