United Way of Johnson County raises $2.3 million in 2010

IOWA CITY - United Way of Johnson County raised more than $2.3 million in the 2010 campaign, officials announced Wednesday.

The 2010 campaign also saw 658 new donors, a 12 percent increase from the previous year.

The total raised fell short of the 2010 campaign goal of $2.45 million, but campaign leaders said Wednesday they were happy with this year's fundraising, given the status of the economy.

“We're just thrilled to have that kind of support from the community, from the donors,” Russ Schmeiser, 2010 campaign cochairman, said during the Live United community celebration Wednesday.

When compared to 2009, but adjusting the 2009 total to take out special gifts for flood recovery, the core campaign gifts in 2010 were $120,864 more, officials said. United Way of Johnson County, which partners with 29 community agencies, raised $2.35 million in 2009.

The top 25 business donors accounted for 73 percent of the giving collected in the 2010 campaign. ACT, Inc. was recognized as company of the year, giving more than 10 percent of the support in 2010.

Also at Wednesday's celebration, United Way leaders unveiled the 2020 Vision Goals for the Common Good initiative.

In education, the goal is to improve success for children and youth by decreasing the preparation gaps by one-third for school, college and work. In income, the goal is to increase by 20 percent households in Johnson County that are financially stable. In health, the goal is to increase by one-third the number of children and adults who are healthy and avoiding risk behavior.

Each of the three goal areas has measurement benchmarks and community strategies for achieving the defined targets.

“The road map of what we can do together to improve our community exists in these pages,” Christine Scheetz, United Way of Johnson County president and CEO, said.