UNITED-WAY NOW COLLECT EMPTIES FOR CLOVER-TECH CORP

[Anonymous]

http://www.newstrib.com/articles/news/local/default.asp?article=DFC1DD25E9D1A6000147B13BC05B6541FA02A5F14D83CD7C
United Way cash flow / now collects empty toners and inks with clover corp
As
the United Way of Illinois Valley struggles to support its member
agencies during a year in which donations haven’t come easy, the idea
that every little bit counts is becoming much more important.In June,
United Way director Andrea Walters informed the 16 local member
agencies that their planned allocations for the year would be cut in
half because donations dropped in the face of the economic
recession.“Things are moving along consistently,” Walters said
recently, although the organization hasn’t made as much fundraising
progress as she had hoped.In past years the United Way had still met
the promised allocations even if actual donations fell short of
expectations, but this depleted the organization’s reserve funds. At
the moment, they are still attempting to catch up with last year’s
final payments before they can begin payments for the new
year.“Currently, the cash flow is not sufficient to cover the monthly
allocation amounts,” Walters said.Some larger donations are anticipated
near the end of the year when businesses’ fiscal years come to a close.

Until
that point though, Walters, along with her volunteers and one-person
staff are looking to develop new relationships with area businesses and
establish new fundraising methods.
Walters is aiming for 100 percent
of local businesses to take part in the United Way’s mission in some
way. She believes there’s about 70 percent participation from the
business community right now with roughly 125 businesses
involved.Whether taking part through a traditional method, such as
payroll deductions from employees, or hosting smaller events or
projects, Walters said every bit of help from businesses counts.“Even
if you come and do a day of volunteer work, that makes a difference,”
Walters said.Walters said she understands that some businesses are
already committed to other charities and she doesn’t want to step on
toes, but she hopes to find ways to get any sort of support for the
United Way.In order to do that she’s planning to make presentations on
the United Way of Illinois Valley’s efforts for any business, big or
small, that will have her.The United Way has found luck with in-kind
gifts in the form of items for specific projects rather than
money.Using her “Community Leadership Volunteers Club,” an informal
e-mail-based networking group, Walters has solicited help on a number
of small projects.

The e-mail group has allowed her to acquire a
variety of needed items, such as paint, paper and even a microwave for
a family that suffered a tragedy, as well as fresh ideas, from a
growing group of interested individuals.“It’s amazing what people will
do for you, if you just ask,” Walters said.In the few months that she’s
had the e-mail group up-and-running she’s seen it grow from five people
to more than 100, and Walters said she would be happy to add anyone who
is interested.“My main thing is networking,” Walters said.She’s also
used the e-mail group to direct people to the charity-friendly Internet
search engine GoodSearch and its associated web portal GoodShop.With
GoodSearch, web users are able to designate a specific charity, such as
the United Way of Illinois Valley, and every time they conduct a web
search on the Yahoo-powered search engine the charity is given one cent.

The
money is generated because GoodSearch is able to sell a user’s search
patterns to advertisers, something regularly done by other search
engines.A similar data-mining method is used with GoodShop, which
directs users to a number of major Internet-based stores, ranging from
Amazon and eBay to iTunes and Sephora, and in return the charity is
given a percentage of any sales made. GoodShop also offers users
coupons for many of its member shops.While the United Way of Illinois
Valley has made less than a dollar from GoodSearches so far, Walters
said that it’s basically money for nothing and if a large enough group
of people were to begin using it, a charity could be rewarded with
thousands of dollars in a year.Along with motivating and growing her
volunteer base through the e-mail group, Walters has been working on a
variety of ideas that will help raise funds, even if in very little
increments. A couple of these projects fall under her “cash for trash”
designation.One example is the Clover Environmental Solutions ink
cartridge recycling program, in which companies are able to recycle
used ink and laser printer cartridges and the United Way receives a
small donation for each.

The program is part of the
Ottawa-headquartered Clover Technology’s remanufacturing business. Each
cartridge that comes into Clover’s Oglesby facility from a United
Way-supporting business can generate up to $15 for the United Way,
depending on the market value of the particular cartridge, according to
Clover Environmental Solutions executive vice president Brian
Regan.Individuals are also able to contribute to the program by
dropping off old cartridges or cellular phones at the United Way
office.Once recycled the cartridges, which have been kept from piling
up in a landfill, are resold through major national retailers.Regan
said a number of non-profits around the country, including the Special
Olympics, Knights of Columbus and various school districts, benefit
from the recycling/fundraising program.

Since January 2008,
the United Way of Illinois Valley has been able to receive nearly $900
through the recycling program.Walters is also slowly building an
aluminum can recycling program, in which she’s inviting anyone with
cans to drop them off at the United Way office in downtown La Salle and
as the pile builds the cans will be recycled.She said this program
could also help beautify the city, if people start collecting cans
discarded on the streets.Local businesses are helping with small
fundraising efforts, as well, such as United Way casual days, in which
employees make a small donation to dress down at work.

Walters
said the fundraising projects not only help the United Way but can also
raise morale at the participating business.“It really seems to have
picked up our participation,” said Alice Smith of JCPenney, discussing
their introduction of casual days each month.Walters has also seen
companies with large numbers of employees make considerable donations
on what would otherwise seem like a small fundraising effort.For
example, Advantage Logistics was able to give the United Way a few
thousand dollars recently raised from employee hot dog lunch
events.Overall, Walters seems to be doing whatever she can to keep the
organization operational and able to fulfill it’s mission.“We’re just
trying to simplify this year,” Walters said.

[Author]

August 14, 2009 at 4:16 PM