March 2006

United Way Campaign Grows and Exceed Goal!

Thank you, thank you, thank you! As a stakeholder, you are a champion who helped mobilize the community and responded so generously to meet critical needs in our community through your local United Way . We hope you saw the good news at the end of February that the 2005 Campaign raised $11,748,000 in support of the local network of health and human services in Montgomery, Greene and Preble Counties. This was the first campaign in more than a decade that the campaign exceeded both the prior year and the fundraising goal. The total pledged constitutes a six percent increase over the starting base of about $11 million, which reflected the economic realities when the campaign was launched last summer.

With continuing shifts and challenges in our local economy, we've seen that the campaign each year needed to make up one-half to three-quarters of a million dollars just to maintain services. With your help, we've more than accomplished that this year.

Gaining Momentum

We're seeing more support and understanding of the importance of a community-wide campaign. People have really stepped up during these continued tough economic times and that means more dollars for services when they are vitally needed.

It is incredibly heartening to see the community taking renewed ownership in their United Way and stepping up to meet the challenges facing our community. These encouraging results are so important to our agencies and the people in our community who increasingly must turn to them for help.

The campaign growth was driven by increased employee campaigns at 258 companies and 71 increased corporate gifts. Overall, employee giving rose 0.25%, corporate giving was up 5%, and individual gifts grew 25%. Leading the industry sectors with double-digit increases were: IT companies, accounting firms, architects and engineers, physicians, and law firms.

Challenges Continue

While our community deservingly celebrates this success, your United Way leadership is keeping a cautious eye on the future. Ohio largely remains at the wrong end of the economic recovery. Right here in the Miami Valley , announcements of plant closings, bankruptcies, and businesses leaving the area are making the news on a far too regular basis.

What's more, no matter your position on the role of federal and state government in meeting health and human service needs, the reality is the responsibility is being pushed down to the local level.

We have an urgent situation at hand that without coordinated planning and response could be devastating to countless families in our community.

Fortunately, our community is being proactive. United Way is at the table with government, education, the faith community, and business leaders to ensure a support system is in place for displaced workers. United Way's HelpLink 2-1-1 will provide the primary access to services.

Even without significant job losses anticipated this summer, we have a lot of families facing serious challenges in our community already. With foreclosure filings in Montgomery County hitting an all-time high in January, your United Way is working with others to stop this alarming trend. Next month we're launching a public service campaign to encourage people in financial hardship to call United Way 's HelpLink 2-1-1 before it is too late.

Meanwhile, your United Way is keeping an emphasis on the future of our community – our youth. The Strong Kids for Strong Communities effort continues to grow with partners from local school districts, Juvenile Court , Dayton and Montgomery County Public Library, the faith community, and health and human service organizations. This positive initiative can help ensure that our youth are prepared for the jobs of the future.

The United Way network is more than just a safety net. It is about investing in all kinds of programs for our future. It is about intervening in problems and preventing problems before they happen. It is increasingly important that we do both. Now is not the time to pull back.

So as we celebrate the success of the 2005 campaign, we are already mobilizing for the 2006 campaign. Can we count on your continued support? As always, your thoughts and questions matter to me as this is your United Way . Please don't hesitate to call me at 225-3014 or send an email to marcl@dayton-unitedway.org .

Thank you for helping us change lives and our community,

Marc R. Levy

President