CFU Fundraising 2024 Jan
Something very important that you can do to help us reach young people (of all ages) is to like, subscribe, and post a comment to our social media pages.
2024 – A Year of Success
By Rick Lyon
Because we are almost at our goal, the deadline has been extended to take advantage of this remaining amount. We have only $6,673 to reach our goal.
Because of all the prayers, encouragement, sharing, and donations from all of you, we accomplished two major goals in 2024: the launch of Discover Jesus and AskJesus. We attended the Parliament of the World's Religions and shared the life and teachings of Jesus with many people of many faiths. Our meme "Jesus before Christianity" was well received by this audience. Gabriel did two tours of the USA giving in-person presentations to several study groups and gatherings. We were able to create a Google Ad campaign that has been very successful.
Almost 8000 questions have been submitted to AskJesus from around the world in several languages. This is a very important step into the world of technology for this revelation of Jesus. A step that has had a few stumbles as this new technology itself is born and evolves and as we learn to use it. However, it is a step that must be taken or we will be left behind in the efforts to lead this world out of spiritual darkness. Version 4.0 of AskJesus is now being tested internally and will soon replace the current version. Thanks for your comments and suggestions. They are helping us to make it better and better. Your donations provide the funding for the software to do this.
DiscoverJesus.com is currently our flagship project. Again, it is only with your prayers and financial support can we hire the developers and purchase the software to make a quality resource that we hope is pleasing to Jesus and our Father. Anything we do when presenting or representing Jesus should be of the highest quality we can afford. This is also a great tool for you in your own personal growth and as a tool for sharing the teachings of Jesus with others. We are so thankful for our team of volunteers who have spent hundreds of hours creating the Discover Jesus essays. And, how can we ever thank Gary Tonge for the beautiful artwork that grabs the visitor and draws them into the adventure? We spent $4000 to get the DiscoverJesus.org URL. We did this because now, when you want to share this important resource with others, all you have to say is: "Have you seen DiscoverJesus.com?" Imagine a bumper sticker, billboard, or movie theater preview that simply says DiscoverJesus.com.
When you donate to CFU, you are joining with us to accomplish not only creating these tools and resources but also helping us to make people aware of them. Tools and resources aren't of much value unless people know about them, where to find them, and how to use them. More on this later.
We have mailed out donation reports by either postal mail or email to donors in the USA for tax deductions. If you do not have yours by the time you read this, please let us know.
Click here to donate online: DONATE TO THE CENTER FOR UNITY
Send checks to: The Center for Unity, 3223 Caroline Street, South Bend, IN 46614
For instructions to wire funds to the Center for Unity, call Rick Lyon at 1-765-366-7203
Or you can text "UNITY" to: 765-722-2911 to donate!
We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. EIN: 87-3413918
For U.S. taxpayers: Remember to take advantage of Donor Advised Funds (DAF) or Qualified Charitable Donations (QCD) programs.
CFU GOOGLE AD GRANT UPDATE
Google provides up to $10,000 in free ads to qualified not-for-profit organizations. As of today, since November 9th, we have used $13,320 of free ads. This will increase as we refine our ad campaigns with the goal of using all the free ad allowance each month. As I write this, our Google Ads have had 80,322 views, 7,899 people clicked on our ad to visit our website, and 546 conversions (people doing something when on our website such as signing up for newsletter or donating).
The newsletter subscribers went up by 81 just in the last week. Google can see, the age groups coming to our website. Of these: 53% are 18-24; 21% are 25-34; and 12% are 35-44. So, 86% of the people visiting our website and "discovering Jesus" as we know him, are under the age of 45. We spend $485 a month for Cause Inspired to help us with creating our ad campaigns but this has increased our website traffic by 300%. These are more people "discovering Jesus."
This is just another example of how your support, in whatever form you can provide it, is leading people to our website and projects. The spiritually hungry young people are seeking and we are helping them with finding. If you are reading this, please consider yourself part of our team in creating these opportunities to help others grow closer to God, find value and purpose in their lives, and to then go out sharing what they discover with others.
