United Way Sets $21.4-Million Record Despite ’90 Economic Dip

Despite a sluggish year-end economy and the escalating Persian Gulf crisis, the United Way of Orange County received $21.4 million in pledges last year, the most in its 60-year history, officials announced Wednesday.

The unprecedented amount was generated even though a 1990 survey showed that county residents were contributing nearly 30% less to charitable organizations than in the previous year.

The $21.4 million, announced at a dinner banquet in Anaheim, represented a 4% increase from the 1989 pledge level, but it was shy of the goal of $22.5 million, United Way spokesman Jeff Rocke said.

However, he added, the organization was pleased with the result.

“Considering the circumstances in the economy and the distractions in the Persian Gulf, we’re extremely pleased with the outcome of the campaign,” he said. “Relative to other charities in the community and other United Ways around the country, what the campaign achieved is quite good.”

Rocke attributed part of the success of the campaign to the group’s new Donor Choice Program, which the chapter instituted last year to allow donors to specify the areas in which their money would be spent.

“Donors are becoming more independent and better educated about issues and where they want to help the community,” he said. “This gives them a system for responding to problems that are important to them.”

The top three issues garnering pledges last year were child care, homelessness and physical and sexual abuse.

Rocke said the chapter’s abundant pledge harvest cut against the general downturn that other charities reported and belied portraits of Orange County as a sparing, “greedy” place.

“We’ve never seen any data that support the speculation that Orange County is somehow self-absorbed or greedy or things of that nature. Quite the contrary,” he said. “And with time it will become more responsive than it already is.”

Officials had expected the gulf crisis to funnel away “a good amount” in contributions, as about 5,000 military personnel in the county were shipped to the Mideast, but there was no significant drop in local pledges.

“I think people recognized that (because) the economy wasn’t the best that it could be, there would be more people who needed help,” Rocke said.

“People were aware that there’s kind of a paradox, and that is when people are experiencing lean times, that’s when the money is needed most.”