Friday, April 12, 2002 5:31AM EDT
9-11 hits United Way funds
By LORENZO PEREZ, Staff Writer
Triangle United Way's 80 member agencies took a surprise budget hit Thursday, the result of more local donors than expected designating their money to help victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Although they met a $26 million annual fund-raising goal, United Way officials told member agencies to expect a 25 percent cut.
When money for Sept. 11 victims, pledges designated for nonmember agencies, administrative costs and other expenses are deducted, only $8.6 million is left in the coming 2002-03 budget year for member agencies such as the Boys and Girls Clubs of Wake County. That's $2.8 million less than Triangle United Way gave member agencies last year.
Although the amount doesn't take into account pledges specifically earmarked for member agencies, it means tough times for nonprofit agencies that get the bulk of their United Way money through its general pledge fund.
"We had asked for an increase for next year," said Ralph Capps, executive director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Wake County. "Obviously, we're going to have to be more aggressive in raising funds ourselves."
The club relies on the United Way to provide about 40 percent of its operating budget, Capps said. A 25 percent cut in United Way money could mean turning away as many as 300 children from the clubs' youth development programs, he said.
Roger L. Perry, chairman of Triangle United Way's board of directors, said the agency now must do a better job of communicating local needs to potential donors. With state and local governments facing drastic budget cuts, public funding of local charities is a challenge.
"We recognize that we've got to do a better job of demonstrating the tremendous work that the United Way agencies do, what the needs in our community are, and we need to get people engaged and sensitized," Perry said.
Triangle United Way, the largest local private benefactor of human services, has set fund-raising records five years in a row. Last fall, it extended its campaign three weeks to reach its goal. It announced that in addition to the $26,170,154 raised, it had collected $676,191 in pledges for The September 11th Fund.
After sorting through all the campaign pledges, United Way officials said, they realized many of the donations to the general pledge fund were really earmarked for New York's American Red Cross chapter and other agencies serving victims of the attacks.
"Sept. 11 was a huge tragedy, and we're glad that we are able to get the community together to donate," said Jill Cox, Triangle United Way's spokeswoman. "But now we have to look at the home front."
Directors of member agencies braced for bad news when told to expect an announcement Thursday. But at worst, they expected a 15 percent budget cut, said Linda Ornt, executive director of Triangle Reading Service.
"This took the wind out of a lot of people's sails," she said.
Ornt's agency, a radio newspaper-reading service for the blind in 16 North Carolina counties, has an annual operating budget of $116,000. The agency recently learned that the city of Raleigh is cutting its contribution to about $2,250, about half what it gave last year, Ornt said. Last year, the agency got nearly $21,000 in general United Way money and about $14,000 in designated pledges.
It counted on more money this year, not less, Ornt said.
"We're scrambling to find money everywhere we can," she said. "It was definitely not the news we needed today."
This falls under the category of "I Wonder Why -- NOT"