Case Study: Archdiocese of Boston

REBRANDING A CAMPAIGN DURING CHALLENGING TIMES

As the Catholic Church reeled from the scandals brought to light in 2002 and from the closing of various parishes over the past few years, Milestone has worked with the Archdiocese of Boston to help re-brand its annual fundraising appeal.

The campaign, previously called The Cardinal’s Appeal, needed a new name and strategy. Binding the brand to one personality - Cardinal Bernard Law – would no longer be appropriate or effective.

Milestone helped define a new message that focused on getting back to the basics of the Catholic faith: Why are we people of faith? Why do we do good works? Who are the people that benefit from donations to the Archdiocese?

"The critical thing for us,” said Damien DeVasto, Director of Appeal for the Archdiocese, “was to immediately bring home the importance of the Appeal to the work of the Church as opposed to this being a collection for the Cardinal. The Appeal is about Catholics coming together to support the works of the Church. The messaging was not that the crisis was behind us.”

The name was changed to The Catholic Appeal, and the theme chosen was "Together in Faith."

The identity for The Catholic Appeal in 2004 utilized the sublime image of the sculpture by Michelangelo called "The Bruges Madonna," evoking the comforting, healing power of Mary during times of trouble.

Photographs of a cross section of members of the Church – from schoolchildren to senior citizens – were also incorporated into the design, showing that the Archdiocese is not a faceless entity. It's you, it's your neighbor, it's the schoolchild across the street, it's the senior citizen across town. The Archdiocese is Catholics everywhere.

The tools created for the Campaign include the appeal letter, pledge card, envelope, prayer card, and a poster. An insert, listing ways donations are used, emphasizes that funds raised would not be used for legal defense or settlement of lawsuits from the scandal filed against the Archdiocese.

An initial 400,000 mailings were sent to Boston-area Catholics for the Campaign have raised approximately $10.3 million - far exceeding the $9 million Campaign goal. An estimated 10,500 new or re-engaged donors contributed.

"Our results to date are extraordinarily encouraging," DeVasto said.