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THIS IS YOUR UNITED WAY
(1998- )
"The Power of U" was the focus of our 1998 campaign
that had many great successes. With G. Douglas Squillario as
chairman; David Jolly, marketing; Jim Jolly, major gifts; Bryan
Macon, strategic planning; Gordon Morehouse, nominations; Dawn
Sanders, campaign chair; Dr. Drayton Sanders, community initiatives;
Ron Weaver, fund distribution; and Bill Weaver, personnel;
the community’s campaign goal was set at $2.9 million.
We exceeded the goal by about $145,000, for a total campaign
of $3,043,865.
Our Alexis de Tocqueville Society ($10,000 + donors) topped
50 members in 1998, doubling in size since its inception in
1996. Leadership and Genesis Club giving ($1,000 and $500 donors)
increased by about 11%.
A new strategic plan was developed under the leadership of
Bryan Macon. His team included: Dr. Billy Bice, Tim Cawood,
Stan Crawford, Betty Higgins, Gordon Morehouse, Mike O’Neill,
Dr. Drayton Sanders, and Ned Wilford.
The Strategic Planning Committee identified five strategic
priorities for further study and action:
Increasing the effectiveness of our community problem solving
and fund distribution systems.
Engaging the Hispanic community.
Communicating the value and output of the United Way system
and recognizing its investors.
Understanding United Way’s responsibilities as a regional
entity.
Developing financial resources beyond the annual campaign.
Using the priorities as a guide, volunteers and staff were
charged with developing a plan that strengthens United Way’s
ability to address each strategic priority and improve our
ability to fulfill our mission.
1999
With returning leadership at the board level, 1999 was a year
bound for success. G. Douglas Squillario served his second
year as chairman, Jim Jolly, major gifts; Bryan Macon, community
investment; Danny Morgan, campaign; Dawn Sanders, past campaign
chair; Scott Sandlin, marketing; Gail Stanley, fund distribution;
Robert Varner, treasurer; and Bill Weaver, personnel. The community’s
annual fundraising goal was set at $3.29 million towards the
three-year benchmark goal of $3.5 million by 2000. The community
exceeded the goal by about $4,000 for a total campaign of $3,301,013.
Our Alexis de Tocqueville Society gained 13 new members during
the 1999 campaign and four members moved to the $25,000 giving
level. Total membership in 1999 was 58 members raising $650,000.
Other significant events in 1999 included agency mergers of
the Family Support Council (formerly the Northwest Georgia
Council on Child Abuse) and the FCS-School Outreach Program;
establishment of the Community Investment Committee to evaluate
the fund distribution process; and our United Way’s first
presence on the Internet –
www.ourunitedway.org
2000
The year 2000 began under the incoming leadership of Bryan
Macon, Chairman of the Board. The rest of the board included
Don Cope, campaign;Chester Chaffin, fund distribution; Scott
Sandlin, marketing; Shane Lovingood, major gifts; Dawn Sanders,
personnel; Doug Squillario, nominations, Penny Carpenter, treasurer;
Ron Weaver, admissions & venture grants, and Danny Morgan,
past campaign chairs.
The community campaign goal was once again achieved, set at
$3.4 million for 2000.
The Alexis de Tocqueville Society reached the 60-member mark,
raising $675,000 for the community.
Other significant events in 2000 included:
The admission of Carter Hope Center as a member agency, which
will strengthen support
of local drug treatment efforts. The agency is under the leadership
of Chuck Smith.
The implementation of "focus areas" as a marketing
tool. These focus areas, increasing
independence, strengthening families, investing in youth, and
meeting emergency needs, allow United Way to better impart the types of services available
under the United Way member agency umbrella.
The addition of two staff members, Angelica Wolf as the assistant
campaign
coordinator, and Brian K. Rohrer as the communications director.
Make-A-Difference Day was celebrated on over 175 adults and
youth volunteers took
part in Operation Clean Sweep. Clean Sweep linked area high
school students with
elderly individuals throughout Murray and Whitfield counties
with the purpose of
assisting with light housekeeping and cleaning.
VolunTEENS was introduced as a way to recognize youth volunteers
in the community. Our VolunTEENS have been very active in their
philanthropic efforts, participating in such events as Make-A-Difference
Day and Day-of-Caring, to name a few.
2001
2001 proved to be a great year for United Way, with Bryan
Macon beginning his second year as Board of Directors Chair.
Thomas Poston was appointed Campaign Chair.
