NORWICH – With a new fundraising campaign season in full swing, the Chenango County United Way faces what could possibly be its worst campaign in over two decades and coordinators are reaching out to the community to help turn things around.
Each year, the Chenango United Way funnels money collected through its annual campaign to local programs and non profit organizations that align with its mission to improve the quality of life for local residents, specifically in the areas of income, education and health.
“It has been 20 years since we have had a campaign below $400,000,” said Chenango United Way Executive Director Elizabeth Monaco. “We are very concerned about the direction where this year’s campaign is headed. To be below 80 percent at this point is not where we want to be.”
The Chenango United Way this year set a fundraising goal of $456,000– approximately $12,000 more than was raised when it reached its goal in 2012. Despite the campaign’s strong start in September, money coming in has tapered in recent weeks, leaving the campaign committee wondering how the agency will help sustain the 28 community programs and 18 food pantries and soup kitchens in the county that rely on United Way funding to keep their doors open.
At this point in the campaign season, the United Way generally meets most of its goal, said Monaco. But if things continue as they are, the agency may raise only enough to fund half the $629,000 in funding requests, which spells bad news and even a threat of closure for some programs.
To date, the Chenango United Way has raised $346,700 of the $456,000 goal it hopes to reach by the end of the campaign on Dec. 31. It met a 76 percent benchmark on Thursday.
Said Monaco, “We have seen not only a decrease in per capita giving this year, but also a decrease in the number of donors contributing to the United Way.”
“If projections continue, we are anticipating a potential $71,000 shortfall this year,” she added, citing one-time contributions that helped the United Way reach its goal in 2012, which included a $10,000 donation from the Community Foundation of South Central New York to compensate for federal funding cuts to local food pantries last fall. “We can’t expect to receive those donations again this year,” she said.
The campaign also depends heavily on large donations through local corporations, most of which have already come through. The hope from here out, said Monaco, is to reach out to first-time donors or encourage people who have already donated to give a little more.
The United Way Campaign Committee plans to push hard for the remainder of the month with fundraising events at local restaurants, bars and cafes. Additional funds may be raised via bake sales and raffles; and community outreach will be stronger than ever, Monaco said.
“To have less than half of all requests be fulfilled would be devastating. If we raise less than we did last year, the county is going to feel it,” she added. “If we can’t do our job in the county, I don’t know how we can recover from that.”