Charitable organizations nervous about recession's continued drag on fundraising

Charitable groups nationwide have experienced a decline in donations, as anxiety over the recession causes people to hold onto their money. Further, since economic changes usually don’t affect charitable giving right away, the full impact likely hasn’t been felt — even if the recession is technically over, as some experts contend.

"Charitable giving is what they call a ‘lagging indicator,’ " says Traci Wickett, president and CEO of United Way of Southern Cameron County. "Normally we run a cycle behind the economy, so a lot of charitable organizations are expecting less revenue this year."

She’s optimistic, however, predicting her organization would bring in about the same amount for 2009 as it did in 2008.

"If I had to project right now I would project level, and I would be very, very happy about that, Wickett says. "I’m very hopeful that we will come in level."

UWSCC raised $1.2 million last year, down from $1.4 million in 2007, according to UWSCC’s resource development director, Mariana Tumlinson.

"Considering what we went through it could have been a lot worse," she says. "I was over the moon when these numbers came in. We were panicking just like everybody else. We didn’t know what was going to happen."

UWSCC gets some of its money from grants but still relies heavily on annual fundraising campaigns, which often entail visits to businesses, government offices and schools. Fundraising officials discuss the organization’s goals and accomplishments and ask for pledges. The effort wouldn’t be possible without hundreds of volunteers, Wickett says.

Groups obviously have a choice whether to raise money for United Way each year. This year, plenty of companies that normally would have launched their individual campaigns by now have yet to do so, even though UWSCC likes to wrap up its campaign by the end of November.

Some of it may be due to the recession, Wickett says. In other cases, companies may be putting off campaigns in anticipation of a big addition to the workforce or otherwise waiting for the right timing. Some companies, on the other hand, may just be waiting to see what happens with the economy, Wickett says.

The Good Neighbor Settlement House gets funding from a variety of sources, including grants through the state, UWSCC and, soon, from the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Rehousing program, part of federal stimulus funding. The Good Neighbor Settlement House also holds fundraisers such as golf tournaments — coming up Oct. 24 — and chicken barbecues. Leo Rosales, Good Neighbor’s executive director, says raising money has gotten tougher.

"It’s a ripple effect, and ultimately the ones who suffer are the people who we serve," he says.

The organization provides an emergency food pantry and other vital services for those in need, as well as after-school tutoring for school-age children and English language classes for adults. And while participation in the golf tourney looks promising so far, donations probably won’t return to pre-recession levels for a while, Rosales says.

"It’s going to be a few more months before we’re back to normal," he says.

Donna Barron is executive director for Tip of Texas Family Outreach, which, like the Good Neighbor Settlement House, gets funding from UWSCC as a "program partner." She says the economy has had a profound effect on donations. Family Outreach holds its major fundraiser each year in April, always with a different theme. This year it was Western, featuring a live band, fancy dinner, dance and auction. About 600 people attended. However, since donors such as banks and hospitals had frozen their charitable giving, private sponsorships were down roughly 20 percent from 2008 — the organization’s best year ever.

That left the group with $15,000 to $20,000 less than normal to provide services this year. Family Outreach is a child abuse prevention program that aims to build stronger parents though family advocacy, referral and support services and education. The organization offers parenting classes, a youth program, and a program for expecting mothers and mothers with newborns. Ironically, at the same time donations have dropped, demand for Family Outreach services has risen, Barron says.

"It affects all the programs we’re trying to do this year because there’s not enough funding for it," she says. "We’re scrambling to keep up with programs and the number of clients have more than doubled. It’s very, very difficult."

The group will start recruiting sponsors in late November or early December for the April 2010 fundraiser.

"Yeah, we’re a little nervous," Barron says. "We’re hoping it’s going to be a little bit easier for people. We’re hoping that businesses are bouncing back, but it’s a little scary."