United Way? So that a full 8% of their millions of dollars of donations can go to charities of their choice?
(From the Loveland Reporter Herald, although the font & all don't come through)
Larimer County
Print Email Font Resize
United Way sets record, agencies get less
$7.9 million raised, but tiny slice finds its way to nonprofit service providers
By Tom Hacker Reporter-Herald Staff Writerreporterherald.com
Posted: 05/31/2012 09:53:14 PM MDT
If the level of charitable giving is a reliable economic indicator, as some economists say, then the record $7.9 million banked by the United Way of Larimer County this year might tell us the recession is over.
But of that amount, just $620,000 -- less than 8 percent of the total -- found its way to nonprofit organizations in Northern Colorado, including those in Loveland that struggle to provide services.
And, many of the agencies that serve the homeless, disabled, elderly and other people most at risk in the still-fragile economy have had their United Way allocations slashed by half or more this year compared to last.
"I was incredibly discouraged," said Lori Daigle, executive director of the Alliance for Suicide Prevention of Larimer County. "We were told from the beginning that there would be about $1 million available for the grants. We were later called to a meeting and told it would be closer to $600,000."
Daigle's agency relies on United Way funding for a small percentage of its $97,000 annual budget. Last year, the grant was $8,000. This year, she learned this week, it would be $5,000.
'Something's Not Right'
"Disheartening is the word that best describes how I feel," Daigle said. "It feels like something's not right with my community family."
Haves, Have Nots
Many nonprofit agencies funded through the United Way of Larimer County received bad news this week about their 2012 grant awards, despite a record $7.9 million fundraising year by the United Way. Here is a sampling of some of the hardest hit, and their awards this year compared to last.
Sexual Assault Victim Advocate Center (victim services)
2011: $31,900
2012: $16,000
Alternatives to Violence (victim services)
2011: $23,000
2012: $10,710
Disabled Resource Services
2011: $57,0002012: $10,000
House of Neighborly Service
2011: $77,000
2012: $51,800
Crossroads Safehouse
2011: $78,000
2012: $38,500
United Way of Larimer County president and CEO Gordan Thibedeau said the decline in grant awards to the grass-roots nonprofit agencies in the county was the result of changes in the way people give.
More of them are electing to designate their United Way gifts to specific agencies, including many well outside the community.
"It's a national phenomenon," Thibedeau said. "If the trends in designations continue, the number we have available for allocations will continue to fall. Each year, it becomes less."
Frustration among those who manage service agencies funded through the United Way stems not just from the decline in grant awards, but from the way the grant program was handled this year.
The $1 Million Number
It starts with the $1 million forecast that the United Way gave its partner agencies when the current year's grant cycle began. That number gave the agencies at least an inkling of how their requests might fare during the process.
Thibedeau denies that the agency directors were told how big the pie would be before it was sliced.
"I think there might have been some miscommunication," he said. "We have these volunteer panels that monitor the grants. But I can assure you I never said, nor did anyone on my staff, that $1 million would be available."
But a widely distributed email to agency directors during the grant process spelled out the United Way's expectations.
"United Way anticipates investing approximately $1,000,000 annually through this grant program," Darcy McClure, the United Way's vice president of community investment, wrote in the December message.
"The numbers tell us that some difficult decisions are in the works, and not every applicant will be awarded funding."
Not So Neighborly
Some of Loveland's bedrock service agencies, including the House of Neighborly Service, were hard-hit with cuts this year. HNS received slightly more than $77,000 in 2011, and executive director Glorie Magrum said she learned this week the 2012 award would be $51,800.
"It's about a 40 percent cut," Magrum said. "But what was the biggest shock for me was the amount they raised -- the $7.9 million figure."
Thibedeau said the largest share of the United Way's 2012 receipts, about half, would go toward broader initiatives that the agency itself has launched, apart from the work of its nonprofit "community impact partners," as the agency calls groups like Magrum's and Daigle's.
Multi-Year Programs
The United Way's long-term projects "have the focus on cutting poverty in Larimer County by half by 2025," Thibedeau said. "I can't tell you how much I'd love to have another $2 million going to the agencies. ... But we're taking that long-term approach.
Both Magrum and Daigle said the intent behind the new projects was worthy, but that the money spent there would leave gaps in funding that smaller agencies are ill-equipped to plug.
"It's almost as if we're now competing with the United Way for dollars," Magrum said. "It's going to be challenging for a lot of the nonprofits to compete with another big organization and their new programs. ... The United Way has worked very hard over the years to build support in Loveland, and it's going to be very hard to preserve that."
Tom Hacker can be reached at 669-5050, ext. 521, or
[email protected].
Copyright 2012 Loveland Reporter-Herald. All rights reserved.
Print Email Font ResizeReturn to Top
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
