CHICAGO---For groups advocating a specific cause, money is almost always scarce.  Financial constraints can cripple national and local nonprofit organizations and their efforts to impact public policy and social change.  In the past few years, however, groups specializing in assisting nonprofit organizations raise necessary funds without the expense of marketing and manpower have cropped up around the nation.   One of these is an organization dedicated to assisting the efforts of pro-life groups.

Vitae Corporation, based in Illinois, has joined the ranks of other organizations in attempting to "change the world" by helping those groups fighting the battle on the front lines.  Steve Thomas, director of Vitae Corporation, said the idea for the organization came after several years of working in the pro-life movement.  He quickly realized that many of the organizations he worked with were constantly in need of more money.

"These groups were always short on funds and lacked the resources to do the things we wanted to do," said Thomas, a former seminarian who is now married and the father of six.

In hopes of assisting those pro-life organizations that are often plagued with financial woes, Thomas and a small group of other individuals formed the Vitae Corporation in 1996.  The focus of the group is to develop innovative ways to assist those groups affirming life--including those involved in fighting abortion or educating on issues such as natural family planning and chastity--in raising the necessary funds to carry out the work.

One of the ways the Vitae Corporation is seeking to raise funds for pro-life groups is through a new pro-life credit card.  Thomas said he arrived at the idea after reading a list of credit card companies that funded Planned Parenthood and other anti-life organizations.  Thomas immediately began searching for a bank to sponsor a credit card specifically promoting and funding pro-life efforts.

On average, credit card companies claim 2% to 3% of the cost of each purchase made with a card.  Of that amount, 1% to 2% goes to the bank that sponsors the credit card and 1% goes to the card service such as Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or Discover.  If an organization sponsors a credit card, the bank will pay the organization anywhere from .5% to 1% of the purchase.

Allowing an organization to sponsor the specific credit cards is helpful to financial institutions, said Thomas, because the bank's often-enormous marketing costs are decreased.

"If we can bring membership to them, they can give us a cut of their normal marketing expenses," he said.  While Thomas ran into some difficulty finding a bank that would sponsor an overtly pro-life credit card, he eventually worked out a contract with MBNA America.  Vitae Corporation and MBNA signed the contract this year and the marketing of the card began recently.  The card features a replica of the Sistine Chapel painting with the hand of God and the hand of Adam along with the message "Vitae means Life."

Thomas estimates several hundred individuals are already using the card.  In promoting the efforts of the Vitae Corporation, he has worked with the Knights of Columbus and others in the Joliet diocese and hopes to expand the efforts outside of the area.

While some may argue that promoting the use of credit cards may not be prudent, Thomas said Vitae Corporation makes it clear that it does not encourage the accumulation of debt and receives no funds from finance charges.  However, he said he wanted to offer those pro-life consumers who use credit cards an option.

"All we say is, 'If you have a credit card, why not have this one?'" he said.

Thomas said he originally thought the idea of using such things as credit cards and other basic services people use on a regular basis to assist non-profit organizations with raising funds was unique.  However, he quickly learned that organizations such as pro-abortion and homosexual-rights groups had been benefiting from such efforts for years.

Through a group called Working Assets, pro-abortion organizations such as the Center for Law and Reproductive Policy and Gloria Steinem's Voters for Choice have received millions of dollars from the promotion of credit cards, long distance services, and Internet services.  According to Inc. magazine, Working Assets was one of the fastest growing companies in the nation in 1997.

Working Assets' promotional materials claim 40 organizations are selected each year by its members to receive funding.  The groups receive one percent of the funds collected through Working Assets' products and services.  In 1997, almost $3 million was raised for various pro-abortion organizations as well as for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, People of Faith (described by Working Assets as a group fighting the influence of the religious right), and Friends of the Earth.  Since 1985, Working Assets has raised more than $12 million for various non-profit organizations.

In addition to financial contributions to the organizations, Working Assets also provides regular "Flash Activist Alerts" to its members who own credit cards or use the company for long distance or Internet service.  The alerts allow the members to make free calls to their congressman, the President, and corporate board members on issues ranging from "reproductive rights" to protecting the environment.

While Vitae Corporation's infrastructure is not as elaborate as Working Assets, Thomas hopes that his organization's work will play a small role in restoring a culture that respects the sanctity of human life.

"This is a small piece in the puzzle of taking back the culture," he said.  "We're taking something amoral like a credit card and using it to benefit pro-life efforts and evangelize in the process."

Vitae Corporation is not limiting itself to the new pro-life credit card.  The group also deals in long distance service and hopes to eventually establish a Catholic radio station with the power necessary to reach others with the Gospel message.

For pro-life organizations with a base large enough to warrant the marketing and other work necessary for success, Thomas said Vitae Corporation may be able to help.  However, he said success of the organization isn't the bottom line.  Promoting the sanctity of human life and changing the culture is.

"Money has an impact on the culture," he said.  "People of principle are supporting the abortion industry in a roundabout way.  We try to do what we can."
 
For further information, call 888/883-LIFE (5433) or write Vitae Corporation at P.O. Box 219, New Lenox, IL 60451.

Greg Chesmore writes from Bloomington, Indiana.

Send a letter (preferable) or an email to your  Senators and representatives using the Directory at the Congressional Email Directory.  Point and click here to surf to their web site.
 

A note from the Web Master:

It is noteworthy and honorable that some folks are willing to stand up for a ban on Partial-Birth Abortion.  Let us not forget that ordinary everyday Abortion is also murder.  We must understand that murder is murder no matter the method.  Because one method of abortion seems to be horrible does not justify the other methods.  We should be horrified and sickened by any Abortion regardless of the method.  The Fifth Commandment spells it out clearly: "Thou shalt not kill."  A fetus is a person, a human being with a God given soul.  Imagine the pain the Lord must feel when any Abortion occurs.  Please contact both of your Senators and Representative, via letter or phone,  to let them know how horrified you are that Abortions are legal and to stop Partial-Birth Abortions and all other Abortions as soon as possible. (It has become apparent recently that they do not respond to email therefore you will have more of an impact by writing or telephoning.)

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