University Times

Pitt’s 2003 United Way fund-raising campaign will kick off Oct. 15 and run through Dec. 31.

Last year, the University collected $679,946. Faculty and staff pledged $560,102; students pledged $98,391; retirees contributed $18,629, and special events brought in $2,824.

Pitt’s 2002 overall campaign and the Pitt retirees campaign each received Silver Awards from United Way for achieving a per person gift in the $50-$99 range. The overall participation rate last year was 27 percent, with 2,710 givers pledging donations.

As in past years, donors can direct all or a portion of their donation to an unrestricted fund (called the Impact Fund) or to a specific United Way affiliated group, including 53 such eligible groups at Pitt.

But this year, United Way of Allegheny County is changing its fund-raising strategy by withholding 15 percent of donations to offset operating costs. In prior years, a small flat fee was withheld from designated gifts, while overhead costs came from unrestricted gifts. (See sidebar on this page.)
Last year, Pitt raised $240,000 for the Impact Fund. The University hopes to increase that by at least 10 percent, with an Impact Fund goal of $265,000.

“Since the Impact Fund is the major emphasis this year and because of the importance of increasing funds to it, our focus will be on the Impact Fund and the Impact Fund goal,” said Jean McDonough, assistant to the Pitt-United Way campaign manager. “While we hope staff and faculty will continue to be generous in their giving, we have not set any other dollar goals.”

Members of the 2003 Pitt-United Way steering committee include:
campaign manager Gerry LeVan, Institutional Advancement;
campaign co-chairs G. Reynolds Clark, Community and Governmental Relations, and Jerry Martin, obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences; Shawn Ahearn, John Cooper and Bill Young, University Marketing Communications; Jean Ferketish, Office of the Chancellor; Ed Gerenda, Special Events; Michelle Jarvis, Doug Martin, Jean McDonough and Fran Povlick, Institutional Advancement; Chris Kenyhercz, Office of Administration, Health Sciences; George Klinzing, Office of the Provost; Joyce McCurdy, Labor Relations; Heidi Pido, Parking, Transportation and Services; Heather Sims, United Way; Anita Triggs, Student Activities; Patricia Lomando White, University News and Magazines; John Wilds and Steve Zupcic, Community and Governmental Relations, and Anita Williams, All-Temps.

Steering committee member Robert Dunkelman heads the retirees campaign. Payroll deduction and on-line pledging are available again this year. The Pitt-United Way web site address is: www.pitt.edu/~united, which provides a link for pledging as well as updates on the campaign.

Pitt will hold prize drawings during the campaign on Oct. 24, Nov. 14 and Dec. 5. Participants who return their pledge cards to 500 Craig Hall by noon on the day of a drawing will be eligible for the drawing and future drawings. On-line pledges received by the deadline are automatically added to the drawing. This year’s grand prize will be airline tickets, awarded at the Dec. 5 drawing.

For more information on the campaign, contact Jean McDonough at 412/624-5846.

—Peter Hart