A recent report Himelhoch received revealed the Ohio zone, of which the Dayton District is part, is third in the world in terms of pledges. The Dayton District covers nine counties, including Champaign, Clark, Darke, Fayette, Greene, Miami, Montgomery, Preble and Shelby.
“We know that the Dayton District is usually 60 to 70 percent of the Ohio zone’s results,” she said.
The local campaign has been an active one, with more than 35 awareness events held, ranging from five people attending a small lunch-and-learn to nearly 1,000 at the Nutter Center kickoff in October.
“It’s not only important for the charities to have the visibility; it’s important for donors and prospective donors to understand what the charities do day in and day out,” Himelhoch said.
She pointed to the outcome of an awareness event recently held at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. A charity participating that day “secured a significant number of eager volunteers,” she said, enabling that organization’s volunteer-dependent mission to move forward.
“That to me is really meaningful,” Himelhoch said, “and that shows the value of awareness events. Some charities can’t function without volunteers, whereas other charities have some paid staff members.”
Donors may pledge volunteer hours and/or money to the campaign. Charities that offer volunteer opportunities are identified online in the search module via a “helping hand” symbol.
“We’ve seen a really good uptick in volunteer hours,” Himelhoch said, noting that those hours have a monetary value.
Choosing where to direct one’s monetary e-pledge has been simplified through the use of 25 giving categories/codes and those cover a wide range of programs and services.
“It’s animal-related; it’s the environment; it’s the arts; it’s health and human services for civilians and especially for our military and veterans,” Himelhoch said. “That’s especially meaningful as we are about to observe Veterans Day.”
As the local campaign push ends Nov. 15, “We are still in business,” she noted. “Donors can pledge to this year’s campaign until Jan. 12, 2020.”
“Locally, we’ve had a really difficult year,” Himelhoch said. “Many of the charities who participate with us and have a local presence have had a hit to their budgets which nobody could have foreseen. It’s money and materials to do what needs to be done to help the community stay on its feet. These programs are for people to use 24/7/365.”
Local support goes a long way, she added, and emphasized that donors can give to any CFC-approved charity that is local, regional, national or international.
CFC ‘nuts and bolts’
Donors may give to any CFC-approved charity, no matter where it is located or the location of the donor's duty assignment. E-pledges may be made at www.ohiocfc.org through Jan. 12, 2020.
Pledges may be fulfilled through payroll deduction, money orders personal and bank checks, and credit/debit charges. Paper pledge forms can be used and are available for download from the website.
Payroll deductions will be made from February 2020 through early 2021.
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