Photo Credit: Saskia Rowley / Anglican Journal
The annual appeal for the Anglican Journal, the official but editorially independent newspaper of the Anglican Church of Canada, raised $479,956.76 CAD (approximately £275,500 GBP) last year. It brings the total raised in the 24-year history of the appeal to more than $10 million.
The Journal’s Business Manager, Beverly Murphy, said that the 2017 appeal represents a 3.5 per cent drop from the previous year, which grossed $497,121.79. The results are in line with a general trend that she has noticed over the last few years, she said, adding that fewer donors are making larger donations. The average donation has increased from $30 when the appeal launched in 1994 to $55 in 2017.
The anomaly to this trend was the 2015 appeal. Donations spiked to more than half a million year, which coincided with the Journal’s 140th anniversary.
Murphy described 2017 as a “successful” year, adding that she was pleased to see readers making a personal connection to the paper. Many donors enclosed letters and notes “about how important the paper is to them,” she says. “It’s a good way to connect with our readers.”
The Anglican Journal is an award-winning national newspaper published by the Anglican Church of Canada. It is distributed to churches alongside diocesan or regional newspapers. Although published by the Church, the Journal maintains editorial independence. The Province’s General Synod, when it meets next year, will review whether the newspaper should continue in print form and whether it should retain its editorial independence.
Proceeds from the national appeal are shared between the Anglican Journal and diocesan newspapers. It accounts for around one quarter of the paper’s budget, with the rest coming from General Synod, a grant from Heritage Canada, distribution revenue and advertising revenue.
The appeal is “one of our largest sources of income,” notes Murphy. “Without the appeal and the loyal donors, I don’t know if we’d be able to continue the paper.”
The Anglican Journal’s editor, Marites Sison, said: “Journal readers came to the newspaper’s rescue 25 years ago and they have been our faithful advocates ever since.” The appeal was first launched in 1994 to offset declining income that would have made it difficult to publish the Journal.