Fund-raising campaign for United Way kicks off

The United Way of Southeast Missouri kicked off its annual fundraising campaign last week, and the organization appears poised to try some new initiatives, namely online fund-raising, following the crowdfunding trends such as gofundme.

At the kickoff luncheon, the nearly 200 attendees were asked to text their pledges to a real-time counter.

Three partner organizations -- the Boy Scouts of America, Voices for Children (formerly CASA) and the Community Caring Counsel -- each asked for a mini-grant to expand their services, and the full $2,500 requested was raised, Cape Girardeau Area United Way director Elizabeth Shelton said in an interview with reporter Marybeth Niederkorn.

Jay Knudtson, a bank executive, president of the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents and former Cape Girardeau mayor, along with his son Gunnar Kundtson, owner of the ride-share startup CarGo, will be leading the charge as committee co-chairmen.

Gunnar Knudtson said he was looking to bring fundraising into the 21st century, with people now able to give online through crowdfunding or text messages.

It's good to see the United Way going in this direction.

The United Way no longer publicly sets a fund-raising goal, though Shelton said internally the organization has a goal. Instead "we decided we were going to focus less on the amount of money we're trying to raise and more on the work we're trying to do with the money."

The United Way is an umbrella organization that provides funding to many different area organizations, based on specific goals and needs of the community. One area of focus for the local United Way is the Read to Succeed program, which matches students who need help with reading skills with people who can spend time with students reading. Because of a grant, a "Read to Excel" program will be added to the community.

We feel the United Way is worthy of your volunteerism and charity. More than $900,000 was raised last year, up slightly from the year before, and operating expenses were down. Please consider donating time or resources to the local United Way.