United Way Campaign Exceeds Goal

Dayton, OH – 2005 United Way Campaign Chair Gary W. Auman, Partner, Dunlevey, Mahan and Furry, announced this week that the United Way of the Greater Dayton Area 2005 Campaign exceeded the goal for the first time in a decade, raising $11,748,000 in support of the local network of health and human services in Montgomery, Greene and Preble Counties.

This figure constitutes a 6% increase over the starting base of $11,089,000 when the campaign was launched last summer. “With continuing shifts and challenges in our local economy, we've seen that the campaign each year needed to make up one-half to three-quarters of a million dollars just to maintain services,” Auman said. “We've more than accomplished that this year. That's why this campaign is so important to our agencies and the people in our community who increasingly must turn to them for help,” he explained.

United Way President Marc R. Levy stated that the United Way Campaign is gaining momentum. “We're seeing more support and understanding of the importance of a community-wide campaign,” Levy said. “People have really stepped up during these continued tough economic times and that means more dollars for services when they are vitally needed.”

“If others are still considering if this is the time to support their local United Way , absolutely it is,” Levy stated. “We're in the midst of a significant economic shift. More people are facing the potential of layoffs and jobs leaving the community, so we must ensure a safety net is in place.”

The campaign supports a network of more than 80 local health and human service agencies, including the American Red Cross, Dayton Area Chapter, the largest recipient of United Way funding. Tom Fodor, Red Cross Chief Executive Officer, commented, “It is very gratifying that the Dayton community is realizing the value of the United Way approach. The teamwork all our agencies demonstrated last year, with the United Way at its core, will serve the community well for years to come. No longer are we just about compassion, but we also stand together for efficiency and impact.”

The campaign growth was driven by increased employee campaigns at 258 companies and 71 increased corporate gifts. Overall, employee campaigns rose 0.25%, corporate giving was up 4.6%, and individual giving grew 25.2%.

Leading the growth among industry sectors was the IT division which grew 39%. Other major gains were achieved among the Accounting Firms (16% increase), Architects and Engineers (12% increase), Physicians (12% increase), Law Firms (10% increase), and Hospitals (7% increase). Under the leadership of Labor Co-Chair John Burns, Teamsters Local 957, giving by employees of the local unions was up 35%. Employees of national companies with a local presence that participate in a special United Way program called National Corporate Leadership increased their giving by 24%.

Communities with significant corporate gift increases include: Downtown Dayton, up 11%; Preble County , up 12%; Greene County , up 13%; and Vandalia and Huber Heights , up 13%. Leading the gains in employee giving were companies in: Preble County , up 9%; the Northwest Corridor, up 7%; Vandalia and Huber Heights , up 7%; and Downtown Dayton, up 5%.

Efforts by Board members and other volunteers in the last few weeks helped put the campaign over goal. Several new gifts were obtained, some organizations who had not yet participated made pledges, and some companies increased their contributions.

###