United Way Fund Drive Behind Schedule

While pledges to the United Way of Orange County’s annual fund drive are trailing projections, campaign officials said Thursday that they remain “cautiously optimistic” that they will meet their goal of $19.1 million.

About midway through the six-month campaign, pledges are off by about $100,000, said Jeff Urbaniec, senior marketing manager for the United Way. But pledges were off by about $200,000 in early November, which means the gap is closing quickly.

“What I think we’re seeing is this is the giving time of the year,” Urbaniec said. “The holidays always help to make things like that happen.”

It also doesn’t hurt that the end of December is the end of the tax year, when people and companies that have profited during the year look for last-minute write-offs, he said.

The annual campaign has had a topsy-turvy history lately, with donations falling short of the goal in three of the last five years, even as the goal fluctuated between $21 million in 1992 to a low of $18.4 million last year. Pledges peaked at $19.5 million in 1994--$500,000 short of the goal that year.

This year’s goal was set, Urbaniec said, with an eye toward the economic boom underway across Orange County.

However, changes in individual businesses have serious consequences for donations. Highly paid executives who transfer out of the region move their donations with them, supporting United Way programs in their new communities. And business fluctuations affect giving as well.

“UPS is an incredible supporter of the United Way, but when you go through the kind of strike they went through recently, it sets them back for a while,” Urbaniec said. “Every time you see something that happens in the business section, 80% of the time that shift is going to directly impact the United Way. We are so closely tied to the business community.”

Urbaniec said campaign officials are focusing on two approaches to close the gap: asking corporations having profitable years to augment pledges already made and approaching wealthy individuals with personal appeals.

The United Way directly funds 101 Orange County service agencies, gives grants to 15 others and passes along targeted donations--gifts that donors earmarks for specific uses--to about 1,000 organizations, Urbaniec said.

The current campaign began Sept. 19. It ends March 3.