Tygart Valley United Way reaches campaign goal ahead of all others
Feb. 23—FAIRMONT — Tygart Valley United Way was able to battle its way to its fundraising goal this year despite what has been described as a challenging fundraising environment.
The organization held a celebration luncheon at the White Hall Event Center inside Middletown Commons on Thursday.
"Donor participation is down, engagement is down, so we've been trying to find a way to bridge that gap," United Way CEO Brett White said.
Despite challenges like workforce and larger societal changes, the Tygart Valley United Way still managed to become the first United Way in West Virginia to reach its campaign goal. The others in the state are working toward their goals.
This year's campaign, which began in August, raised $631,075 for agencies and nonprofits in the agency's five-county service area. The campaign had 794 individual donors participate in the drive, and 83 businesses provided corporate gifts. Fairmont State University broke its own records raising money this year, bringing in $30,000, while Mon Power raised $64,000. The Rotary Club of Fairmont also presented a $70,000 check at the event, representing the total funds raised from the 16th Annual Celebration of Lights.
The money will go to partner agencies the United Way works with to support in Marion, Randolph, Taylor, Barbour and Tucker counties.
Christi Miller, president of the board of the Tygart Valley United Way, said fundraising challenges this year were due to two major factors, one external and the other internal. The external factor took the shape of the economy, as inflation made it difficult for individuals or businesses to find any excess overhead in their budgets from which to pull donations. The post-COVID environment also played a role, with volunteerism not returning to its previous levels yet.
The internal factor that played a role was a switch in how the campaign is organized. Miller said campaigns are now largely decentralized, with volunteers working to collect donations, rather than having a centralized chair be the face of the campaign.
"This is the second year that we've done this and sometimes that doesn't help," Miller said. "But it is the way that most of these campaigns have gone and they did it this way years ago. So as we learn to navigate not having the face of the campaign out there, other than the volunteers and such that are at the events and go out and ask folks to donate, it just makes it a little bit different."
A return to a chair is not likely. However, Miller said with each effort the United Way learns better ways of running a decentralized campaign, and expects to find the format to find more success with each experience.
Finding success is important. The United Way is the backbone of the support network for underserved residents in Marion County. Julie Sole, director of the Disability Action Center, said that the United Way meeting its campaign goal is crucial for planning her agency's budget. It provides an idea of how much money she has to work with for the coming year.
"I think we have a very blessed community and they do give back," said Sole, who also serves as a Fairmont City Council member. "But, it constantly is educating and re-educating folks about the needs of the community and about the impact that their dollars are really making on the most marginalized people in our community."
With the campaign over and a few months before the start of the next campaign White said it's now time for the yearly postmortem.
"We're gonna take some time to really look at our campaign, and figure out if there's ways for us to improve or engage and figure out," White said. "We need to continue to evolve with the changes in the workforce. And so, that's what we're going to do before next fall."
Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com
