Why Give? - Maryknoll Lay Missioners
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Why Give to Maryknoll Lay Missioners?

Lay missioners go to mission as representatives of the U.S. church and are supported by U.S. Catholics. We therefore have a responsibility to communicate our mission experience back to the U.S. We show respect for our supporters through careful stewardship of the resources they pass on to us. And we bring back to them the spiritual riches we have gained through our own on-going conversion among the peoples of the world.

We promise to be good stewards of the resources given to us. We make sure the funds you have so generously entrusted to us go where they are most needed. Maryknoll Lay Missioners will accept restricted gifts, and gifts for specific programs and purposes, provided that such gifts are not inconsistent with our stated mission, purposes, and priorities. We want you to feel confident that your decision to give to Maryknoll Lay Missiones is a sound one, and that your donations will be used effectively and efficiently to make a difference.

Throughout our website, you’ve read about our missioners and the inspiring lives of service they lead. Through the course of our work and our relationships with those who have been oppressed, we find that we too are transformed. Our work would be simply impossible without the financial contribution of our friends and benefactors. On behalf of all Maryknoll Lay Missioners, and most importantly those we serve, we offer our most sincere thanks to you.

Please take a minute to review our Mission Statement and Core Values.

Demonstrating impact

Today the face of mission is rapidly changing and is being transformed by the ministries, lives and compassion of lay men and women. On the average it costs Maryknoll Lay Missioners $26,000 per year to keep one missioner in the field. With the generous support of our donors, we can continue to apply our skills and knowledge to respond to the basic needs of our brothers and sisters in often very difficult circumstances.

Maryknoll Lay Missioners currently fields 60 lay missioners in Africa, Asia and the Americas. Our vision includes people working together to continue the mission given to us by Jesus. Our work is more than a response to a human need, it is the fulfillment of the Lord’s command to love one’s neighbor. Missioners who serve discover both the poverty experienced by so many in the world and also the faith and hope that sustains them.

Maryknoll lay missioners work in conjunction with the local churches or other organizations in their ministries. They live, pray, worship, share life, and celebrate with the local community. Working with local partners such as the local Church and other non-governmental organizations, our missioners meet the needs of the most marginalized members of society, while also working with them to change the unjust structures that perpetuate their marginalization.

Our ministries and programs are carefully executed, monitored and evaluated by our talented staff—some of the best and brightest—who have chosen to dedicate their lives to serving the poor overseas. Here are a couple of videos that show where Maryknoll Lay Missioners is making an impact:

 

Maryknoll Lay Missioners is accountable

As a faith-based 501(c)(3) charity, Maryknoll Lay Missioners is exempt from filing a Form 990 with the Internal Revenue Service. However, we make all of our financial information available on our website every year. We invite you to read our annual reports here

We so value the trust placed in us by our donors that we have created a Pledge to Our Donors. To follow how donations are being used to transform lives overseas, we urge you to subscribe to our e-newsletter mklm news here

Maryknoll Lay Missioners follows the best practices and guidance established by the National Catholic Development Conference (now part of The Nonprofit Alliance). We have committed to adhering to the highest standards of integrity in the Catholic fundraising field by complying with the following documents: The Precepts of Stewardship; Principles and Guidelines for Fundraising in the United States; and The Donor Bill of Rights. 

Additionally we meet all 20 standards of the Better Business Bureau Standards for Charity Accountability.