Discussion with the Voluntary Action Center regarding the
possible merger of it and the United Way began in April with
Chester Chaffin being appointed to lead the effort. A formal
agreement to merge was signed in June, with the new program
set being named "United Way’s Community Connection" in
July. Information and referral services were improved in August
by creating a "211" dialing designation in Murray
and Whitfield counties. Individuals interested in getting or
giving help now had an easy and effective way to reach our
community help center.
The campaign goal was announced in September at $3,440,000.
This represented only a 1% increase over the previous year,
however tightness in the local economy and the subsequent terrorist
attack on September 11 showed this to be a prudent decision.
Poston’s cabinet worked diligently. The Alexis de Tocqueville
Society, chaired by Jerry and Elizabeth Arnold found success – concluding
the year with 62 members. The goal was met and success announced
to the public in December.
For the second consecutive year, United Way volunteers and
local high school students participated in Make a Difference
Day. This year they assisted in the renovation of the Cheerhaven
Gym, as well as the grounds and some offices.
2002
2002 was a year of challenges and opportunities. Under the
leadership of Chairman Bryan Macon, the organization undertook
a complete overhaul of its internal structure, campaign management
and accounting systems. At the same time, United Way’s
merger with the Voluntary Action was finalized as the organization
was renamed, "United Way’s 211 Community Connection." During
this same period, United Way completed the restoration of the
Martin House at 101 Selvidge Street. Offices for both United
Way and Community Connection were relocated in September.
In August, the Boys and Girls Club of Northwest Georgia was
admitted to the family of United Way agencies. The organization
served well over 200 children in its Summer program and moved
into the old Fort Hill school in October.
Under the clouds of continued economic uncertainty, 2002 Campaign
Chair Vance Bell of Shaw Industries led his cabinet to record
breaking success – raising over $3.5 million for the
first time in its history. The campaign finished at $3,519,000.
United Way’s 211 Community Connection website was launched
in July to assist people and agencies share service information,
as well as simplify the way people access United Way and other
community services.
Make A Difference Day, the national day of volunteerism, was
celebrated in 2002 by 250 volunteers (mostly students) working
in the community at Carter Hope Center, Habitat for Humanity,
Wal-Mart, and Children's Memorial Park.
Jerry and Elizabeth Arnold focused their Alexis de Tocqueville
efforts on expanding the Society and recruiting new members.
In all, seven new members joined the Society, and while membership
shrank from 61 members to 59 – Dalton was recognized
by United Way of America with its third Fleur de Lis Award
for de Tocqueville excellence in recognition of the "Most
Members" in a community of fewer than 200,000 people.
Jerry and Elizabeth attended the de Tocqueville leaders weekend
in San Diego, California where they received the award.
TechBridge awarded United Way of Northwest Georgia $5,000
worth of TechBridge services and $10,000 worth of Microsoft
software for being a finalist for the 2003 ACTT Award. Top
honors went to the Atlanta Community ToolBank. United Way was
recognized for their joint development of Community Connection,
a community-wide Internet-based information and referral tool
enabling simultaneous information and referral from any number
of agency locations. The software tool was developed by Tesla
Technologies with monies donated by Mohawk Industries.
2003
In April of 2003, Connie Woodward was named as Volunteer of
the Year for outstanding leadership throughout her lifetime.
The award was presented to Woodward at the Open House/Volunteer
Recognition Luncheon on the lawn of the WC Martin House.
In July of 2003, David Aft, who had been President for seven
years, left United Way of Northwest Georgia, right as campaign
season began.
In September of 2003, Amanda Burt was named President and
Chief Professional Officer. Ms. Burt was selected from a pool
of 50 applicants. She came from Dalton State College, where
she served as a fundraising professional for the Alumni Association.
The last weekend in October, Make a Difference Day welcomed
almost 200 volunteers to the Whitfield Dalton Day Care (the
Lorberbaum Center), to perform landscaping duties, seal a wooden
privacy fence, and clean. Robert Webb was the Make a Difference
Day Chairman in 2003.
In November of 2003, United Way of Northwest Georgia announced
to the community that it looked like they would again reach
their fundraising goal of $3.57 million. Rich Sparzani, Campaign
Chair, and John Relaford, Campaign Director, highlighted the
year’s campaign and thanked all companies for participating.
Shaw had a record breaking campaign in 2003 with close to $
1 million in contributions from corporate and employee gifts.
Beaulieu had a first ever employee campaign with a little help
from Bernadette Martin, Ralph Boe, and Julia Davidson.
