Category Archives: Fundraising

Five updates for one low price, May 20

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This entry is part 41 of 43 in the series Diary

It’s been well over a month since I last updated you on where we stand with the membership of this site… since then I had a wonderful trip to New Zealand (and Australia), where I gathered many memories… and, on the plane home, a nasty cold. Once I am over that I’ll post a longer (members only) diary. But for now, just to let you know… We launched our new site name and design; I hope you like it! As part of the design we don’t list the total “reach” anymore, but I know that continues to grow. As part of the new launch we mentioned that there is a donor willing to match new subscription and other donations up to $50,000 this year! And to that end, we have added five new donors, so thanks! We are up to 129 subscribers. (We can do more, of course; there must be a few more folks out there who will support … Continue reading →

Welcome to Sacred Space Astronomy!

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You may have noticed a change here… what we used to call The Catholic Astronomer is now Sacred Space Astronomy. And along with a change in layout and title, we’re expanding the way you can support our work. Why the name change? OK, so I admit, I am the guy who came up with the original name. I meant it as a pun, in the sense that “catholic” means “universal” and of course astronomers look at the universe, while our interests on this site cover pretty much the gamut from naked-eye stargazing to theoretical cosmology. All, of course, under the aegis of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. Well, like most puns, nearly everyone missed it entirely. And since a number of our contributors are not actual Catholics (again, there is a gamut, from practicing Jews to Catholic priests to non-churchgoers) the face value of the title wasn’t always appropriate. Meanwhile, for those of you who contribute financially to keep the site (and … Continue reading →

Three paths to enlightenment. Or something. (Only one costs you money!)

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This entry is part 31 of 43 in the series Diary

This has been a great year for the Vatican Observatory Foundation, in a lot of ways. We’ve made major upgrades to the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope. We supported a fantastically successful Vatican Observatory Summer School, the 16th that we’ve run since the program began in 1986. The Jesuits and our adjunct astronomers have given hundreds of public talks and appeared in dozens of newspapers and media interviews. (I even got my picture on the front page of the New York Times!) Our Faith and Astronomy digital library is now up and running, at it has already attracted nearly 50,000 views. And the Catholic Astronomer website is now followed by more than 8,000 subscribers. In terms of supporting the scientific and educational work of the Vatican Observatory, we’ve never done more. The one downside? We are running seriously short in fundraising.  How serious? Well… every year we make up a budget, and for 2018 we assumed that we’d be able to … Continue reading →

Sacred Space Giving Program

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Support The Catholic Astronomer Blog It is your support that lets us keep the blog going. (We pay our contributors… a pittance, mind you, but still it isn’t for free.) According to our analytics, 8010 people are regular followers of this blog, so we made our goal of reaching 8000 this month. That’s great! However, only 114 of you are actual paying members. If you’re keeping tabs, that is significantly fewer than we reported last month, because (as we do on occasion) we have dropped members who have stopped contributing – usually because their credit cards have expired. Nonetheless we did get a few new sign ups as well last month. Thanks! If we could have even just ten percent of our readership support us at the rate of $10 a month, that would raise enough not only to keep the blog going but to substantially support the other astronomy and faith outreach activities of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. And, … Continue reading →

Sacred Space Giving Program

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Support The Catholic Astronomer Blog It is your support that lets us keep the blog going. (We pay our contributors… a pittance, mind you, but still it isn’t for free.) According to our analytics, 7901 people are regular followers of this blog, an increase of 99 followers this past month. That’s great! (Can we make it to 8000 by December 1?) However, only 144 of you are actual paying members, which is the same as last month. (Thanks to all of you who support us!) Help?! If we could have even just ten percent of our readership support us at the rate of $10 a month, that would raise enough not only to keep the blog going but to substantially support the other astronomy and faith outreach activities of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. And, by the way, for those of you who can still deduct… we are a tax exempt 501c3 nonprofit organization. How to do this? Join the Sacred … Continue reading →

Sacred Space Giving Program

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Support The Catholic Astronomer Blog It is your support that lets us keep the blog going. (We pay our contributors… a pittance, mind you, but still it isn’t for free.) According to our analytics, 7802 people are regular followers of this blog, an increase of 101 followers this past month. That’s great! However, only 144 of you are actual paying members, only more than last month. (Thanks to all of you who support us!) If we could have even just ten percent of our readership support us at the rate of $10 a month, that would raise enough not only to keep the blog going but to substantially support the other astronomy and faith outreach activities of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. And, by the way, for those of you who can still deduct… we are a tax exempt 501c3 nonprofit organization. How to do this? Join the Sacred Space Giving Program, and you will have reserved access to the Catholic … Continue reading →

