No campaign total yet — it’s ongoing

An April 3 letter requested that United Way announce the total amount raised during the 2007 campaign. I absolutely agree that sharing this information is crucial for donors, for United Way, and, I believe, for the whole community as United Way’s mission is to improve lives throughout Snohomish County. The writer correctly noted that a recent ad thanking donors did not mention the campaign total. The reason is simple — we’re not finished yet.

As much as we’d like to, it’s just not possible for United Way to announce the campaign total as early as we did in years past because many companies have moved their campaigns to spring. This year, 18 companies, several of them quite large, are just now beginning their campaigns. We like to thank donors and companies as soon after most campaigns as possible, traditionally in March, but we simply can’t announce a campaign total until we have it — months later.

Last May, the press release we sent announced a fundraising total of $10.1 million. Donors gave $6.7 million of that total to United Way’s Local Community Fund, which funds health and human service programs here in Snohomish County. The remaining $3.4 million went to local, national and international charities as directed by individual donors.

United Way seeks always to thank donors and inform them about how their contributions to the Local Community Fund are making a difference every day in the lives of our kids, our families and our communities. On our Web site — www.uwsc.org — you will find a full list of grants to 93 local nonprofit programs and other investments in our community that United Way’s dedicated board and volunteers make and monitor as they work to meet people’s needs every day, find long-term solutions to problems and provide the very best stewardship possible for donors.

Carl Zapora