2004
Amber Nagle, Marketing and Technology Director announced her
resignation in late January of 2004. Nagle is responsible for
the implementation of the e-pledge module in some local companies,
the completion of a branding survey and report, and many other
technological advances within the office. She left United Way
to work for Royal Floor Mats in Calhoun, Georgia.
March 1, 2004, Amy Grammer was named
Marketing and Technology Director. Mrs. Grammer has worked in
local industry by way of the Marketing departments of Brown
Industries, Mohawk Home and Oriental Weavers of America. She is
a Dalton native with a BFA in Graphic Design from The University
of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and an AAS in Technology Management
from Dalton State College. Mrs. Grammer’s expertise in
marketing, design, technology management, and printing make her a perfect
fit for our team.
March 28, 2004, United
Way of Northwest Georgia was awarded the coveted Fleur-de-Lis
Award for Excellence for 2003, at the national Alexis de
Tocqueville Society Leaders’ Weekend in Sarasota, Florida.
United Way of Northwest Georgia received the award in the
category of most members and most net new dollars
for populations under 200,000 people.
Roy Barrett, 2003 Alexis de Tocqueville Chair, graciously
accepted the award on behalf of the Northwest Georgia Society. The Alexis de
Tocqueville Society is a group of community leaders who contribute
at least $10,000 annually to the United Way of Northwest Georgia
campaign. The Northwest Georgia Society’s membership has grown
from 24 charter members in 1996 to 63 members in 2003.
Last year, the Society’s total gift was
an astounding 19%
of the over $3.5 million raised by the
United Way of Northwest Georgia.
In April of 2004, Robert Webb was awarded
the Connie Woodward award for Volunteerism for his many
volunteer efforts in the community. Mr. Webb is a board
member for the Whitfield Education Foundation and is best known
for his contribution to the arts and community as a whole.
He is responsible for the establishment of the United Way Make A
Difference Day in Whitfield County bringing 150 area high school
students together for special projects in the community each
year. In addition to these things, Robert spearheaded the
transformation of old City Park School into a daycare center,
and was instrumental in the development of the United Way
Community Connection Website which helped them to become a
finalist for the Techbridge Award for Advancing Community
through Technology. He is also Chairman of the Creative
Arts Guild Board. Besides curating exhibits, he secured
the largest outdoor sculpture exhibit in the state. He was
the driving force in establishing the Bernice Spigel Prize in
Visual Arts.
2004-United Way’s Information and Referral
United
Way provided assistance, through information and referral, for 15,854
requests for services in 2004.
United
Way provided the clearinghouse for 8,200 people to receive gifts,
food and clothing during the holidays. Approximately 1,000 of
these people received gifts through direct donations to United Way
for Christmas.
2004-2005 Campaign
Under a
tough economic environment, with world conflict, and with further
industry challenges, United Way met the goal of $3,500,000 for
Northwest Georgia. Of that, $3,200,000 will be used in Whitfield
and Murray Counties. $300,000 was designated by donors to be sent
to other communities and non-profits.
Winner
of the Fleur de Lis award for the most new Alexis de Tocqueville
Members - 68 members representing 20% of the 2004 campaign with 10
of those members being new members.
2004-Make A Difference Day
United
Way provided over 434 people with meaningful volunteer experience
through Make A Difference Day at Creative Arts Guild, Dalton
Little Threatre, Family Support Council, Habitat For Humanity, and
the Conasauga River Shed Clean-up for a total of 1444 hours of
community improvements.
2004-Strategic Planning
In 2004
the United Way of Northwest Georgia began a strategic planning
process to provide a roadmap to guide the organization into 2010.
One of United Way’s continuing objectives is to make sure we stay
attuned to ever-changing community needs and to make sure our
programs and funding stay relevant in order to provide solutions.
Our strategic planning process accomplished this by gathering
community input on opportunities for both United Way and the
overall community. While continuing to support broad-based
programs, we will need to consider shifting resources to focus on
newly identified key challenges.
Input
was gathered during a series of meetings in 2004 from fifteen
focus groups comprised of over 450 residents of
Murray/Dalton/Whitfield. The questions asked addressed both
community and United Way issues. From the input gathered, six
critical community concerns were identified: Education, Community
Leadership, Economic Development, Multicultural Concerns, Family
Concerns, and Health Care.
Integrity, leadership, volunteerism, partnerships, and commitments
are the dynamics with which United Way will address these
community concerns; additionally, these are the foundation of our
Strategic Plan to carry us into 2010.
