Ad helps generate $1.1 million in online gifts

United Methodist News Service
The United Methodist Church had received more than $1.1 million in online gifts as of Jan. 5 for relief following the Dec. 26 Indian Ocean tsunami.
One-hundred percent of that money—given through www. methodistrelief.org—goes to the United Methodist Committee on Relief.
The denominational communications agency activated the relief Web site Dec. 27, the day after the disaster. The agency promoted giving by buying a full-page ad in USA Today.
That ad ran in U.S. editions Jan. 3 and international editions Jan. 4.
The ad shows weathered hands folded in prayer and the headline: “In eleven countries, hands folded in prayer are already at work.” The text asks people to join in giving “to those who have lost so much. ... Through whatever means that comfort you, let your prayers and generosity be felt across the world.”
“The United Methodist Church has a long history of responding to those in need,” said Bishop Peter D. Weaver, Council of Bishops president. “For more than 60 years the United Methodist Committee on Relief has offered long-term assistance to victims of disaster around the globe.”
Every dollar given to the church’s relief agency goes directly to aid for the affected region, said Weaver, leader of the Boston Episcopal Area.
The Rev. Larry Hollon, chief executive of the communications agency, said, “The significance (of raising $1.1 million) is more than the amount of money. It is the fact that the church was available to people to receive their donations and to act in their behalf. That is a very significant role for us to play.”
The Internet has changed giving, Hollon said. The traditional way of giving in churches on Sunday morning will continue, but people are looking for ways to respond immediately.
The failure to get the message out quickly becomes a message that nothing is being done, Hollon said.
“It is as easy to click the mouse and go somewhere else as it is to use the Web site of the church,” he said.
Online giving is only a part of the response from the United Methodist Church, Weaver said. Congregations across the church - in the United States, Africa, Europe and Asia - are collecting funds and mobilizing to help in any way that they can.
“We are asking simply that people give to help those who have lost so much,” he said. “Persons can give to their charity of choice, or through their local church, synagogue, mosque or temple.”