Saturday, October 3, 2009

DOR hides its CMA allocation data

Ever vigilant, the folks over at Cleansing Fire have caught DOR in another instance of disinformation or - in this case - destruction of information.

When the section dealing with the 2009-10 CMA first went up on dor.org there was a page letting the potential donor know exactly what percentage of his or her contribution would go to various ministries and services. 

That page has now disappeared and has been replaced by one that looks to have been pasted together in a real hurry, as one paragraph and a collection of 10 bullet points are simply repeated verbatim within a short span of text (see here).

Cleansing Fire, however, captured a screen shot of the original page before it was cast into the digital dustbin and that image is available on their site.

Google also captured the original page, cached it, and has made it available here.

Finally, to provide one more source of this data, the original 2009-10 CMA allocation data - complete with dor.org links - is repeated below:

2009-2010 CMA Allocations

Faith Formation 10%
Sacramental preparation, Adult Education, Campus, CYO Young Adult and Youth Ministry Programs

Catholic Schools 5%
Support for programs, aid to students and schools

Catholic Charities 13%
Support for the 10 regional offices / agencies serving people throughout our 12 counties.

Parish Support Ministries 18%
Liturgical, Urban, Rural, Multicultural & Jail Services, Subsidies & Programs

Human Resources 4%
Staff recruitment & training, support to St. Bernard School of Theology & Ministry

Bishop's Ministry / Pastoral Planning 10%
Bishop's Office, consultative councils and planning services

Diocesan-wide Administrative & Support Services 19%
Hospital Chaplaincy, Stewardship, Finance, Information Technology, etc.

Pastoral Center Operation & Services 15%
Operational and system costs of the diocesan offices

CMA Campaign Costs 6%
Campaign staff, materials, data processing and postage

Total Goal: $5,490,000

Now the question is, why doesn't DOR want its CMA contributors to know how much of their money is going to which ministries and services?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Because the CMA costs are greater than the amount going to Catholic schools. Imagine if NBC or some other local news source were to be sent this information.

Rich Leonardi said...

Bingo. There's a story here for a reporter, if he wants it.

Anonymous said...

Have they claimed it was an accident yet?

Anonymous said...

Their creativity knows no bounds. Somehow they decided we gave them money last year, but I can guarantee you we didn't.
The letter we received thanked us for our generous donation of $ ___.__
Which is the amount we gave to the collection for the schools, not the CMA
CathMom

Anonymous said...

Or maybe they redirected that money to the CMA?

Mike Shea said...

Nice catch, CathMom!!

I just took a second look at my letter and they pulled the same stunt on me.

What they actually are citing is my 2007-08 donation. Like yours, my donation last year went to my parish.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone(with more time than me these days)know how this breakdown compares to other dioceses? I think I've heard somewhere that 40% of Wichita's stewardship money goes to Catholic schools.....

Mike Shea said...

Anon. 6:17,

70 to 80% sticks in my head, but I cannot locate a reference to back it up.

While not exactly answering your question, this article might still be interesting. (Note that Wichita has no separate CMA-type parish tax.)

Anonymous said...

We also got the letter thanking us for last year's donation, even though we didn't give one to CMA, only the parish.

I was surprised to see sacramental prep is one of the areas supported by CMA. When my 2nd grader made her 1st Communion and 1st Penance last year at Holy Trinity, I recall writing a check for $70 to cover the cost. Hmmm...

Anonymous said...

Did you ever think that you would live to see the day when you can't believe a word that comes out of your Bishop's mouth?

I have a very dear friend who is a chronic liar. It is so sad because this man has a brilliant mind with a knack for remembering facts and figures. He finds a need to lie in every causal conversation.

Anonymous said...

The diocese has yet to restore the numbers to its site. It's obvious they wish to lie to their parishioners just to get them to empty their wallets blindly.