2004-Youth Needs Assessment
Youth
from nine public middle schools in Whitfield and Murray county
were surveyed to determine what type of current activities they
participate in and what activities might be of interest to them.
The survey also asked the students what they would like parents
and the community to provide for their well being. Surveys were
completed by 4,559 students. Results are being tabulated with a
full report expected in summer 2005. These
results will benefit not only United Way, but other organizations
as they plan for future programming needs.
2004-Volunteer Awards Banquet
United Way provided
over 53 individuals and 10 area groups with public recognition of
volunteer activities through the Youth Volunteer Banquet and the
Adult Volunteer Luncheon both held during National Volunteer Week.
2005
Board of Directors
The year
2005 began under the incoming leadership of Tom Dickson, Chairman
of the Board. The rest of the board included:
Bradley Arnold, Roy Barrett, Vance Bell,
Allen Bentley, Hank Blackwood, John Bowling, Fran Brantley, Mike
Burns, Bob Chandler, Karen Clement, Richard Fairey, America Gruner,
Bryan Hair, Frank Hogshead, Matt Jackson, Bernadette Martin,
Thomas Poston, Dan Penland, Thomas Poston, Will Pridgen, Brian
Ramsey, David Renz, Carolyn Roan, Mitch Sanford, Pete Sigmon,
Trudy Swilling, Henry Teel, Barbra Ward, Vicki Warren, Randy
Waskul, Rod Weaver, Linda Woody.
Executive Committee
Tom
Dickson - Chairman, Bradley Arnold - Community Solutions
Chair, Vance Bell - Past Chair, Allen Bentley - Finance Chair,
Fran Brantley - chair-elect, Thomas Poston - Marketing
Chair, Brian Ramsey - Fund Distribution Chair, David
Renz - Volunteer Services Chair, and Mitch Sanford -
Campaign Chair.
2005-United Way’s Community Connection
United Way provided
assistance, through information and referral, for a total of
22,673 requests for services in 2005.
United Way provided the
clearinghouse for 4,424 people to receive gifts, food and clothing
during the holidays.
United Way provided immediate need services
through our community partners in Whitfield County resulting in
$99,264.96 in met requests. Unmet requests totaled $162,219.39,
with Rent assistance being the top unmet need at $80,663.55.
United Way provided immediate need services through our
community partners in Murray County resulting in $33,767.63 in met
requests. Unmet requests totaled $3,075.44. The majority of funds
from these community partners for Whitfield and Murray Counties
are for Rent, Utilities and Prescription assistance.
2005-Campaign
Under a tough economic environment, with
world conflict, and with further industry challenges, Mitch
Sanford and his campaign cabinet, exceeded the goal of $3,500,000
and raised $3,600,000 for Northwest Georgia. Of that, $3,200,000
will be used in Whitfield and Murray Counties. $350,000 was
designated by donors to be sent to other communities and
non-profits.
2005-Marketing Plan
In 2005 the United Way
of Northwest Georgia began a marketing plan, to coordinate with
our strategic plan, that would provide a road map to guide the
organization’s marketing efforts into 2008. One of United Way’s
continuing objectives is to make sure we stay attuned to
ever-changing community needs and to make sure our programs and
funding stay relevant in order to provide solutions. Our strategic
planning process identified needs throughout our communities by
gathering community input on opportunities for both United Way and
the communities in which we serve. The marketing plan was devised
to aid in accomplishing goals set by the strategic plan and to
educate our communities on where their dollars make the most
impact.
2005-Make A Difference Day
On October 22, 2005,
Mohawk Industries and United Way partnered to provid over 391
people with meaningful volunteer experience through Make A
Difference Day at the Creative Arts Guild, Boys and Girls Club,
Conasauga River Shed Clean-up, and fall Yard Clean-up for a total
of 925 hours of community improvements.
2005-Hands On Georgia
September 26- October 1, 2005, United Way provided 796 people with
meaningful volunteer experience, through the Hands On
Georgia/Salvation Army and Murray County Red Cross Food Bank
Project. Approximately 336 hours were spent gathering and
delivering food to the drop sites. In all, 3800 items were
collected for our neighbors without food. Thank you so much for
your support of our community.
2005-Volunteer Recognition
United Way provided over 29 individuals and 24 area groups with
public recognition of volunteer activities through the Youth
Volunteer Banquet and the Adult Volunteer Luncheon both held
during National Volunteer Week.
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