Sacred Space Giving Program

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Support The Catholic Astronomer Blog It is your support that lets us keep the blog going. (We pay our contributors… a pittance, mind you, but still it isn’t for free.) According to our analytics, 7701 people are regular followers of this blog, an increase of 84 followers this past month. That’s great! However, only 143 of you are actual paying members; still, that’s five more than last month. (Thanks!) If we could have even just ten percent of our readership support us at the rate of $10 a month, that would raise enough not only to keep the blog going but to substantially support the other astronomy and faith outreach activities of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. And, by the way, for those of you who can still deduct… we are a tax exempt 501c3 nonprofit organization. How to do this? Join the Sacred Space Giving Program, and you will have reserved access to the Catholic Astronomer blog! You’ll be able … Continue reading →

Sacred Space Giving Program

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Support The Catholic Astronomer Blog According to our analytics, 7617 people are regular followers of this blog an increase 105 followers just in this past month That’s great! But only 138 of you are actual paying members, and that hasn’t changed at all since last month. Help! It is your support that lets us keep the blog going. (We pay our contributors… a pittance, mind you, but still it isn’t for free.) If we could have even just ten percent of our readership support us at the rate of $10 a month, that would raise enough not only to keep the blog going but to substantially support the other astronomy and faith outreach activities of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. And, by the way, for those of you who can still deduct… we are a tax exempt 501c3 nonprofit organization. How to do this? Join the Sacred Space Giving Program, and you will have reserved access to the Catholic Astronomer blog! … Continue reading →

Sacred Space Giving Program

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Support The Catholic Astronomer Blog According to our analytics, 7512 people are regular followers of this blog. That’s great! But only 138 of you are actual paying members. It is your support that lets us keep the blog going. (We pay our contributors… a pittance, mind you, but still it isn’t for free.) If we could have even just ten percent of our readership support us at the rate of $10 a month, that would raise enough not only to keep the blog going but to substantially support the other astronomy and faith outreach activities of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. And, by the way, for those of you who can still deduct… we are a tax exempt 501c3 nonprofit organization. How to do this? Join the Sacred Space Giving Program, and you will have reserved access to the Catholic Astronomer blog! You’ll be able to join in on conversations with blog authors, and you’ll receive a copy of the Sacred … Continue reading →

Sacred Space Giving Program

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Support The Catholic Astronomer Blog According to our analytics, 7429 people are regular followers of this blog. That’s great! But only 134 of you are actual paying members. It is your support that lets us keep the blog going. (We pay our contributors… a pittance, mind you, but still it isn’t for free.) If we could have even just ten percent of our readership support us at the rate of $10 a month, that would raise enough not only to keep the blog going but to substantially support the other astronomy and faith outreach activities of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. And, by the way, for those of you who can still deduct… we are a tax exempt 501c3 nonprofit organization. How to do this? Join the Sacred Space Giving Program, and you will have reserved access to the Catholic Astronomer blog! You’ll be able to join in on conversations with blog authors, and you’ll receive a copy of the Sacred … Continue reading →

Sacred Space Giving Program

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Support The Catholic Astronomer Blog According to our analytics, nearly 7000 people are regular followers of this blog. That’s great! But only about 100 of you are actual paying members. It is your support that lets us keep the blog going. (We pay our contributors… a pittance, mind you, but still it isn’t for free.) If we could have even just ten percent of our readership support us at the rate of $10 a month, that would raise enough not only to keep the blog going but to substantially support the other astronomy and faith outreach activities of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. And, by the way, for those of you who can still deduct… we are a tax exempt 501c3 nonprofit organization. How to do this? Join the Sacred Space Giving Program, and you will have reserved access to the Catholic Astronomer blog! You’ll be able to join in on conversations with blog authors, and you’ll receive a copy of … Continue reading →

Sacred Space Giving Program

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Support The Catholic Astronomer Blog According to our analytics,  7,222 people are regular followers of this blog (compared to just under 7000 last month). That’s great! But only 139 of you are actual paying members. It is your support that lets us keep the blog going. (We pay our contributors… a pittance, mind you, but still it isn’t for free.) If we could have even just ten percent of our readership support us at the rate of $10 a month, that would raise enough not only to keep the blog going but to substantially support the other astronomy and faith outreach activities of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. And, by the way, for those of you who can still deduct… we are a tax exempt 501c3 nonprofit organization. How to do this? Join the Sacred Space Giving Program, and you will have reserved access to the Catholic Astronomer blog! You’ll be able to join in on conversations with blog authors, and … Continue reading →