Phil Parker LIVES UNITED

We are stepping up the frequency of our communications to you to seek feedback and close the campaign gap. Today we are sharing a call for more donations from Dayton Chamber President Phil Parker that ran in the Dayton Daily News on Sunday, February 28th. Please share this message with your friends and colleagues. Every dollar and every opinion matters. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Allen H. Elijah
President, United Way of the Greater Dayton Area

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Community Nonprofits Need Help

Recently you have more than likely learned about the challenge facing our region's United Way and its raising enough dollars to provide the support for those in need in our community.

As a former campaign chair of the United Way in 1999, I personally know the constant challenges that agency and others it serves face each year in asking our community for help - those issues seem even bigger today.

1999 seems like a lifetime ago. Back then, the campaign had more than 60,000 workplace or direct donors. We're now at 33,000.

Back then, our community gave more than twice what will likely be given this year because we now have fewer givers and fewer corporate workplace campaigns, ironically all at a time when we actually need to raise more because so many of our neighbors are out of work and need our help.

The unemployment rate is over 11 percent versus 4 percent in 1999. All of this makes a big difference in what we now raise.

Regions need an organization that can efficiently help other partnering delivery agencies, and I know for a fact that there is no better system in place to help area nonprofit human-service organizations than our United Way.

Not only is it cost-effective for many agencies because of its historical workplace giving programs, but I know and trust those community volunteers who help direct undesignated contributions like mine to the correct community priorities.

They demand accountability from those organizations that use your and my dollars, and they have the expertise to qualify that demand.

We, as a community, must reinvigorate the culture of payroll deduction and workplace giving with more of our area employers. There is no easier method I know to give a $250 contribution to those in need than by a payroll deduction of less than $10 every two weeks.

After losing General Motors, Delphi and NCR - all which ran corporate campaigns - we must now ask others to step in and share the leadership roles with their fellow business owners and leaders in reestablishing workplace-giving programs.

Anything short of that and we will hear again and again about how our nonprofit service community is suffering the aftermath of insufficient resources.

Other cities like Cincinnati have this strong culture. So why can't we?

This is not a United Way crisis. This is our local dilemma for those excellent nonprofit service organizations that need our assistance to help others less fortunate. Dayton has tackled bigger challenges than this before.

Turning our energies and attention to this is the right thing to do, and getting it done should be a community-wide priority and effort.

Sincerely,

Phillip L. Parker, CAE, CCE