What is the Meet Life Campaign/Baby Bottle Brigade 2?
The Missouri State Council – which originated and manages the Knights of Columbus state’s pro-life program known as the Meet Life Campaign – has offered to joint venture with the local councils within the each of the four (4) dioceses of the state in a pro-life fundraiser to be known as the Baby Bottle Brigade2 or “Brigade2”.
Within the St. Louis Archdiocese the State Deputy has authorized the St. Louis KofC Baby Bottle Brigade2.
Note, the suffix “2” in the name of this effort recognize there was a previous Baby Bottle Brigade which operated during the period of 2011 to 1014.
Which life-enhancing Ministries will receive funds from the StL-BB3?
The following “Ministries” have been designated to receive funds from the St. Louis KofC Baby Bottle Brigade.
ThriVe of St. Louis. Coalition for Life – St. Louis.
Respect Life Apostolate – Archdiocese of St. Louis.
The Meet Life Campaign – State of Missouri.
What are the intended financial distributions to the pro-life ministries?
The distributions to the Ministries during StL-3B2 will differ during two separate phases.
During the Phase One – i.e. the period up to the point where the first $250,000 of distributable collected donations – the allocations of these funds will be as follows:
ThriVe of St. Louis – 50%.
Coalition for Life St. Louis – 15%.
Respect Life Apostolate – Archdiocese of St. Louis – 15%.
The Meet Life Campaign – State of Missouri – 20%
During the Phase Two – i.e. the remaining distributable collected donations, if any are any, – the allocations will be as follows:
ThriVe of St. Louis – 20%.
Coalition for Life St. Louis – 20%.
Respect Life Apostolate – Archdiocese of St. Louis – 20%.
The Meet Life Campaign – State of Missouri – 40%
What does the term Distributable Donations mean?
Distributable Donations are the net amount of funds which will be distributed to the Ministries after the following adjustments:
- A deduction of any expenses in connection with the Baby Bottle Brigade2 effort or, in the event contributions to cover expenses are made to the Brigade, then the net expenses will be deducted from the Total Collected Donations (i.e. the amount of funds reported to the Meet Life Campaign and added to their official cumulative total);
- Matching Funds from the Ministries will be deducted from the Total Collected Donations.
NOTE: As a way of explanation regarding the term Matching Funds – it applies to the fact that several of the Ministries often encourage donations to individual BBCs by providing Matching Funds equal to the donations. These Matching Funds are contributions, raised by the ministries but specified not to be used until another fundraiser raises the Matching Funds donations for the providing ministries.
These Matching Funds will not be used in the calculations of distributions to the funds to the ministries. However, the amount of Matching Funds will be used in the determination of the contribution to the Meet Life Campaign.
What is the Baby Bottle Brigade2 collection strategy?
- The Baby Bottle Brigade2 will be formed.
- Local councils, within the Archdiocese, will be asked to stage a Baby Bottle Campaign (“BBC”) in their respective parishes.
- One BBC will be completed before the StL-3B2 is officially formed and then the collected funds are deposited into its bank account.
- The protocol of the BBC calls for the host council to: a) obtain permission from the parish priest, b) plan an after-mass pulpit pro-life presentation and explanation of the participation incentive raffle; c) distribute baby bottles to parishioners after the Mass and presentation; d) over the next 5 weeks (or perhaps more) orchestrate collection effort of the baby bottles which will contain cash, coins and checks (including those made payable to ThriVe and/or Coalition for Life along with tax credit applications); e) promote the on-line donation feature known as the “Virtual Baby Bottle”; f) count the financial contents of the baby bottles; g) send a check and campaign report to the 3B2 manager; h) make certain all raffle tickets have been distributed to donors of $25 or more.
What is the “Participation Incentive Raffle” feature for the campaign?
The Participation Incentive Raffle feature was designed to increase participation in the Baby Bottle Campaigns which are the donation collection-generators for the Baby Bottle Brigade2.
The Brigade2 intends to raise $50,000 +, outside of the Baby Bottle Campaigns from “Raffle Prize Donors”. These prize donations will be used to: 1) purchase the main prize of an automobile in addition to funding cash donations for secondary prizes, and; 2) to use the balance of the funds to pay for Brigade2 expenses.
The main prize is expected to be a Ford Mustang. All prizes will be distributed at the end of Brigade2 effort which is expected to launch in late spring 2017 and run for approximately six month, starting with a public kickoff of the Brigade2. At the end of Brigade2, the Knights of Columbus anticipate holding an event at which the winners of the Raffle will be announced, the prizes presented and the amount of the Total Collection Donations announced (the details of this event have not been finalized yet).
Why is the Participation Incentive Raffle necessary?
There are several reasons for connecting the Baby Bottle Campaign pro-life fundraisers and the Participation Incentive Raffle strategy together. The managing council of the Brigade2 has organized, operated and consulted on 35 Baby Bottle Campaigns. Our experience has shown that an incentive can likely:
- Motivate the return of more Baby Bottles – the unreturned ratio of distributed bottles is between 30% to 50%;
- Generate a greater average donation per bottle by establishing a minimum donation to earn a single Raffle ticket. For example, a $25 minimum donation per bottle would raise the historical average of returned bottles of most BBCs by more than 25%;
Who will manage the Baby Brigade 2?
The Incarnate Word Knights of Columbus Council #9981 of Chesterfield, MO is the managing council. Web site – www.IWknights.com
Is there a web site or presence for the StL-3B2?
Yes, but it’s a part of the Incarnate Word council’s web site: www.IWknights.com/3B2/
Is the Baby Bottle Brigade 2 just a one-time event?
We hope to hold the Baby Bottle Brigade event annually in order to provide funds for the life-enhancing ministries which operate on the Street in front of Planned Parenthood and provide funds for services to the state pregnancy resource centers.
How long will the Baby Bottle Brigade2 event run?
As described above, approximately 6 months.
Are there published “Official Rules of the StL-KofC 3B2”?
Yes there will be, however they will not be ready until we determine the prize list.