Journal Appeal comes close to 2006 target

The Anglican Journal‘s annual fundraising appeal collected $556,065 in 2006, just a hair shy of its goal of $560,000.

“It was still a success since it’s very close to our target,” said Larry Gee, business manager of the Journal.

While less than the 2005 appeal, which collected a record total of $638,000, the donations for 2006 constitute the second highest amount received since the appeal’s inception in 1994, said Mr. Gee. Donations were considerably higher in 2005 since many readers responded to the newspaper’s 130^th anniversary that year, he said. In 2005, the appeal recorded 18,442 donors compared to 14,713 in 2006. Mr. Gee said that the 2006 appeal also marks the second highest amount returned to the diocesan newspapers, the Journal‘s publishing partners, at $207,365. (The Journal shares the net proceeds of the Appeal with diocesan newspapers.) Average giving was at its highest in 2006, at $39. Mr. Gee also noted that the Journal Appeal had 2,015 new donors in 2006, and collectively they gave $69,568 in revenues. Mr. Gee expressed the hope that like the existing donors, they would continue their support for the newspaper.The Journal‘s largest donor thus far continued to support the Appeal in 2006, contributing $15,000 in August, and giving an additional $10,000 in December, after noting the newspaper’s announcement last fall that it might not meet its target.

“I would like to thank our donors and stress just how important their donations are to us. It’s such an integral part of our budget. When we set our budget, we cannot deviate from it. We have no other sources if our revenues fall short,” said Mr. Gee. The target for the 2007 Appeal would be very similar to 2006, he said.

Since it began in 1994, the Journal Appeal has raised $4.7 million, of which $1.8 million was returned to dioceses by way of the diocesan papers. Three dioceses – Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador, Central Newfoundland, and Western Newfoundland – have not participated in the Appeal since 1995.

As of press time, 2006 figures were not available for the Anglican Appeal.