With about $325,000 collected six weeks into this year’s One Call For All campaign, donations are up slightly compared to last year.
Executive Director Bob Linz said Wednesday that individual donations are up across the board this year, with people apparently responding in a positive manner to the financial suffering many people have endured during the last two years.
The Bainbridge Island institution, which collects about 95 percent of its donations during a three-month period ending Dec. 31, still hopes to hit its pre-campaign goal of $1 million.
“We targeted $1 million last year, too, but the economy turned on us and our total donations fell short at $870,000,” Linz said. “We’re hopeful to do as well or better, with the size of the donations going up a bit.”
Linz said people continue to display their benevolent side and often apologize when they can’t give more.
“I like to open the mail, and one day we got $12 with a note saying they wish they could give more,” Linz said. “Then the next day we got a check for $12,000 and the donor wrote that he wanted to do more but couldn’t.”
He said the average amount received from individual owners is about $350, and the average from corporate givers is between $1,5000 and $2,000. But, he said, you’ve got to appreciate that people are giving whatever they can afford. Like the day he opened an envelope with a $1 bill in it.
While most still send their donations in via the signature “red envelope,” more and more are giving online because it’s so easy.
As usual, 100 percent of the donations go to the 85 organizations that have partnered with One Call For All. Linz said it has been a trend during these tough times for more donors to select social service agencies as recipients, including Helpline House. “It’s a 50-year-old brand and people feel comfortable with it,” he said. “They’ll be over $100,000 again this year.”
Linz is the nonprofit agency’s only paid employee, with a part-time service contract. The nonprofit agency boasts a 15-member board that keeps busy year-round.
