|
United Way makes 2007 funding decisions |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United Way of Union County will distribute more money than ever before in 2007, impacting the
lives of thousands of Union County residents. More than $543,000 was allocated to Member Agencies at January’s
Board Meeting, with an additional $24,000 earmarked for out-of-county United Way’s and other programs. The allocations follow a record-setting campaign in which United Way is projecting to surpass its $750,000 campaign goal by about $20,000. Donors invested $716,628 in the community via United Way of Union County last year. The American Red Cross Union County Chapter will receive the most United Way funds; $100,000 for providing emergency services, blood mobiles, and safety trainings. The Salvation Army will receive the greatest increase; from $19,253 to $32,000, as it starts a new Direct Housing program to assist homeless families, complementing a Homeless Prevention program it already operates in the county. 17 of United Way’s 24 agencies will receive increased funding over last year. 14 will receive what they requested in support. “There is no rubber stamping of agency requests,” said Brian O’Kane, volunteer President of the United Way of Union County. “Every agency is evaluated on an individual basis and there is discussion on each agency’s allocation.” An all-volunteer, 16-member Budget & Admissions Committee spent more than five months on the process. Volunteers weighed the impact made by each Member Agency against the requests made by those organizations, the pool of available funds, and overall community needs. Extensive research, lively debate, and much consideration is given before funding recommendations become final. “How effective are the programs?” O’Kane said of the questions asked by committee members. “Where are the dollars being spent in the programs? How are the programs being evaluated? How many people are being served?” “Some agencies rarely ask for additional funds and I regret it in the years we can't meet their requests,” said Kathy Klug, a seven-year veteran of the committee. “Other agencies seem to add 10% each year and hope for extra money, just on the chance they might get it. Other agencies develop new programming and show a need for money to "activate" those programs. Those issues seem to be what we committee members evaluate each year.” Even though United Way is projecting to surpass its $750,000 campaign goal, agency requests exceeded the dollars available for allocation by more than $63,000. United Way raises funds for its own programming and operating budget in addition to Member Agencies requests. United Way must also honor designations that donors make to United Ways in other communities, and account five-percent of campaign totals for pledge loss. “There will always be more need in our community than United Way and its agencies can address,” said Barb Nicol, a 10-year committee veteran. “That is true of every community. I think United Way donors expect that we will make the difficult decisions as they arise. All of this requires that we prioritize the requests to the United Way. We want to fund efficient, effective programs that address critical community needs. The United Way Board of Trustees gives careful thought to setting the campaign goal every year and the current circumstances will create vigorous debate on what the goal should be next year.” Volunteers say that deciding how to split more than half a million dollars among the Member Agencies requires both a literal and proverbial give-and-take. Committee members are asked to be as objective as possible and those with connections to particular agencies abstain from voting on funding for those agencies. “The committee was larger than in the recent past and members brought a broader range of perspectives on community needs and agency programs,” said Nicol. “Examining issues and programs from different perspectives helped me rethink financial responsibilities and service gaps.” “I am happy with the results,” Klug said. “They are all not quite what I would have picked. But the reasons for support or non-support by other B&A committee members made sense. We compromised.” Any United Way donor is eligible to participate on the B&A Committee and can sign up by contacting United Way. “If you want to understand what happens in Union County, this is a great committee to be on,” O’Kane said. “I was just shocked by the amount of need that is not visible to the average person. I had a lack of understanding about the lives of other people in our community. These are my neighbors. And I was much more naïve than I thought I was.” United Way of Union County's 2007 Allocations
The United Way of Union County’s 2007 fundraising and administrative budget has been established at $129,832. That means about 17% of the money raised during the 2006 campaign will go to cover the United Way’s administrative costs. A non-profit organization meets one of the charitable accountability standards of the Better Business Bureau if 35% of the money raised goes toward administrative costs. For more information, please contact the United Way of Union County at (937) 644-8381 or visit www.unitedwayofunioncounty.org. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||