News about the 2024 Diocesan Ministries Appeal

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
 
            We want to bring to your attention an issue that has arisen related to our Diocesan Ministries Appeal.  
 
            Part of the Appeal process involves forwarding pledges and gifts to a third-party firm that specializes in processing and recording donations.  This is a common practice used by many dioceses and non-profits to ensure there is an independent, “arms-length” distance between the office that conducts a fundraising effort and the funds that come in.  This type of separation is a best practice from a financial standpoint. 
 
            On October 30^th and 31^st, three packages containing Appeal responses from approximately 1,700 parishioners were deposited in a FedEx drop box to the firm that we have been using for this purpose for a decade with no problem. Unfortunately, the packages never arrived at their destination, and the tracking number for each package used to monitor the location was never entered, making it impossible to know their current whereabouts.  
 
We believe that approximately 500 of the 1,700 missing Appeal envelopes may have contained cash, checks, and credit card information.  We believe the impacted responses were those received in our office between October 28 and October 31. Anything received before and after that date was not impacted.
 
Because of our sense of responsibility to you and out of an abundance of caution, we suggest that you monitor your credit card activity or checking account to make sure there are no irregularities.   
 
We have been in constant contact with FedEx about this issue.  While we continue to look for an explanation for this distressing situation, we are not ruling out foul play, and law enforcement authorities have been notified.  Please also note that we immediately changed our procedure and now bring all packages to a FedEx store where we watch it get scanned and receive a receipt and tracking information. 
 
            Giving to charity should be a joyful experience, so it is distressing that an action beyond our control may have impacted even a small number of our faithful supporters.  What makes this even more upsetting is a concern that this could impact those who want to give to the Diocesan Ministries Appeal but may now be hesitant. This has the unintended effect of impacting funding to the important and vital ministries in our Diocese, such as Catholic Charities, where the need is so great. We hope that this does not deter the faithful from supporting our Appeal, especially now that a solution is in place to ensure the tracking of every package.
 
            We understand that this may be upsetting news. Please pray that we find out what happened to these packages.  In the meantime, please call our Development Office at 973-777-8818, ext. 215 if you have any questions or concerns.
 
            Thank you, and may God bless you always.
 
         Sincerely yours,
                                    Most Reverend Kevin J. Sweeney                                                     Timothy J. Potter        

             Bishop of Paterson                                                                            Chief Development Officer