First Posted: 3/6/2015
LIMA — The Allen County Red Cross has decided to cut ties with the United Way of Greater Lima.
The two organizations announced the end of their financial relationship Friday.
“About three years ago, the United Way board decided that we needed to be more strategic of how we use our resources and making sure we have a big impact on the community,” said Phil Hayne, executive director of the United Way of Greater Lima.
Nationally, the United Way “has narrowed down their focus levels onto health, education and financial self-sufficiency,” said David Collins, executive director of the American Red Cross of West Central Ohio. “Those impact areas are so narrowly defined that Red Cross programs no longer fit those funding criterias.”
Lima’s United Way board of directors notified the local Red Cross near the end of 2014 that they would no longer provide funding for three programs: service to the armed forces, blood services, and health and safety services.
The Red Cross experienced a 50 percent reduction in funding from the United Way last year. With the additional three programs that will no longer be supported, the funding reduction from the United Way has increased to 85 percent.
Collins said by “breaking ties” with United Way altogether, the Red Cross could better reach out to the community for financial support.
“We had no idea that we were going to be treated in this manner given the fact that we had been a United Way partner for so many years,” Collins said.
To transition, the United Way has agreed to reduce funding by 50 percent until the end of the funding agreement at the end of June.
Hayne said the United Way was transparent in methods to change funding sources and told partners, “you need to pay attention to the communication that comes out and make sure that you understand what we’re interested in funding and those things that we’re not interested in funding.”
Collins said designated funding through United Way for the Red Cross chapter here slowly declined over the past five years — from about $150,000 to $23,000 annually.
“We want to make sure that this separation is very amicable, and we have tremendous respect for the United Way and their board of governors and their employees, and everybody. It’s just a different direction,” Collins said.
Collins said financially, the local Red Cross is doing well, but United Way funding made up about 31 percent of the chapter’s budget.
“We’ve already had a lot of partners step up and say, ‘we’re going to help you’,” Collins said.
