What have you done for your marriage today?

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It’s been almost two years since the National Pastoral Initiative for Marriage (NPIM) began a first-ever “for your marriage” campaign of public education with this simple question.

Since then the campaign has expanded to include radio and television spots, an extensive website (www.foryourmarriage.org), and outdoor billboard advertising.

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    We have begun work on several new features and additions to the campaign that we hope will come to fruition over the next two years.  For example, the website’s homepage has been completely redesigned with new tools, graphics, and features which change on a regular basis. On the homepage you can sign up for RSS feeds of the daily marriage tips and the blog entries.

    Other new features are the ability to connect with social media, e.g., Facebook, and to sign up for our monthly e-newsletter that keeps you updated about new content on the website.  Recent new content includes 23 Frequently-asked Questions about Marriage in the Catholic Church.  In response to the economic crisis, Mary Jo Pedersen has written on how the financial turndown affects marriage, and our current feature article looks at how to make simple living a way of life.

    For the upcoming wedding season, engaged couples can find all the possible choices for the wedding liturgy readings, each accompanied by a commentary.  There are also tips for choosing wedding music and
options to personalize the ceremony.

    Please let more people know about the good things they will discover on www.foryourmarriage.org!  In the “media toolkit” section of the homepage there is an online advertising kit for webmasters.  Here you can find a free library of animated banner ads using Adobe Flash programming that, when placed on your own website, provide a click-through link to foryourmarriage.org.  These ads will enhance your website, offer a service to your visitors and, overall, spread a positive message about the Catholic Church and marriage.  So why not place one of the ads on your diocesan or organizational website and also urge parishes to do the same on their websites?

    We are very encouraged by the fact that traffic to the “for your marriage” website increased 93% in the period from January to April 2009 as compared to the same period last year.  With your continued help we can keep growing!

    Included in our plans for the short-term future is a Spanish-language website that will be linked with foryourmarriage.org.  We expect that the new “por tu matrimonio” website will offer culturally-specific content as well as adaptations and translations of material already available on the “for your marriage” site.  We are aiming to have the Spanish website operational in early January 2010.

    Once this website is established and with necessary budgetary approval we will begin to develop a Spanish-language radio ad campaign similar to “what have you done for your marriage today?”  Also on our wish list is another series of radio and television spots that will build on the success of the “what have you done for your marriage today?” campaign and continue offering value-based messages about marriage and family.

    Finally, we are now designing posters and refrigerator magnets that will keep the “for your marriage” initiative from the Catholic Church in the public eye.  We hope to have the posters and magnets ready for display at the NACFLM Conference in late June.

    The results of all this work by many people, including you, are very measureable.  For example, we know that the “for your marriage” ads have already been broadcast more than 163,000 times on radio and over 71,000 times on television.  Billboard advertisements have appeared in more than 180 locations in all areas of the country. The website has had at least half a million visitors since its launch. 

    Thank you for helping to achieve these impressive results!

Please continue to spread the word using as many creative strategies as possible.  We’d like to hear about your efforts and your ideas for the future of the campaign.


Sincerely,

Rick McCord
Sheila Garcia
Theresa Notare
USCCB Secretariat of Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth
laity@usccb.org