United Way campaign brings in $1.775M
The United Way has come in just shy of its campaign goal, after lowering it compared to previous years.
On Thursday, Jim Russell, CEO of the United Way Peterborough and District, announced during a touchdown event that $1.775 million was raised during the 2017 campaign. That’s 96 per cent of the $1.85 million goal set by Russell and the campaign team headed by chair Neil Morton.
Last year, United Way raised $1.82 million after setting a goal of $2,000,075.
The 2015-16 campaign raised $1.9 million of its $2.29-million goal, which led to layoffs for two staff members and a 19-per-cent drop in dollars flowing to its agencies.
Historically, GE employees donate tens of thousands of dollars annually to the campaign and many wondered how the United Way would make up the difference.
Morton says if GE was still in the game, they would have hit target.
"It’s too bad but I look back on everything with no regrets," he adds. "Bob (Robert Gauvreau, vice chair of the campaign) and I have been scrambling the last few weeks, how do we make up the difference? But unfortunately we couldn’t, but we’re good. The United Way brand is lifted and they will be in a really good position next year."
Despite the shortfall, Russell says the community came through. Early on an anonymous donor gave $30,000 which started a Leadership Challenge initiative. That donation, adds Russell, was doubled by supporters.
This added to the campaign’s momentum throughout the year. Russell says there was a different feeling this time as the campaign seemed more energized.
The popular Paint The Town Red fundraiser doubled previous donations and the new Petes Plaid Night was quite successful.
Russell says Morton has agreed to be the honourary chair of the hockey game event next year.
Plaid seemed to be a going theme throughout the campaign. The word “plaidtastic” was coined and used by many, thanks to Morton’s affinity for wearing plaid shirts.
“It was a plaid-a-palooza,” quips Russell. “It was different and fun and caught people’s attention.”
He says that carried over to the United Way’s social media feeds. At the beginning of the campaign it was agreed that the team would use social media to get their message out. They took to Twitter and Facebook almost daily to announce events and ways to give.
“We were everywhere. We realized you have to be in charge of your own narrative,” says Russell.
Throughout the year, regular updates were also given to show people how much was being raised. This spurred even more support and help. Late in the campaign, vice chair Gauvreau launched the $5K Challenge to encourage business leaders to dig deep to donate $5,000 each, adding $60,000 to the total.
Morton says this was a turning point.
"That was a key defining moment to make up the difference.. and beyond that it was just cabinet making the phone calls and making the ask and telling them the impact the United Way is having in the community," adds Morton.
Meanwhile, campaigns at Trent University and the Catholic school board went beyond their targets as well.
“The campaign stayed strong right through to today,” says Russell.
All this helped the United Way overcome the loss of the GE donation and the challenges of raising money in a city recognized as a very generous community that supports many charities, not just the United Way.
Russell says all the support will be returned to the community. Money collected will funnel to the United Way’s 19 member agencies.
And knowing that made being part of the campaign quite special indeed for Morton. He admits he wasn't too familiar with the United Way before coming on board, but all that has changed.
"This was a life changing experience for me. Just to see the impact this organization has in this community and to see how people rallied around this plaid tastic movement this year… it was an unbelievable experience. It’s surreal. I will never forget this, never, never," says Morton. "This organization wants the best for this community and they want to help people. They realize social services are vital to city building and community building."
Russell adds in the coming weeks details will be announced about an additional 15 agencies and programs that will fall under the United Way’s umbrella thanks to $100,000 in funding that will be released through the new Neighbourhood Funding and Innovation Funding initiatives.
Russell credits several new events and social media initiatives that led to a successful campaign this year even though it was marred by news of the General Electric closure early on.