Within OMSI four Oblate fundraising entities work to support the Oblates’ mission to serve God’s poor...
About
Founded in 2008 to consolidate Oblate fundraising efforts that had been in place since the 1940s, Oblate Missionary Society, Inc. (OMSI), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, is a ministry of the United States Province of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. OMSI’s purpose is to help support the Catholic identity and mission of the United States Province.
Within OMSI are four Oblate fundraising entities, each working toward the goal of providing the funds needed to support the Oblates’ mission to serve God’s poor:
:: Missionary Association of Mary Immaculate
:: Oblate Missions
:: Charitable & Planned Giving
:: Missionary Oblate Partnership
Missionary Association of Mary Immaculate
(MAMI) in Belleville, Illinois was originally established to raise the much-needed funds for the Oblates’ St. Henry’s Preparatory School. Later the Association raised the funds for a shrine in Belleville – now known as the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows.
MAMI began as a vision of hundreds of thousands of lay members sharing, praying and sacrificing to help carry out the mission of the Church through the work of the Oblates. The organization began with two women’s auxiliaries who organized card parties, bingos, quilt socials and an annual picnic. From these beginnings Fr. Edwin Guild, O.M.I. began a meager direct mail program – a tradition originated by the founder, St. Eugene De Mazenod – which was successful after just two years and continues to this day to support the Oblates’ ministries in the United States, Mexico and Zambia.
MAMI has grown dramatically over the years. Today it boasts over 90 employees who plan, write, design, and print direct mail programs and produce web-based campaigns year-round.
Fr. John Madigan, O.M.I. Oblate Chaplain Director
Oblate Missions
Oblate Missions, an OMSI fundraising organization located in San Antonio, Texas supports the efforts of the Missionary Oblates by focusing on spiritual ministry and by supporting Oblate missionaries, seminarians and humanitarian projects around the world.
Oblate Missions furthers the Oblates’ mission through its sponsorship of the Lourdes Grotto of the Southwest and Our Lady of Guadalupe “Tepeyac de San Antonio”. This spiritual haven was dedicated on December 7, 1941. Mass is celebrated daily in English and in Spanish for pilgrims to the grotto, many of whom come from Texas and across the U.S., Mexico, Central and South America.
Fr. Saturnino Lajo, O.M.I. Oblate Director
Charitable & Planned Giving
The Office of Charitable and Planned Giving in Belleville, Illinois fosters its benefactors’ partnership with the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. By making a planned or charitable gift to the Oblates, these benefactors personally join Oblate missionaries as partners in Christ.
Some benefactors who donate major gifts to the Oblates are invited to join the De Mazenod Society or the Good Samaritan Society. A De Mazenod Society membership is attained through cumulative annual gifts of $1,000 or more. The group is composed of like-minded people who come together to share their concern about poverty and the loss of faith that pervades so many parts of the world. Some members choose to contribute privately, while others are recognized at an annual dinner at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows.
The Good Samaritan Society was established to recognize benefactors who make a planned gift to the Missionary Oblates. These planned gifts include annuities, bequests, IRAs, life insurance, bank accounts, bonds, real estate, and stocks or mutual fund designations.
:: learn more about charitable gifts
OFFICE OF CHARITABLE AND PLANNED GIVING
Office of Charitable & Planned Giving Team
Missionary Oblate Partnership
The Missionary Oblate Partnership is a group of individuals from the United States who share St. Eugene De Mazenod’s conviction that “nothing should be left undared” in the call to reveal the power of Christ’s love to the world.
The Partners are men and women who seek a deeper connection with the Body of Christ. This connection includes not only philanthropy, but spiritual development and a personal encounter with the poor whom the Oblates serve. The Partners consider themselves co-missionaries with the Oblates throughout the world. In the words of Arthur Pingolt, President of Oblate Partnership, “The goal is not to fix the world’s problems: that’s God’s work. Rather, what Oblate Partners and donors do is to make it possible for the Oblates to be present with the world’s poorest. We, then, become part of Christ’s presence, from this deeper understanding of what true compassion means.”
Partnership members include the former Governor of the State of Colorado, the owner of the New Orleans Saints football team, the former ambassador of Zambia to the United States, as well as several Honorary Oblates. Some of them have been greatly blessed materially; they wish to share their blessings with the people whom the Oblates serve. Others are everyday people who are willing to make sacrifices so that the Gospel might be preached to the poor.
Arthur A. Pingolt, Jr. President