Meeting of the European Development Offices in Vilnius

Who are we inviting to take part in the mission of the Society of Jesus? How they can take part in it? And especially Why should they take part in it are key questions we should address in our provinces. These questions require time and expertise, there is not a clear response and they need to be discussed and communally discerned. This was one of the tasks, amongst other things, of the participants that met in Vilnius, Lithuania from the 4^th to the 7^th of June 2017. They were the group known as the Network of European Development Offices. One participants said: “From my personal experience people come to the us [the Society of Jesus] and want to work together with us because they have faith in what we do and they know that they can trusts us. We need to respond by inviting them to work for the same mission we are working on!”

The Development Offices are structures inside the provinces whose ministry is to invite people to join the mission of the Society by encouraging them to providing some of their time, resources, skills, knowledge, or prayer.

This meeting was focused around 4 main topics: 1) Types of Fundraising 2) CRMs 3) Identity and Branding and 4) Common Projects

The first one was around the topic of Types of Fundraising. Unknown to many people, there are several ways to raise funds to cover the costs of Jesuit works, here is a list of them: Community and Events, Corporate, Major Donors, Legacy, Trust, Mass Appeal, and Public Fundraising. Some type of works for example Higher Education institutions might focus more on Public Fundraising, others like Mission Offices (like NGO’s of the Society of Jesus) might want to focus their efforts more on Major Donors or Community and Event fundraising. This depends on the goal of the works and the concrete projects that these works are trying to raise funds for. But we need to remember that this money we raise is the money of the poor.  Not all the Jesuit works sustain their activity by themselves, which is why we sometimes need to search for third parties to help us support the important work we do, keeping a steady income is important to be sure that the apostolates remain in time. What would Ignatius say if we forgot about the Cura Apostolica?

The acronym CRM is generally known to refer to Customer/Client Relationship Management. Companies that want to keep strong, effective and efficient bonds with the people that buy their products and services use these powerful software tools to do so. However, why is the Society of Jesus talking about these software if they do not have customers or sell products? The answer lies in the fact that the Society of Jesus has a lot of Companions and Collaborators that they need to take care of and these software can also help with it. Imagine all the volunteers that do an amazing job in refugee camps or visiting inmates in the prisons. With CRM tools we can keep them well informed about the development in the provinces, in their works and in other things that are happening elsewhere that might be useful for their jobs. We can send them personalised thank you notes for their work and establish reminders for when we are not doing it. The bottom-line is: even though we do not have clients, we need to nurture the relations we have with companions and collaborators. What would Ignatius say if we forgot about the Cura Personalis?

The third part of the meeting was focused on Identity and Branding. This topic was very related to how we communicate what we do and what we are. Do people know what the Jesuits do or what the Society of Jesus is? Do they know what the Society does? Maybe in the past it was known but we need to be humble in understanding that it is not always the case. Nowadays people are bombarded with information 24/7. We humans have little space in our minds to remember everything so it is important to make ourselves a small space in the agendas of people but also in their minds and hearts. The Society has a lot to offer but if we do not reach the people and let them know it, we will be letting a great opportunity pass by, an opportunity to make a different in people.

Finally, the group discussed the possibility of doing a project together. It was amazing how many possibilities arose in such a little time! The challenge was really in choosing what to do. This resonates with some of the teachings from GC36: “The meeting of the First Companions in Venice is a powerful image, an important step in the formation of the Society. There, the companions confronted the frustration of their plans to go to the Holy Land. This drove them to a deeper discernment of the Lord’s call. Where was the Spirit drawing them? As they discerned new direction for their lives, they held fast to what they had already found to be life-giving: sharing their lives together as friends in the Lord; living very close to the lives of the poor; and preaching the Gospel with joy. Sometimes, when the options are many, the challenge resides is in finding the Lord’s call. Hopefully this group of people will be able to do just that and focus on what it is best for the Society of Jesus and those that they are trying to serve.

The participants chose, Gražvydas Bareišis, Jane Hellings and Brigitte Schmitt to keep these ideas alive. Be sure we will hear more about this group in the following months!

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