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Early indications from some of United Way's biggest corporate donors show that contributions to local charities are running almost 20 percent behind last year's troubled campaign.
As a result, the agency has backed away from its Nov. 19 campaign deadline and issued an open call to the community for ideas on how to find alternative sources of money.
The goal now is to have an open-ended campaign to reach the $22.7 million goal. Otherwise, United Way will be forced into another round of steep budget cuts for its 90-plus member charities.
"We are not going to set a date for when it's finished," says Jane McIntyre, the agency's executive director. "Our agencies cannot sustain another round of cuts like they had. It's imperative that we raise this money to keep them in business."
The campaign has so far gotten $18 million in donations, but only $7 million is known to be earmarked for the Community Care Fund that provides money for Charlotte-area needs.
United Way based its goal of $22.7 million this year specifically on money given to that fund, which took a 34 percent hit last year when the campaign fell by $14 million. The drop was blamed in part on the economy and in part on a pay controversy surrounding the agency's fired executive director, Gloria Pace King.
With donations to local charities falling 19 percent behind even that reduced level, McIntyre says she has instructed her staff to find alternative and even experimental sources of money. Among the ideas already being implemented are another round of trims to the agency's operating budget and the creation of a "texting campaign" that would allow donors to text $5 and $10 donations.
Helping agencies find new solutions is also the goal of Mission Possible, a partnership of media outlets that recently collected more than 350 ideas from the public via a database. The effort has generated hundreds of thousands of dollars for local charities in recent months.
This year's United Way campaign is already vastly different than those of years past. It's the first time the agency opted to focus its goal on the Community Care Fund. It did so to de-emphasize money from corporate campaigns that allow donations to non-United Way agencies and nonprofits in other states. Such campaigns often contract with a third party to process donations, which keeps United Way from knowing in a timely manner where most of the money is headed.
"There could be more money for the Community Care Fund in that $18 million raised, but we may not know for months," says McIntyre. "From what we're seeing, with the 19 percent drop, we can't afford to wait to find out. I hate to say I've drawn a line in the sand, but I'm committed to not have more cuts."
This year's campaign seemed to be off to a good start in August, when philanthropists Leon and Sandra Levine offered a $1 million "challenge grant" toward reaching the annual goal. However, mounting unemployment and uncertainty over the economy have remained a challenge.
The projected drop in Community Care donations is based on a sampling of 13 corporate campaigns that concluded in recent weeks. It's a small group, McIntyre acknowledged, but those 13 are among the Top 100 campaigns that make up 90 percent of the campaign total.
Board Chair Carlos Evans agrees with the decision to dispense with the deadline and lauds McIntyre for seeking alternative sources of money. This year, the agency used $3million from its reserves to allocate to agencies, and he says that's a risky thing to do again.
"The economy could worsen before it gets better," Evans says. "If we exhaust those funds, it could limit our options."
Still, he agrees that another round of cuts could send a number of United Way agencies "teetering over the edge."
Floyd Davis represents United Way's member charities on its board, and he says he has long encouraged United Way to look for new sources of money beyond the annual campaign.
"We need to get the message out to the public that the agencies cannot afford another round of cuts," said Davis. "If there are more, we're going to see critical agencies going out of business and that would have a devastating effect."
