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The United Way is moving from a pre- to post-campaign fund
distribution process.
"Up until now we held our allocations hearings in June
of each year. Then the allocations awards by the six panels
were actually paid to the agencies from November 1 to October
31," says executive director of the United Way of Lebanon
County Mark Hoffman. "The budget was being determined
before the campaign was actually conducted. Where this sometimes
causes trouble is if the campaign falls short of goal and
then we have to try to determine how to meet the allocations
commitments to the agencies. So, following this year when
the campaign did fall short of the goal, the Board made
the decision and commitment to move to a post-campaign process."
The United Way fiscal year, currently from November 1 to
October 31, will also change to July 1 to June 30 to fall
in line with the new allocations year. "It wasn't required
or necessary to do this," says Hoffman, "but it
will simplify our accounting to have both timelines align.
Also, many of our agencies have this same fiscal year and
it will help simplify accounting for them as well."
The Community Needs Impact Grants application review and
awards process will also move ahead to a spring schedule
from a summer timeline as part of the changes. Starting
this year, payout of the grants will likewise follow the
July 1-June 30 year.
"The campaign will continue to be a fall campaign,
and the goal will continue to be established based on the
success of previous campaigns, community needs and the perception
by the Campaign Cabinet and the Board as far as the capacity
of the community based on economic conditions," says
Hoffman. "Whether we meet the goal, exceed it or fall
short in January, we'll know the outcome in time for the
new allocations hearings week in March to allocate the funds.
The campaign is very much in the public's minds as being
a fall event and that will not change."
The allocations process is very involved and engages some
50 volunteers from the community who serve among six volunteer
panels. Each panel reviews four to six agencies by analyzing
their financial reports, touring their facilities and meeting
with their personnel in order to make informed decisions.
There will be an eight-month transition period from November
1, 2009 to June 30, 2010. During this time the agencies
will receive monthly funding.
"If we were starting our United Way from scratch,
we would definitely go with a post-campaign process, however
it's the transition time that makes it tricky," he
explains. "Following research and discussion by our
Finance & Audit Committee and Executive Committee, and
based on our cash flow of the past three years, we should
be able to make this transition fairly easily. We have a
timeline that goes through 2011 and each United Way member
agency received a letter informing them of the changes.
Initial feedback has been favorable."
"This is a great change," adds Hoffman. "It's
been a long talked about and desired goal for our United
Way. I believe it will be very helpful to our budget planning
because we'll be working with knowledge of how the campaign
actually performed rather than making all the plans before
it's been conducted."
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