Catholic365.comTM to Generate Revenue for National TV Campaigns to Bring Catholics Home - All at No Cost to the User
Contact: Meredith D'Agostino, 617-646-3302
LEXINGTON, Ky., Oct. 26 /Christian Newswire/ -- Each day, millions of Americans use the internet to search, surf and shop, resulting in more than $150 billion in revenue for search engines and retailers annually. Now the 65 million U.S. Catholics can unite and invite their fallen away friends and relatives back to the faith via positive Catholic TV messages simply by using Catholic365.comTM, a free customizable homepage and toolbar, whenever they search or shop online.
Catholic365.com is the brainchild of a group of active Catholics who recognized the opportunity to link popular internet use to supporting great Catholic initiatives, particularly -- CatholicsComeHome®, the independent, not-for-profit Catholic media organization which creates and airs inspiring Catholic television commercials and multilingual websites, and has helped bring more than 200,000 Catholics back to the Church in the past two years alone.
Developed under the direction of Robert Trussell, former CEO of Tempur-Pedic Inc, Catholic365.com is free to all users and provides a seamless Google-powered Web search and online shopping experience, yet has the power to generate significant revenue for Catholic causes through everyday internet use, 365 days per year from home, work, schools and libraries.
"Catholic365.com is created by Catholics for Catholics," said Trussell. "It is a free web service that brings together your favorite media sources and online services. It is completely customizable to your personal preferences. After you sign up for the home page and install the toolbar you just use the web as you normally do and 100 percent of any revenue or commissions received by Catholic365.com go to support the Catholic faith."
Catholic365 resides on a Netvibes platform with a Google search engine that offers users the same power, content access and search capabilities they are accustomed to from using Google. Catholics can make Catholic365.com their home page at home and, as permitted, at work.
"We've chosen to call the site 'Catholic365,' so it reminds people they can promote their faith every day of the year, no matter where they are, just by using the home page as the first place they go when they open up their browser," continued Trussell. "Each person can decide exactly what they want to see on their home page, including news, information, sports and weather. You can make it as Catholic as you want it. If desired, you'll be able to have Catholic news included on your homepage, but the rest of the news and information is selected from familiar mainstream media sources. It's customizable for each user."
Through the use of Catholic365 homepage and toolbar, online shoppers can link directly to their favorite Web retailers and online stores such as Gap, Target, Banana Republic, Sears and hundreds more. Each time a purchase is made when these sites are accessed through the Catholic365 portal, a portion of the sale goes directly to Catholic365 who then donates 100 percent of funds raised to Catholic charities, designed to encourage unity in the Catholic faith and bring Catholics home to the Church.
How to Use Catholic365.com
To start, users visit www.Catholic365.com and sign up for free. The process takes less than 60 seconds. Once registered, users can easily customize their homepage with their favorite news sites, blogs and social network preferences. According to Trussell, the toolbar is easy to install and a great way to access all the pieces of the on-line world in one place, including Google search and the Catholic365 shopping mall. Online store purchases made through the mall such as hotel reservations, cruises, appliances, apparel and food will result in a commission for Catholic365.com, 100 percent of which will go to fund inspiring Catholic television messages.
Catholic365.com Mission
With early sign-ups increasing each week, Trussell anticipates this united Catholic effort could bring in one million Catholics to the site in the next year. "We've found people who understand our mission are glad to do something as simple as using Catholic365.com as their homepage to help the cause. Imagine seeing positive television messages promoting the Catholic faith on popular primetime programs and knowing you helped put them there," said Trussell.
The primary benefactor of Catholic365.com, CatholicsComeHome, Inc. ® (CCH), is an independent non-profit Catholic organization which creates inspiring media messages and broadcasts them nationally and internationally to educate and invite people to celebrate and grow deeper in the Catholic faith. Over twenty million viewers have witnessed CatholicsComeHome television ads, and their multilingual websites have been visited by more than one million individuals from all fifty states and over one hundred countries, who were moved by the welcoming messages and website since 2008. To date, CCH campaigns have aired in twelve dioceses from Providence to Sacramento, Chicago to Seattle, helping to increase Mass attendance an average of ten percent, and welcoming a total of 200,000 inactive Catholics and converts home to the Church.
"We believe people, who are proud to be Catholic and who want to give back to their community and their faith family, will be inspired by these compelling TV ads created by CatholicsComeHome.org and will want to help family members and friends revisit their faith," said Trussell. "There are millions of Catholics in this country who, for whatever reason, have drifted away. By simply using Catholic365.com whenever you search or shop you will be donating to programs that are dedicated to helping to bring them home to the Church, without any cost to you."
About Catholic365.comTM
Catholic365.comTM is the first and only personalized web site, to donate one hundred percent of its generated revenue to a Catholic charity. The primary beneficiary of this new site is CatholicsComeHome.org, an independent non-profit Catholic organization dedicated to encouraging Catholics to revisit their faith. The new personalized home page was created by a group of committed Catholics wishing to support the mission to inspire and educate inactive Catholics and others; inviting them to return to their faith. Each time a user conducts a search or shops online using Catholic365.comTM, revenue is generated for this cause.
