Economic Impact Awards Charitable Organization Finalist: United Way of the Ozarks

In 2006, United Way’s annual campaign raised $3.6 million, and the organization generated $2.2 million from federal, state and local grants.

The organization raises and distributes funds for health and human services agencies in a 13-county area, and all told, United Way reports more than $15 million in programs, services or assistance provided to 291,995 people in the Ozarks in 2006.

Rush said United Way works to make the most of the money it gets.

“We have an affiliated organization called Community Partnership of the Ozarks,” Rush said. “They are all staff members of the United Way, and they operate under a separate corporation. That’s where we are compounding our dollars. In our language, that is called leveraging. We will give them, say, $45,000. That will cover their administrative overhead and they will generate, in contracts and grants … from $2.8 million to $3 million. We are putting a lot of money into the economy by compounding it this way.”

United Way member agencies include American Red Cross, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Court Appointed Special Advocates, Ozarks Literacy Council, The Kitchen Medical and Dental Clinic, The Salvation Army and The Victim Center.

United Way encourages its member agencies to take responsibility for raising their own funds, according to Joe McCarty, executive vice president with Empire Bank and board member of Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield, another United Way member agency.

“You are encouraged to pursue all avenues of fund raising to get new money into the agency,” McCarty said, noting that while it’s not a hard-and-fast rule, United Way prefers to provide about 20 percent of a member agency’s overall budget.

“ … For every dollar that they receive from the United Way, organizations have $4 to $5 in revenue or contributions from other sources,” he added

In addition to raising money, United Way also encourages volunteerism through annual Day of Caring activities. In 2006, more than 1,400 volunteers gave an estimated 11,200 hours of time to work on projects for local nonprofit groups. Calculated at minimum wage, those hours have a value of nearly $60,000.

Rush said that his biggest challenge is sometimes the strong local economy.

“It is easy … to think that everyone is sharing in (meeting community needs) equally, but it is just not true,” Rush said. “For example, there are schools in our area where practically every child is eligible for free and reduced lunches. We have 19,000 children who do not have access to dental care. What we have is this apparent affluence, but there are many in the community who are not sharing in that affluence.”

Rush said a good example is in the area of childhood nutrition. People often don’t think about the number of kids being fed by the Boys and Girls Clubs, which provide meals during after-school and summer programs. Hunger and other problems addressed by United Way are often the sort that can’t be solved by a single agency.

This year, United Way’s Female Leaders In Philanthropy group launched its Hunger Hurts Kids! Campaign, generating more than $60,000 to combat childhood hunger. For the past 15 years, United Way has been a partner in the Letter Carriers Food Drive, which consistently collects more than 100,000 pounds of food to supplement local food pantries.

United Way funds, however, are not all spent on immediate needs, insuring the United Way of the Ozarks will be able to continue its work in the long run.

“We take a portion of those dollars and put it into an endowment fund for the future, not only for your children now but for your children’s children,” Rush said.

United Way of the Ozarks

Address: 320 N. Jefferson Ave., Springfield, MO 65806

Phone: (417) 863-7700

Web site: www.uwozarks.com

Employees: 10 directly; 30 through Community Partnership of the Ozarks affiliate

2006 Revenues: $5.8 million[[In-content Ad]]