Charities like United Way and some Tristate non-profit organizations engaged in fund-raising campaigns may be the latest victims of the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington.

        With more than $2 million pouring into New York and Washington relief funds from Tristate donors, local charities — including the United Way, now in its annual fund drive — are bracing for the worst.

        The economy teetering on recession has also hampered fund-raising efforts because American workers facing layoffs are not as likely to donate, according to a new national report.

        “The spirit of the community is to rally around national needs, and that's exactly as it should be. The concern for us is that we don't want to be in conflict and compete with that,” said Victoria Brooks, executive director of Aids Volunteers of Cincinnati, a non-profit AIDS service organization based in Cincinnati.

        AVOC, the Tristate's biggest AIDS advocacy and support group, is one of the first groups to feel the impact of lower post-attack giving. It had hoped to collect about $150,000 in gross proceeds from a 10K walk, a 5K run and a benefit concert held in late September.

        Instead, it collected $110,000 in gross proceeds, and about $70,000 in net proceeds. That's about $35,000 less in gross proceeds than AVOC collected the year before, she said.

        In addition, letters from foundations and previous funders are arriving at AVOC offices indicating that those groups, in light of recent events, will be re-evaluating their priorities and their distribution of money.
       

United Way worried

        Administrators at the region's biggest charitable fund-raising effort, the United Way, are worried enough about their 2001 drive to authorize a study to determine the local impact of Sept. 11.

        On Sunday, a full-page free advertisement for United Way in the Enquirer contrasted Fountain Square's Genius of Waters with the Statue of Liberty and reminded readers of local needs. A similar ad is airing on Tristate television stations.

        “We don't really know how (the 2001 drive) is going in comparison with prior years. We are about to conduct a major analysis of the campaign so we have a stronger feel for what's happening,” said Carol Aquino, vice president communications for United Way.

        The study should be completed by next week.

        United Way has raised $31.7 million or 53 percent of its goal of $60.05 million in its 2001 campaign, which began Sept. 6 and ends Oct. 26.
       

Nothing to compare

        The total amount of giving in the U.S. has increased every year but one (1987) for the past 40 years, including through wars, recessions and other crises.

        While fund-raising challenges often haunt economic downswings, the effects of war and terrorism aren't as clear.

        A report earlier this month from the Center for Philanthropy, an Indiana University think tank based in Indianapolis, found that overall giving to charities increased after the 1991 Gulf War and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, for example.

        In the wake of the attacks, layoffs rippled through the local economy. In total, more than 3,500 local layoffs have been announced this year.

        Jim Yunker, president of Smith Beers Yunker & Co., a management and fund-raising consulting firm with offices in London, Chicago and Cincinnati, said military action has little impact on giving, particularly when compared to a softening economy.

        “America has always been very generous in times of great need,” he said.

        But with 75 percent of all charitable donations coming from individuals and not companies, he said some local charities fear that if workplace giving by individuals continues to be directed to New York City, local non-profits will feel it.

        “The needs that existed here on Sept. 10 still exist,” he said.

        In fact, the economic downturn is making those needs deeper.

        “People are calling for assistance with mortgage and rent,” Ms. Aquino said. “There is increased family stress, more need for family counseling. Normal issues and concerns get exacerbated.”
       

Some doing well

        The local fund-raising picture is not necessarily bleak for all groups. Diana Trenkamp, executive director of the Greater Cincinnati Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, said the Memory Walk on Sunday should raise about $200,000.

        That's a increase of $15,000 over the group's 2000 effort.

        “There is good news here. We have more coming in from individual donors than corporations,” she said. “That tells me that people who are committed to a cause will come through.

        But Ms. Brooks is not as optimistic. “We're going to see the ramifications of this for the next year at least,” she said.

        “There is no bad guy in this situation. The spirit is to send money where people are struggling right now, as opposed to more chronic issues. And that is absolutely appropriate.”

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