Head of Slumping Charity Resigns

The president of the United Way of Ventura County has resigned to return to corporate public affairs and communications.

Sheryl Wiley Solomon, who has served as president for three years, will remain with the United Way as a consultant on acquiring major gifts, said Carol Burhoe, chairwoman of the local United Way’s board of directors. Although donations are down this year, that has nothing to do with Solomon’s departure, Burhoe said.

“She’s done a great job,” Burhoe said. “Her true love has always been the outside consulting, and she’s very good at it. We’re very sorry to see her go.”

Solomon, who does not have a new job yet, will be replaced on an interim basis by Suzanne Drace, president of the board of directors of the Channel Islands Ballet.

Solomon previously worked in St. Louis for Monsanto and Ralston Purina. Before joining her husband in Ventura County in August 1996, she served for 10 years on a national committee for United Way of America.

For a few years before she came aboard, the Ventura County chapter had been giving away more money than it had been raising, Solomon said. As a result, the chapter had a deficit of about $1.2 million.

“We had to take immediate action,” Solomon said. “It was a daunting task.”

By cutting costs, reducing grants to agencies and increasing donations from the community, the chapter eliminated its deficit by May 1999, she said. Solomon changed the ongoing, nine-month United Way campaign to a “90-day blitz” from September to December.

The agency also publicly recognized companies that increased their donation to the United Way.

The 1998-99 campaign, Solomon’s first as president, earned $5.3 million, about $115,000 more than the previous year. In 1999-2000, donations increased to $5.5 million. That, combined with the elimination of the agency’s deficit, enabled the United Way to make a 39% increase in funding to the agencies it helps.

“We were really on a roll using the revamped campaign process,” Solomon said.

The 2000-01 campaign has proved less successful. A downturn in the national economy has hit charitable organizations, which tend to rely on discretionary income.

In September, the local chapter hoped to earn $5.7 million for the campaign. In December, the agency reduced its goal to $5.3 million. The campaign, which ends Saturday, is “hovering around the $5 million mark,” Solomon said.

Of the 400 Ventura County companies that contribute to the United Way, about 140 have reported lower campaign results this year, accounting for about $400,000 in lost revenue, she said.

At a monthly meeting of 52 county recipient agencies on June 6, Solomon alerted organizations that the United Way would be reducing its levels of giving.