United Way Campaign Reaches Goal in Second Consecutive Year

March 1, 2007, Dayton, OH - 2006 United Way Campaign Chair David Kinsaul, President and CEO of the Children's Medical Center of Dayton, announced today that the United Way of the Greater Dayton Area 2006 Campaign exceeded the goal for the second year in a row, raising $11,800,405 in support of the local network of health and human services in Montgomery, Greene and Preble Counties.

The 2006 Campaign had to raise nearly one million dollars in new or increased contributions due to corporate relocations, plant closings, and worries about job stability to reach the goal. The results are up $52,405 over the 2005 Campaign total of $11,748,000. A total of 799 companies and organizations participated in the annual campaign this year. To offset the losses and achieve overall growth: two dozen companies achieved increases of $5,000 or more over the prior year for a combined increase of more than $500,000 and many others had modest increases; corporate donations were up nine percent; and several companies made special one-time contributions to ease the effects of a smaller employee base.

"That is the picture and story of the economy and the campaign," Kinsaul said. "Positive results at major companies experiencing growth and stability, coupled with small but very significant increases at hundreds of organizations and from thousands of individuals , enabled us to reach the goal and raise more money than last year."

Nearly three-quarters of the funds (74%) were donated by employees participating in workplace campaigns. The balance was raised from corporate donations (21%), as well as nearly 1,000 individual gifts (4%) and special events (1%).

United Way President Marc R. Levy said, "This campaign really demonstrated the power of working together and that every gift matters whether large or small." He emphasized the importance of meeting the campaign goal to the local network of 86 Partner Agencies.

"Our community generously stepped up and that means more dollars for services when they are vitally needed," Levy said. "The funds will help sustain core services and be used to support initiatives related to positive youth development and financial stability and independence in 2007."

Seven companies earned the 2006 Pinnacle Award. These companies have a long history of generosity, ran exceptional workplace campaigns that utilized best practices, and supported the community-wide fund drive through volunteer involvement, media sponsorships, and special efforts such as retiree campaigns:

• Under 100 Employees: Day International and McGohan Brabender
• 100 to 499 Employees: Coldwell Banker Heritage Realtors, Mike-Sell's Potato Chip Company, and Thompson Hine LLP
• 500+ Employees: The Berry Company, Dayton Power & Light and GE Money