January 18, 2007
2006 Combined Fund Drive hit a new all-time high
The people have pledged and the numbers are in. The 2006 Combined Fund Drive raised nearly $1.7 million dollars in all, about a 4 percent increase over last year.
“We’re very happy with the total, we’re excited,” said Kerri Everly, program manager for the drive. “We feel this has been a successful campaign.”
The Combined Fund Drive — and really, you’d have to have been living in a tree not to have heard this before — is the state’s workplace giving campaign, which provides faculty and staff the chance to give to their favorite charities through payroll deduction or a single gift. There are more than 2,000 charities to choose from, including local, regional and national charities and programs supporting the arts, the environment, health, education, disaster relief and human services. The campaign ran from Oct. 4 to Dec. 4, and was then extended to Dec. 11.
Everly said campus fundraisers — a luncheon in Facilities Services and gala party in Financial Management, for instance — raised $11,345 and UW employees across the three campuses pledged a total of $1,669,188.
Overall, she said, the Combined Fund Drive raised $1,680,533, reflecting an increase of about 4 percent. That’s slightly lower than the goal of $1.8 million, but a total to be proud of nonetheless.
She said she was pleased that the participation level stayed the same as last year’s 17 percent.
And what, now that the numbers are in, were the leading charity recipients of Combined Fund Drive support? Northwest Harvest proved the single biggest recipient, with a pledged total of $95,394. After that came Planned Parenthood of Washington with $91,354 and United Way of King County with $90,034. And after that came the UW Foundation, which received $71,692.
