Published: September 27, 2008 09:41 pm         

Giving to charity

Nonprofit organizations see mixed results when it comes to donations.

With an increase in bills, groceries and gas prices, consumers nationwide are having to watch every dollar they spend.

One of the areas some people are cutting back is their charitable donations.

While some local nonprofit organizations are experiencing a drop in monetary donations, others haven’t felt the decline as much.

Jill Baughman, executive director of The American Red Cross, said monetary donations have started falling off. She believes the price of gas and the state of the economy has something to do with it.

Whatever the reason, Baughman said she is concerned for the organization if the donations don’t come in.

“All the money comes from United Way or donations from the people,” she said. “We are concerned because we need that money to help us do our mission.”

Even with the same amount of money flowing in from the United Way this year, Baughman said local chapter of The American Red Cross came out behind in funding.

“We actually we came out a little bit in the red because we had a bunch of fires,” she said. “We had a little bit of funding to pull elsewhere, which helped. We can’t keep doing that.”

Joyce Gebhardt, executive director of the United Way of Cass County, said if the organizations the United Way supports can’t earn enough donations on their own, programs will have to be cut. The Red Cross helps with disasters, links military personnel with their families, sponsors blood drives and offers health and safety services, which includes CPR training.

Logansport Goodwill Industries floor manager Sandy Bailey said she has also seen a decrease in material donations.

“We’re usually to the top to the ceiling now,” she said. “People are still contributing, but it’s not as good as last year.”

The profits Goodwill makes through donations fund job training to prepare people to enter the workforce, according to its Web site. More than 84 percent of its total revenues are used to fund education and career services.

Bailey does not have an answer for the decrease in donations. She said she didn’t know if people were just donating to other organizations or if they just have less items to donate.

A decline in material donations is not good for the store, Bailey said.

“We live off donations,” she said. “If we don’t have the donations, we don’t have the items to sell. I know the main headquarters is very low on donations, so we need them.”

When donations have been low in the past, Bailey said the workers’ hours had to be cut.

If the donations continue to decline in the future, she said the store would be in big trouble.

“If we don’t have the stuff to sell, I would assume we would have close,” she said.

Gebhardt said even though the United Way is early in its campaign to raise funding, she has not seen a decline.

As in the past, this year’s general fund campaign was started by a group of local companies to set the pace for raising money. While this year’s companies raised $176,000 of the overall goal of $508,000, compared to last year’s $200,000 out of $500,000, Gebhardt said these two numbers can’t be compared.

She explained that the Pacesetters are made up of different firms each year, which consist of different amounts of workers.

“At this point, those that have reported have been at or increased the giving from last year,” she said.

Gebhardt said members of the United Way understand times are difficult for some, but that only means there is a greater need for donations.

So far, members of the organization have been pleased.

“We expected the donations to be less and hard to come by, but at the same time, we are always amazed how the community comes together to recognize the needs,” Gebhardt said.

While she can’t predict what may happen in the future, Gebhardt said she knows it could be difficult to secure donations in the future.

She said in the past when the goal has not been reached, funding had to be cut to the United Way’s different member organizations, such as Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, Big Brothers Big Sisters and The American Red Cross.

For those who can’t donate money, both The American Red Cross and United Way depend on donations of time just as much as money.

“There are only two staff people, so we rely on hundreds of volunteers to conduct the community-wide fundraising campaign, as well as other events, such as Live United Day,” said Gebhardt.

Baughman said there has been an increase of volunteers with The American Red Cross. She believes the biggest reason for the increase was the flooding in White County earlier this year.

Looking into the future, members from all three nonprofit organizations are trying to keep hopes high.

Bailey said with the holiday season nearing, she hopes donations will increase.

Gebhardt said it is unclear what the future may hold, but she said the United Way of Cass County will provide better awareness for what it does and make sure community members are aware how the donations are spent.

As for Baughman, she doesn’t know if the trend will continue.

“I really hope not, so we can be there when people need us,” she said. “It’s hard to say.”

Denise Massie can be reached at (574) 732-5151 or via e-mail at denise.massie@pharostribune.com