Corridor non-profits see improvement in donations

Eastern Iowa non-profit organizations generally have experienced an improvement in fundraising efforts over the last year.

That's in contrast to a national survey of more than 2,500 public charities and private foundations that found an equal split between increasing and declining contributions in the first nine months of 2010, compared with the same period of 2009.

Guidestar's ninth annual survey of non-profit organizations found 36 percent saying giving rose and 37 percent reporting giving fell, while the other 26 percent said total giving remained the same.

International organizations were the most likely to report an increase, reflecting donations made for disaster relief, according to the Williamsburg, Va.-based Guidestar. A larger percentage of religious, health and public-society benefit organizations - such as United Way or community foundations - reported a decline.

The larger an organization's size based on total annual expenditures, the more likely the organization was to report an increase as well.

Lois Buntz, president of the United Way of East Central Iowa in Cedar Rapids, said fundraising has improved over the last year as the community continues to recover from the June 2008 flood and the impact of an economic recession.

“In the campaign this year, we have seen some gains from some key companies,” Buntz said. “There are certainly some companies that are still down, but there's a more optimistic attitude. I think people believe the economy is recovering, although slowly.

“It's definitely better this year, and we're feeling more optimistic.”

Buntz said this year's United Way campaign to raise $10.35 million has been one of the more challenging in recent memory.

“We've had to work harder to get the same results,” Buntz said. “It's taken more energy, time and incentives that we've needed to build in. It's taken a lot more work to get to the same level or a little bit beyond than what it was probably two or three years ago.”

New this year, Buntz said, United Way of East Central Iowa used social media in a limited way for fundraising. Donors were offered the chance to “text to give,” or donating by cell phone text messaging.

Christine Scheetz, president of the United Way of Johnson County, said her organization has seen strong support from every level, with some exceptions.

“We have had some of our big individual donations through company campaigns come in lower,” Scheetz said. “We've also seen an increase from people who were in a comfortable position to give more. Overall, we still feel that giving has remained strong in the Johnson County area.”

Scheetz said achieving this year's campaign goal of $2.45 million will require finding new donors.

“We also need to do everything we can to retain existing donors,” she said. “We must let everyone know how much their contributions are needed and appreciated.”

One of the non-profit organizations that receives United Way funding is Goodwill of the Heartland in Iowa City.

Goodwill President Jeff Nock said he has seen some improvement in contributions over the last nine months after a couple of difficult years because of the economic downturn. Nock is concerned, though, about the impact of tight budgets on funding that his agency receives to provide services for those with special needs, so they don't have to be institutionalized.

“That funding is truly challenged this year at all levels,” Nock said. “We think it's better to have someone working, earning a paycheck and contributing taxes, rather than receiving 100 percent government funding to be institutionalized.”

Guidestar's survey also showed increased demand for services provided by non-profit organizations, with human services agencies recording a 78 percent jump in requests compared with the first nine months of 2009.

Buntz said agencies funded by United Way of East Central Iowa also have experienced a sharp increase in demand in the aftermath of the flood and the recession.

“We've seen the statistics on mental health referrals go up significantly since the flood,” she said. “When people are calling 211, they're needing food and shelter assistance. Housing continues to be a concern in this area.

“Our agencies' preliminary funding requests are probably a third more than we will have available.”

---- Scheetz said non-profit agencies funded by United Way of Johnson County also have experienced increasing demand. She said it comes at a time when the agencies also are facing higher costs for employee health care coverage.

---- “Non-profit organizations are not immune from increases for health care,” she said. “They've been hard hit with increases to their health care costs.”