United Way 2

Hammondsd10142010228pm
United Way 2
10-14-2010
By Dalton Hammonds

A United Way of the River Cities executive said the agency will shift from its traditional focus of fundraising to increasing the number of people who donate to the organization.

“Fundraising was the end...until about 15 years ago when we (United Way) looked at ourselves and thought maybe we’re not being as effective as we thought we were”, said Laura Gilliam, executive director of the United Way.

Gilliam spoke in front of 100 Marshall University faculty and students Thursday in a luncheon hosted by the SGA and Faculty Senate in the John Marshall room of the Student Center.

In the past the United Way had been only a fundraising vehicle for other organizations throughout the community. “Our focus has been transitioning from a very transactional organization, to an organization that really is looking at what are the major problems and what can we be doing to address the root cause of those problems”, said Gilliam.

The United Way has pinpointed 4 “focus areas” to improve on the aforementioned problems. Learning and earning is a point that focuses on students who leave high school without a diploma as well as adults who lack basic life skills. Health and wellness is concerned with childhood obesity and substance abuse with in the community.

Another area, families and children, is concerned with decreasing unemployment and providing children with positive interaction inside and outside of the home. Basic needs and unforeseen hardships focus on giving independence to individuals who are chronically dependent on community agencies as well as accounting for rare scenarios.

The United Way determines areas of need through community needs assessments and data collected over a period of a year by volunteers.

The United Way remains diligent in its activities to decrease dropout rate, stop childhood obesity and in other areas such as substance abuse, early learning and financial stability. They partner with other organizations in the area to achieve those goals.

“The United Way judges success not by how much money we raise, but by how we achieve the goals that we set,” said Gilliam.

Gilliam said her and the director of resource development and marketing, Cassey Bowden, look to increase the donor base for the organization by 15 percent because they feel it helps them raise the funds they need to improve the community and achieve their goals.