NORWICH – With just one day left to go in its annual fundraising campaign, the United Way of Chenango County is facing a bleak finish to what’s likely to be its worst campaign turnout in nearly 20 years.
“We have a few outstanding donations, but we are looking at raising a total of a little more than $402,000,” said Chenango United Way Director Elizabeth Monaco.
The Chenango United Way set sights on a $456,000 goal this year, approximately $12,000 more than was raised during its 2013 campaign. The most recent campaign got off to a strong start in September; but money donated in recent weeks has become less and less, said Monaco, and the agency is pondering how it will assist the 28 community programs and 18 food pantries and soup kitchens in the county that requested funding to help keep their doors open.
The campaign reaches its end tomorrow at noon. Last-minute donations can still be made by calling the United Way at 334-8815, or visiting www.chenangouw.org.
Each year, the Chenango United Way administers funds collected during its campaign to local philanthropic programs and nonprofit organizations in the county that improve life for local residents, particularly in the fields of education, income and health.
The agency received a total $629,000 in funding requests from multiple organizations this year. “With what we have raised, we will only be able to fund about half of our requests,” Monaco said, also noting less support from the United Way piles on top the burden of recent state and federal funding cuts experienced by many local agencies. “Some of them really need local support to make other grant opportunities work.”
The United Way released a statement earlier this month projecting $71,000 shortfall for its 2014 campaign. The agency cited one-time contributions that helped it reach its goal in the 2013 campaign, including $10,000 awarded by 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,” Monaco said.
A brunt of the annual campaign also comes via large corporate sponsors, most of which came through by late November. With its biggest donations received by December, the United Way has had only smaller contributions from individual donors to help turn things around.
The United Way Campaign Committee also pointed out a decrease in per capita giving this year, as well as a decrease in the number of donors. The organization has targeted new donors in recent weeks and individuals who have already contributed but may want to give a little more to help reach the United Way’s fundraising goal.
Although the 2014 United Way campaign peeked above the $400,000 benchmark – an achievement organizers were skeptic of earlier this month – the agency still fronts a 12 percent shortfall. It’s likely to be the worst campaign since 2009, which brought in a total $423,000.
“I have spoken with other United Ways in the area. Several of them have experienced a decrease in their campaigns over several years,” Monaco said. “We’re lucky in the sense that we have actually increased our goal each year.”
“I am appreciative of what we have raised,” she added. “To have raised over $400,000 is a big deal.”