United Way fundraising brings in quarter of its goal

By Shea Anderson

The United Way of the River Cities has raised $364,000 this year, which is 26 percent of its $1.4 million goal.

The campaign began Jan. 1 and will continue until Dec. 31.

“The thing we are really focusing on being at 26 percent of our goal is that people remember these funds go to useful programs that will make lasting changes in the community,” said Casey Bowden, marketing director. “We’re trying to make a lasting impact instead of just Band-Aid fixes.”

The United Way has created four focus areas: learning and earning, families and children, health and wellness and basic need/ unforeseen hardship. The programs that receive funding are evaluated based on their outcomes and lasting effect on the community.

Bowden said the amount raised do far was lower than in previous years, but it was unfair to compare, because the United Way is in a transition period, focusing on more sustainable changes in the community than it has is the past.

Last year, the United Way only reached 89 percent of its $1.5 million goal, but took money from a reserve fund to make up the difference. Executive director Laura Gilliam said some of that money was still available, but the United Way was still optimistic about reaching its goal this year.

The majority of the funding for the United Way comes from donations, given through pledges and payroll deductions.

“A lot of the work contributions are pledges,” Gilliam said. “As we go through the year, we try to track how much of that money actually comes in. This year, collections are down but they still look good.”

One of the factors contributing to decreased collections is people pledging to donate money from their paycheck, then leaving or losing the job.

Gilliam said though collection rates were down, they were still much higher than they were in the early 2000s.

“We’ve seen some years past where we have struggled to collect on pledges. Over the last few years, it’s gotten much better.”

In addition to donations, the United Way hosts two or three fundraising events each year. A putt-putt tournament raised about $5,000.

As they are trying to raise money for next year’s grants, the committee that allocates the funds is determining how much to give each organization.

“Basically, we’re going through the process of determining funding awards and raising the money at the same time,” Gilliam said. “The committee will do that based on an idea of what we have. If we don’t’ reach our goal, we’ll have to see how close we did get to it before we decide how to handle it.”