The Challenges of Building Fundraising into a Pilgrimage

In this blog Dominic DeBoo, a member of CAFOD's Community Fundraising Team, discusses the challenges of building fundraising into a pilgrimage.

Before we begin to look at how fundraising and pilgrimage can work together it is important to first acknowledge their fundamental differences and ask whether they can in fact be compatible. Pilgrimage is first and foremost an inward spiritual journey, creating time to encounter God, often in our nothingness. Fundraising, on the other hand, is about asking something of others – commonly we are presenting a cause and asking for their financial support and donations. The two ends are very different and therefore, combining them needs to be approached with caution.

There are many avenues to raising funds and therefore, if we are using pilgrimage as a fundraising channel, we need to take care that the primary focus remains on the pilgrimage journey itself. Any fundraising activity should support this and be built in around it, not diverting the focus or getting in the way of a genuine encounter with God.

Whilst combining pilgrimage and fundraising should be approached with caution and careful thought, the two are not incompatible. Indeed, when we pray, we discover the heart of God and are called to partner with Him to respond to the needs of the world, as the following prayers and quotations from Scripture demonstrate:

Christ has no body but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

Compassion on this world,

Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,

Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.

Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,

Yours are the eyes, you are his body.

Christ has no body now but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

compassion on this world.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

St Teresa of Avila

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

James 2:14-17

Practical Considerations:

The case for fundraising should be urgent, meaningful and have a clear cause. If you are asking for money people will want to know the ‘why’ behind the fundraising ask. Questions include:

• Is there a clear need or end goal?

• Will your fundraising achieve something tangible?

• Is there an urgency or timeframe?

• Why should I donate today?

What is the ask? Why should participants share your passion for the project?

• For participants, fundraising requires an investment of time, energy and reputation

• How can you minimise the workload – provide links, resources, visual assets, etc. Make it easy for your supporters to participate

• How can we connect people with the emotional heart of the cause?

Sharing the project more widely:

• How can you publicise your cause beyond your immediate participants / audience?

• Are there other outlets – social media, local press, Catholic and other Christian media, etc?

• How can you connect the need to GIVE, ACT and PRAY in a way that inspires people?