A FUNDRAISING PLAN FOR 2024
As we look ahead to the coming year, we created a budget and plan for the coming year. This does not include the budget or goals for the projects themselves but only my area of fundraising. We would like to share with you some of our plans. These are some of the actions, in no specific order, that you can help support:
1. GRANTS PROGRAM: We will apply for project grants from many sources.
2. DIRECT MAIL EXPERIMENT: Direct mail is one of the most effective methods of promotion. This is an idea we are considering with a small test.
3. NEWSLETTER ARTICLES: no expense
4. MERCHANDISE ITEMS increased: We use a print on demand service for merchandizing. So, there is little upfront cost for this. However, one merchandise item we want to offer is a free tee shirt that says something like: August 21, 7 B.C. DiscoverJesus.com. This is an inexpensive way to promote DiscoverJesus.com but it also plays on one of the things we have that others don't: the actual birth date of Jesus. Since over 90,000 people Google search for this date every month, this will draw a lot of attention and should be a great conversation starter for anyone wearing it. We will encourage people to send us a photo of them wearing the shirt in public in exchange for the free shirt.
5. EVENTS: For the Parliament of World Religions, we purchased the equipment to create a very beautiful and professional looking booth display. It proved to be a wise investment. We want to put that equipment to use in 2024 by attending some large events. Some booth fees, travel and hotel expenses will be required for this.
6. INCENTIVE GIFT for Donation: this is a common fundraising practice but another wise investment. With this, a gift of value is offered as an incentive for a donation.
7. PRINTED MATERIALS FOR DISTRIBUTION: This will involve items like bumper stickers and handouts for events and mailings.
8. GOOGLE AD CAMPAIGNS: Our goal to use all the $10K worth of free ads every month. We have the expense of technical expertise optimizing our website and projects and creating ad campaigns that get the most attention and results.
9. JESUS BIRTHDAY 2024: Did you see what the Church of Latter Day Saints did on Times Square for the Nativity? We cannot do something that big (yet) but we want to do something extra special for Jesus birthday. Just imagine: you are driving down the interstate and there is a billboard that just says: "DiscoverJesus.com." Or, you are sitting in a movie theater waiting for the movie to start when a screen comes on that says "AskJesus." Or, you are sitting in traffic and on the placard on the bus in front of you it says: "DiscoverJesus.com". And then on the radio you hear: "If you could ask God just one question, what would it be? Visit AskJesus."
These are some things we would "like" to do in 2024 not only to raise funds for our projects but just as importantly, to make people aware of our projects and benefit from them and share them with family and friends. As we said earlier, tools and resources are not of much value unless people know about them and how to benefit from them.
May I suggest also that we must be the leaders in using new technologies and devices in the effort to "occupy the field" with truth, beauty, and goodness. The only way to eliminate darkness is to shine a light on it. Those with the light, must lead the way. What we are doing at the Center for Unity is a paradigm shift in the way we bring this new revelation of Jesus to others. The old ways are passing and how we do things are becoming new. We have the ability, the desire and, with your help, the means and resources to make this world a better place.
Jesus said: “Do you not realize that the hope of a better nation—or a better world—is bound up in the progress and enlightenment of the individual?”
FUNDRAISING FOR THE JESUS EXPERIENCE
Even though this project has been affected by the war in Israel, you can still help us prepare for the future and lay the groundwork for a magnificent and remarkable facility to bring the historic Jesus to Israel and the world; to be a true center for unity and peace. Help us to overcome evil with good. We are seeking information to contact individuals with significant means to support the creation of this multi-million dollar world-class venue. We are reaching out to people of all faiths who may be interested in helping us with this project. Do you know someone who we should contact? Do you have a mailing address for someone who should receive our donor packet? If so, please contact Rick Lyon at: Rick.Lyon@thecenterforunity.org.
ANOTHER IMPORTANT WAY TO HELP
At the bottom of our website pages and in many of our posts, you will see icons for our YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok social media sites. Something very important that you can do to help us reach young people (of all ages) is to like, subscribe, and post a comment to our social media pages. The more of these that the algorithms see, the more our pages are offered to others. Please use the links on our website or listed below to show your support and to see the latest results of these valuable resources that you are helping to create and make available.
These are our handles:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theCenterforUnity/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thecenterforunity
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecenterforunity606/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thecenterforunity606
X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/TheCFU606
