By Sharon Salyer
Herald Writer
With one click of a mouse, you can give $1 to United Way without even opening your wallet.
The innovative campaign, called Click to Care, is under way and continues through March 26, made possible by a pledge from Verizon to match clicks with dollars for up to $25,000.
It’s the first time United Way of Snohomish County has had this type of Internet campaign, and it may be the first such effort among United Ways nationally, local president Brent Stewart said.
The online campaign is part of an effort by United Way of Snohomish County officials to help close a $900,000 funding shortfall in its annual drive. Unless more money is raised, 50 social service agencies could face cuts of 25 percent.
As one other step in trying to bring in more dollars, the annual campaign, which usually closes the last week in February, has been extended until March 31.
United Way officials, like leaders of other local social service organizations, said a local economy shaken by Boeing layoffs and donations to disaster relief organizations following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have hurt fund-raising.
Specifically, a decline in pledges from Boeing employees appears to have been a cause. This year, pledges from Boeing employees dropped 15 percent, or between $400,000 and $500,000, compared with the previous year, Boeing spokesman Timothy Nowlis said.
Not all the decline can be blamed on layoffs, he said. Some donors left the company since making their pledges in May. Others were unsure how stable their jobs would be.
Boeing employees donated $3.2 million this year, with an additional corporate donation of $803,000, he said. Added together, Boeing employee and corporate pledges have significant clout in the annual United Way fund-raising campaign, amounting to about 40 percent of total pledges.
When looking at causes for this year’s dropoff in donations, Nowlis said "one of the big factors … you look at is how dependent they are on Boeing and Boeing employees."
Not all local organizations reported dropoffs in donations. The Snohomish Health District and Providence Everett Medical Center said donations were the same as the previous year.
"Our organization is involved in a lot of health, social and educational services, so we recognize the value of those kind of community needs," said Charlene Crow-Shamback, who led the health district’s United Way campaign this year.
John Ziemer, who headed the United Way campaign at the medical center, said that while employees talked about the economy, layoffs and Sept. 11 as factors in their donations, they were still able to match the previous year’s giving, raising about $50,000.
One other issue simmering in the background, and cited by some area residents as a reason for not giving, is United Way’s controversial nondiscrimination policy announced in October 2000.
Although it applies to all groups that United Way funds, it followed a U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding the Boy Scout’s policy excluding openly gay men and boys. This decision focused attention on the Scouts, which bans gays, and its funding sources.
The local United Way’s policy requires all groups seeking funding to have a written nondiscrimination policy, adopted by their boards, that affirms its commitment "to include at every level of its work all segments of the community without regard to … race, creed, color, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, marital status or ability."
Effective July 1, United Way will not allocate donations from its general Community Care fund to any group that discriminates.
United Way officials said they have not received many phone calls this year about the policy, but for some it remains a hot-button issue.
Yvonne Vana of Everett said she and her husband had given to United Way in previous years.
"We believe there’s a moral responsibility where we donate our money to," she said.
Vana said she is a Christian, and homosexuality "is something we believe to be immoral."
"I’m a mom, a wife, a grandmother," she said. "I’m not a bigot. But the Boy Scouts have been treated unfairly."
You can call Herald Writer Sharon Salyer at 425-339-3486
or send e-mail to salyer@heraldnet.com.
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