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United Way Encourages Donor Designation (Mar 01, 2006)

Encouraging local donors who "live here" to "give here," United Way of Delaware County is observing its second annual “Donor Designation Awareness Week” this week, following last week’s campaign launch to raise $2.2 million for health and human service needs in Delaware County.

"As the DelawareCares community assessment survey has shown us, our county’s growth is rapid and our demographics are rapidly changing," said United Way President Kathy Tatterson. "Many of our loyal donors live in Delaware County but may work in another county – Franklin, Union, Marion and other central Ohio areas. They enjoy the quality of life that United Way programs have helped to build, so we encourage them to use a simple process to designate their United Way gifts to their home county on the pledge card they receive at their workplace."

Without such a designation, campaign chair Sherry Barbosky of SFM Insurance explains that many dollars needed to support human service programs used by these employees are sometimes "lost" to other counties through workplace United Way campaigns conducted by companies in those counties.

We realized last year the importance of educating donors to be aware of the donor designation option. We asked them to look for special areas of a pledge form to ‘designate,’ or direct their gifts to their home county,” Barbosky said. “On most pledge forms, this process is as simple as writing in the name ‘United Way of Delaware County’ next to the amount,” she notes.

United Way “Ambassadors,” or specially trained volunteers who visit workplaces, will help spread that message during visits to companies during the campaign. Post cards have been sent to regular donors who work in another county to remind them of the simple process and to applaud their loyalty in regularly designating a gift. Members of United Way’s volunteer leadership have appealed personally to employers to explain the process and make information available to their employees.

Campaign vice chair Jeff Benton, president and CEO of Delaware County Bank, agrees that the effect of “lost” funds is profound and far-reaching when Delaware County residents’ United Way gifts are automatically absorbed into other counties’ workplace campaigns.

“Annually, more than $200,000 is contributed to United Way of Delaware County by donors who live here and work elsewhere,” he said. “We estimate that more that $100,000 is lost to our community because donors aren’t aware of their donor designation choices. This is a large portion of our campaign dollars. Designation allows us to include the needed monies to support our five impact areas affecting youth, senior citizens, health issues, affordable housing and basic needs and emergency services.”

“We rely heavily on supportive employers and educated donors to help us spread the message about donor designation,” Barbosky said. At large companies, the number of employees who live in one county and work in another is magnified and the process is even more important, she noted.

“To really understand the importance of dollars lost to other campaigns, we ask donors to think of the personal, local impact,” she said. “Think of an elderly neighbor who would not receive a home-delivered meal, or a day care slot that is not available so a colleague of yours can work, or the value of emergency assistance to a family which encounters a disaster. That’s what we hope people we think of this week as we recognize ‘Donor Designation Awareness Week.”

United Way of Delaware County’s funding partners include: Action for Children; The American Red Cross; The Arthritis Foundation; Big Brothers Big Sisters Association of Central Ohio, Inc.; Boy Scouts of America, Simon Kenton Council; the Council for Older Adults – Senior Nutrition Program; Delaware Speech and Hearing Center; Girl Scouts, Seal of Ohio Council; HelpLine of Delaware and Morrow Counties; Heritage Day Health Center; The Legal Aid Society; Liberty Community Center; The Literacy Coalition; Marion Goodwill Industries; People in Need; Recovery & Prevention Resources of Delaware and Morrow Counties; Senior Services for Independent Living; Turning Point; and YMCA, Liberty Township/Powell.

For further information, call (740) 369-9618.