The United Way of Johnson County has raised a record amount of money in its annual campaign to fund local organizations that help people in need.
The agency raised $1,539,000, which was about $27,000 short of the $1.56 million dollar goal — a 4.7 percent increase over what was raised last year.
The money raised, primarily through employees pledging money and businesses donating, goes to support 18 local agencies, including Gateway Services, Youth Connections and American Red Cross. Fundraising also supports eight United Way programs, such as Christmas Angels, which gives children holiday gifts, and Fast Track, which gives school supplies to hundreds of needy children in the county.
An estimated 37,000 people in the county were helped by a United Way agency last year, officials said.
United Way leaders will now have to evaluate how much they give to the nonprofit agencies they support, and those agencies will have to make the decision on how to budget the money they receive, said Nancy Lohr-Plake, executive director of the United Way of Johnson County.
The amount raised fell short of the goal, but is still a record for the non-profit agency, Plake said. Organization leaders announced the results at their annual celebration Tuesday at the Sycamore at Mallow Run.
And all of the money is coming from businesses and people in the county, since the United Way did not receive any outside grants that would help them make their goal, she said.
Volunteers concentrated on encouraging existing companies’ campaigns to increase their donations and looked at giving that may have decreased over the years and targeted those businesses to ask for more, Plake said.
Four companies also started new campaigns which included the new Meijer in Franklin, Marshalls, Lake City Bank and the Greater Greenwood Chamber of Commerce. Those companies worked to bring in an additional $17,000 to the campaign.
Campaigns in the government and nonprofit sector increased their giving about $3,000 more than their goal. Retail campaigns in general also exceeded their goal, and professional firms in the county met their fundraising goal, Plake said.
United Way volunteers go into companies and encourage employees to pledge from their paycheck and to find internal ways to fundraise for the agency by showing them that their money stays in the county, supporting local nonprofit agencies, said Betty DuSold, United Way board president for the 2017-2018 campaign.
“The money does stay in Johnson County and you can see the impact of giving,” she said.
The agency also met its goal from mailing donation cards to residents, Plake said.
Organizers also worked with local businesses with more than 40 employees to start campaigns or to increase their giving.
Business owners are more inclined to give when they know that the money stays in their communities and they can see where the money goes, Plake said.
“When the owner lives in Johnson County or central Indiana, they understand philanthropy, they understand United Way and they understand giving back to the community,” she said. “It is always so much better when you can talk to someone with that mind set.”
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Here’s a look at how much has been raised by United Way of Johnson County during the past five years:
2018: $1,539,000
2017:$1,505,798
2016: $1,486,000
2015: $1,455,000
2014: $1,430,000
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