United Way Raises Over $13 million

The United Way of Buffalo & Erie County today Friday that it raised $13,303,633 in pledges for its 2010 Campaign, an increase of $27,118 over the organization’s 2009 Campaign result of $13,276,515. This result marks the organization’s first year-over-year increase since the 2001 Campaign.

“There was no doubt in my mind that as a community we would achieve this result this year,” said Dennis Elsenbeck, regional executive of National Grid, who chaired this year’s Campaign. “I met with hundreds of people throughout Erie County over the course of the Campaign, and it was so clear to me that people want to give back – to do what they can to make a difference for others – and this result shows they did just that.”

The success of this year’s United Way Campaign represents significant progress against one of the goals contained in the organization’s Strategic Plan, released in late 2010 – to reverse a 10-year declining revenue trend. Between 2001 and 2009, Campaign losses totaled nearly 33%, with yearly losses ranging from 1% to 13%. Michael Weiner, United Way president, said the 2010 Campaign result is particularly noteworthy given the region’s continued sluggish economy. “Our community has struggled economically for many years,” he said. “The generosity we have seen this year is overwhelming, especially in these challenging times.”

United Way officials attribute this year’s increase in pledges to a number of factors. Within the organization, staff participated in extensive sales training and took nearly 4,500 meetings with supporters throughout Erie County over the past nine months. Externally, the Campaign saw a 2% increase in corporate and foundation gifts, as well as a marked increase in dollars raised by companies outside of corporate and employee pledges. This increase is largely attributed to last September’s check-out promotion at all Western New York Wegmans locations, which raised over $140,000 for the Erie County Campaign alone. Pledges from 72 organizations that ran a Campaign or gave a corporate gift for the first time this year totaled $119,000. These increases helped offset a significant loss in the State Employees Federated Appeal, which UWBEC administers. The organization attributes this loss primarily to early retirements among State workers and the results of the ongoing State budget crisis.

According to United Way Worldwide (UWW), about half of the 100 largest United Ways across the country either predict or have experienced an increase in their Campaigns this year, with 49% predicting or reporting flat or decreased results. In the aggregate, data from UWW points to Campaign totals ranging from flat to a 3% loss across the country’s largest United Ways for the current year Campaign.
Proceeds from the 2010 Campaign will be invested in dozens of health and human service programs that address the organization’s priorities in Education, Income, and Health and Wellness; support will also be provided to community-wide services at the American Red Cross – Greater Buffalo Chapter and Western New York 2-1-1. Michael Weiner sees this year’s Campaign result as a vote of confidence from donors in the importance of the organization’s work and in its stewardship of their charitable contributions. “Our mission is to bring people, organizations and resources together to improve community well being,” he said. “We are so grateful to all of the individuals and companies who stepped up and gave so generously of their resources so that we can work together to advance quality of life for this community.”