Fundraising for vocations

I had a meeting today to look a building a fundraising project for the diocesan “Oeuvre des vocations”. This is the foundation that supports our seminarians, as well as seeks to promote vocations (especially to the priesthood). For some reason I am part of the team trying to develop a “look” for our fundraising program. The thing is, anyone who knows me knows that I am not the guy to go to for a winning “look”. I’m the kind of priest who, upon ordination, was thrilled to be able to put on a black clerical shirt each day because I could stop having to be my usual fashion disaster. When it comes to websites, for example, I know exactly what I want technology-wise — just don’t ask me to make my website “pretty”, ’cause I just don’t know. When it comes to publicity, I know what I don’t want to see; I know what story I want to tell; but as for being creative in the visual department, it’s just not me.

So, somehow, I got the job of helping to put together the visuals for a fundraising project. Ah, the strange ways of Mother Church.

But maybe there are times that the geeky programmer side comes in. After all, the basics of cooking are pretty much all the same across the board — the secret is in the spices, not the main ingredients. I think maybe the same of true for visuals. Ideas do not drop from the sky — I suspect most are incremental refurbishings of other ideas. So my partner and I took a look around the net at stock photography websites, to see what visual ideas are already out there.

It turned out to be really useful for priming the creative pump. In particular, the goreous visuals found at WP Whittman were really useful. Bill, the owner, explained that while this is the way he makes his living, he also sees it as a ministry and does his work as an offering to God. And it shows. Check it out!