United Way Tops $5.12-Million Goal : Fund raising: The donations arrive despite the recession and a scandal at the national level.

Despite a recession and a scandal at the national level, United Way’s fund-raising campaign has exceeded its $5.12-million goal for Ventura County, agency officials said Friday.

“Given the backdrop of the economy and other issues, I am pleased,” said Mary Kaiser, campaign chairwoman and executive vice president at the Bank of A. Levy. The drive ends March 31.

Because of the recession, last year’s target of $6.6 million fell short by about $800,000. So this year, United Way directors set their sights on a lower goal.

Since the goal has been met, United Way’s total funding pot for the 1993-94 year may be no less than the $3.4 million that went to charitable groups last year, agency officials said. The rest of the money is accounted for by uncollected pledges and administrative costs.

United Way, an umbrella agency for 61 charitable groups that serve Ventura County residents, is reviewing applications from those groups for this year’s disbursement, and specific funding recommendations will be made in June.

United Way reduced funding by 27% last year and member agencies, like the local chapter of the American Red Cross, took substantial cuts.

“We hope to gain back some of the loss,” said Brian Bolton, executive director of the local chapter.

In hopes of boosting donations this year, United Way also took a new fund-raising approach, one designed to spur a little friendly competition among the county’s cities. Instead of focusing on its countywide goal, the campaign shifted to individual drives within the communities.

Camarillo and Ventura probably will meet their goals, while the others probably will reach only 75% or better, agency officials anticipate. However, the countywide goal was topped because another large group of donors--federal state and county employees, large chains, aerospace companies and utilities--have already exceeded their goal by almost 12%.

“We feel very successful,” Kaiser said. The latest figures on Friday showed a total of $5,129,259.

In addition to the sluggish economy, the campaign had another bugaboo to deal with. William Aramony retired one year ago as president of United Way of America in the wake of allegations that he used charitable contributions to finance a lavish lifestyle that included Concorde jet flights to Europe and limousine services.

How much the scandal affected donations won’t be known until United Way gets back surveys from the campaign, Kaiser said. “It probably made people think twice,” she said.

The local economy was an even bigger problem, she said. Companies are reducing the size of their work forces to cut costs, so there are fewer employees for United Way volunteers to appeal to.

Higher unemployment cost United Way about $500,000, she estimated. There were other blows as well.

In Oxnard, Abex Aerospace, once the city’s largest employer, began layoffs in preparation for closing its plant by the end of the year. In the past, Abex employees raised $30,000 for the United Way campaign. This year, nothing was raised, said Marti Kessler, United Way’s campaign director.

The Santa Paula-Fillmore campaign, at 71% of its goal, was lagging slightly behind the Oxnard and Moorpark drives. Some companies and organizations, especially those dealing with agriculture, had participated in the campaign in the past but simply couldn’t do so this year, United Way officials said.

Overall, the new community-based campaigns went well, agency officials said, and the same approach probably will be used next year with a more refined goal-setting process.

“People tend to own that campaign a little bit more when it is in their own town,” Kessler said. “It brought the campaign home right into people’s back yards, where they could see it and touch it.”

And the competitive aspect probably helped too, she said. “It’s just a natural thing, when you see those thermometers and charts, that you want where you live to be doing well.”

United Way Campaign Percent of 1992 county goals reached to date. The campaign ends this month. Percent: Camarillo: 95% Goals: $289,154 Percent: Conejo Valley: 88% Goals: $732,827 Percent: Moorpark: 75% Goals: $122,216 Percent: Ojai: 87% Goals: $42,695 Percent: Oxnard: 76% Goals: $449,375 Percent: Santa Paula / Fillmore: 71% Goals: $68,586 Percent: Simi Valley: 83% Goals: $252,482 Percent: Ventura: 99% Goals: $484,361 Percent: Other*: 112% Goals: $2,725,000 * Includes donations from utilities, aerospace, government agencies and individuals.