Philanthropic organizations maintain high financial goals

When the United Way of Weld County set this year’s fundraising goal at $3 million, staff members at the nonprofit organization took a deep breath.
“We all kind of gulped,´ said Karen Height, director of marketing and communications for the United Way of Weld County, which raises and distributes money to about 80 nonprofit agencies and programs in Weld County. “We knew we had a lot of work to do.”
For two years in a row, the United Way of Weld County has fallen short of its fall fundraising campaign goal. Other nonprofits across the nation have faced the same difficulties amid the economic downturn that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In 2003, Weld County’s United Way raised $2.73 million of its $2.85 million goal. But because needs are growing and the organization is becoming more involved in projects of its own – not just funding other agencies – the fundraising goal was set even higher this year.
Leaders at nonprofit organizations across Northern Colorado are hopeful the trend of the past few years is turning around. According to a survey in The Chronicle of Philanthropy released last month, donations to the nation’s 400 most successful fundraising groups increased 2.3 percent last year, a sign that charities are beginning to recover from losses they experienced in 2002.
According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, most organizations are not raising as much money as they did in the late 1990s and 2000, when the percentage of giving increased at double-digit rates.
This fall and holiday season – the busiest fundraising time of the year – charities nationwide have faced issues that could cause another slowdown in giving, including the presidential election, the war in Iraq, stock market fluctuations and scrutiny of charities in Congress.
Nonprofit organizations in Northern Colorado are trying new strategies this year to increase donations.
Instead of focusing on a dollar amount for this fall’s campaign, the United Way of Larimer County has a goal of getting 8,132 donors this year, a 15 percent increase over last year. Ultimately, the organization wants to raise more than the $4.3 million it did last year.
Most of the money is raised through companies asking their employees to designate a portion of their paychecks as a tax-deductible donation to the United Way. This year the organization in Larimer County wants to build relationships with donors, not just companies.
“Some people will give to the United Way for as long as they work for a company, but we don’t know all those individuals,´ said Dawn Paepke, campaign director for the United Way of Larimer County. “We want to do a better job tracking those donors and letting them know where their money is going.”
The American Red Cross Centennial Chapter, which serves12 counties in Northern and northeastern Colorado, is stepping up its fundraising this year. During the past three years the chapter has lost staff members and closed an office because of budget cuts.
In May the chapter hired Ken Williams as its chief executive officer to focus on fundraising.
“It’s been a tough three years,” Williams said. “We are significantly smaller in staff and budget. I don’t know any organization that hasn’t been hurting. But I also think we’re coming out of it.”
Williams said the signs of change within his organization are recent major gifts and an increase in the number of volunteers. “We recently got a stock gift,” he said. “When people start giving from their assets, you know things are turning around.”
The organization is planning three major fundraising events next year – an auction in February, a firefighters ball in April and a golf event next summer – all to raise money for programs in Northern Colorado.
Some nonprofits in Northern Colorado don’t raise as much money as organizations such as the United Way, but they’ve experienced the effects of hard times. The Community Foundation serving Greeley and Weld County has seen a dip in its endowed funds because of the stock market, said Judy Knapp, president of the foundation. In 2002, the foundation gave away $1.14 million in scholarships and small grants. In 2003, the total dropped to $732,263.
“We haven’t had as much to give away,” Knapp said. “But we don’t raise money every year like the United Way. We are not set up to meet human services needs on a regular basis like the United Way.”
Hospice of Larimer County gets 10 percent of its budget from community fundraising. Raising money has been more difficult this fall because of the presidential election, said Michele Meyer, marketing manager at Hospice of Larimer County.
“It’s been difficult to compete for people’s attention because they’ve been so focused on politics,” Meyer said.
Hospice purposely waited until after the election to announce a $3 million capital campaign for a new building, a grief and bereavement center that will be constructed next to the organization’s administrative offices between Loveland and Fort Collins. Before announcing the campaign to the public, though, Hospice had raised almost half of the $3 million, Meyer said.
Despite the higher goal this year at the United Way of Weld County, there are signs that things are looking up. Pacesetter companies – those that start their United Way campaigns about two months before the communitywide campaign begins in September – raised 5 percent more than they did last year.
So far, the organization has raised about $1.8 million of its $3 million goal, which is right on track with last year.
“We could have easily set the goal where it was last year and justified it,´ said Jeannine Truswell, executive director of the United Way of Weld County. “People may look at us and say, ‘Are you crazy?’ But we have to change our idea of what success is. It’s not whether or not we raise all the money. If we’re giving our all to try to meet the needs in the community, then we’re successful.”

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