Next Move Is Up to Donors

A year of belt tightening and a stepped-up pace appear to have put United Way of Ventura County back on track. Officials last week announced that the charity organization has eliminated its nearly $1-million deficit much earlier than expected and has completed a successful pledge drive that will allow it to meet all of its commitments this year.

Now the challenge is to maintain the new-found efficiency when the 1999 campaign begins in September.

Last year, United Way came up $500,000 short and had to cut its commitments to local charities by about 30%. That shortfall, plus a growing deficit, left United Way $973,655 in the red at the end of the 1996-97 fiscal year.

New leadership drew up a three-year plan to eliminate the deficit but high staff turnover and other cutbacks allowed it to get rid of the deficit in just one year. And although the most recent campaign fell $200,000 short of its goal of raising $5.5 million, the 55 United Way member agencies will not receive any less financial aid than they were promised.

Among the innovations President Sheryl Wiley Solomon plans to continue is the strategy of conducting the fund drive over 90 days rather than nine months. The longer campaign was partly to blame for United Way’s problems: The organization was giving out money to local charities before it had collected it. Now it makes sure it has collected its pledges before making its allocations.

Ventura County’s need for an effective United Way has never been in question. Recipient groups range from the Red Cross and Salvation Army to small, local nonprofits that feed the hungry, shelter battered women and children, steer youths away from gangs, combat such diseases as cancer, AIDS and heart disease, care for the sick and elderly, fight drug and alcohol abuse and perform other vital duties.

The turnaround should do much to restore potential donors’ faith that their gifts will be efficiently handled. We hope that will help change the shameful fact that Ventura County’s per-capita donation is only $6.12--less that half the national average for similar areas.