United Way pushes to raise money with $22 million goal for 2015

United Way announced Tuesday that it has set a $22 million campaign goal for 2015, which means it must raise $400,000 more than it did last year.

While that seems modest, an early analysis shows the campaign is starting with the promise of $900,000 less this year, due to the loss of one-time-only gifts and large donations from companies that moved key divisions or their entire headquarters out of the city.

One example: The $150,000 given last year by Chiquita won’t be repeated. The company announced in January that it would close its Charlotte headquarters.

Sean Garrett, who became head of United Way this year, admits feeling pressured to deliver a successful first campaign. The agency has struggled to meet its goals in recent years, and it actually fell short in 2013 by $400,000.

Garrett said his strategy this year is to find a way to connect more people to things they are passionate about.

“It’s about helping donors see themselves as part of the community’s efforts to solve our challenges,” he said.

“Sometimes, people struggle in trying to figure out how to get involved. … Ultimately, the entire purpose of United Way is to connect individuals, companies, you name it, to things they care deeply about. We break things down in ways that individuals can see themselves as part of the solution.”

Garrett has been holding a series of “community conversations” since taking over the agency, in hopes of learning more about the community’s expectations of United Way. United Way has conducted about 50 such meetings, with crowds ranging from eight to 50.

Money from the agency’s campaign funds programs run by 80 member charities in five counties, including shelters for women and children, medical programs for people unable to afford health care, and mentoring for children from low-income homes or shelters.

United Way intends to release data later this week showing the impact those programs are having on improving graduation rates, which is one of the agency’s top goals.

Walter G. Byers Elementary School was chosen to host the campaign kickoff Tuesday because of the large number of students served by three of the agencies participating in United Way’s graduation push: A Child’s Place, Communities In Schools and Salvation Army’s Center of Hope homeless shelter.

Three hundred students from the school attended the kickoff ceremony and were given free books. The 1,500 books were the result of a fundraiser by United Way’s African American Leadership Initiative this summer.

This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 4:43 PM with the headline "United Way pushes to raise money with $22 million goal for 2015."