Reaching every postcode
St Columban's Mission Society might not be as much in the public eye as Vegemite but a product of its missionary activities shares a couple of things in common with Australia's food icon.
FOR Australian and New Zealand Catholics and some in other Christian denominations, the iconic Columban Calendar is as familiar abroad as it is at home. Each year 127,000 are distributed domestically from the Mission's Australian headquarters (Melbourne is the hometown of Vegemite too) as they have been for almost 90 years to distributors and benefactors - and speedy dispatch and delivery plus cost effectiveness are of the essence.
Which is why the calendar goes by Post.
St Columban's was founded in Ireland in 1918 as a Society of secular priests whose mission then was to spread the Catholic faith to the Chinese and other peoples of ‘The Far East' (another monthly fundraiser is a magazine of that name). Typical enough in its time, that mission statement has developed a bit since, and today's Columban missionaries are just as involved with broader social issues - tackling local poverty, injustice and ecology problems - as with nurturing the faith of peoples amongst whom they live.
To Europeans, Australia was part of ‘The Far East' back in 1920 when the Columbans came to Melbourne. The first calendar went out in 1923, the year Vegemite hit Victorian tastebuds, courtesy of its developer, Dr C.P. Callister of Middle Park.
The Australian and New Zealand Mission has spread since that time to many countries and there are currently 55 priests, a number of whom live among their parishioners in Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan Fiji, Chile, Peru and Pakistan... "Many of our international missionaries are committed to dealing with important local issues such as environmental concerns and ownership of land," says Fr Charles Rue of St Columban's Mission Society.
"Prayer and post" play essential roles in the home-front fundraising and recruitment which are handled at the Columban's Essendon base. "Missionary work is after all, still a work of faith," says Fr Rue.
The iconic Columban Calendar has become a feature of this fundraising to generations of Australians and New Zealanders whose walls it adorns throughout the countries. "There probably isn't a postcode the calendar doesn't reach," says the Society's recently retired Business and Development Manager, Jim Foran.
The 127,000 calendars distributed in Australia alone have been reaching their destination since 1923 by post. "Australia Post has been with us since the beginning," said Jim Foran, "and it's been a successful relationship." As much as their primary calling was mission work, the early Columbans seem to have been masters of direct marketing as well, even if they didn't realise it. The calendar was printed and delivered even during the war years when paper shortages were at a height. Early records from the 1920s show personalised direct mail and meticulously kept databases were integral to the fundraising effort.
Today the Society sends out three direct mail appeals annually to around 30,000 on its mailing list. Jim Foran says,"We have a loyal group of supporters, but we're also looking to target the younger generations from now on." By post of course.
Good things have a way of spreading like the Columban Calendar, oh yes and Vegemite. There's a kind of timeless taste to products so tried and true.
- Article courtesy of Priority magazine.
Reproduced with permission of Australia Post.
