United Way falls short of fundraising goal

After setting the highest fundraising goal in its 94-year history, the United Way of East Central Iowa fell $200,000 short in its 2009 campaign.

Last year, the local United Way chapter raised a record $10.4 million for 40 non-profit organizations. But president and CEO, Lois Buntz, said that their $10.5 million aim fell short due to a fiscal fatigue throughout the community.

“After still dealing with flood recovery and because of such a sluggish economy, we weren't able to do as much as we had hoped,” Buntz said. “It's a difficult time to give.”

This is Buntz's sixth year as CEO for the United Way of ECI, and it's the first year she's seen her organization come up short of their goal, which they announced last summer. According to Buntz, her fellow fundraisers knew that the rising unemployment, the waves of layoffs and the fiscal belt-tightening happening across its seven-county area would work against them. But Buntz said that such a dismal economy was precisely the reason they shot for the moon in this year's effort.

“The economy is sluggish, but the need for help is even greater,” Buntz said. “We needed to stretch to meet that need, and I'm very proud of almost beating last year's record.”

One of the co-chairs for this year's campaign, Dennis Jordan, 40, said the goal was daunting in such a tough environment, but that the $10.33 million brought in is still demonstrates a remarkably engaged community of businesses and individuals.

“We're unique in that we're able to raise more than $9 million as such a small city,” Jordan said. “That puts us at the same level as cities like New York, we are in the big hitter category.”

The United Way will begin allocating grants to various non-profits in March, and will start the 2010 campaign in the summer.