For Batavia-area residents working in Monroe County, unless they specifically earmark their United Way donations for Genesee County, the money will remain in Rochester.
The formula for divvying up the funds has been changed, starting with the next pledge campaign. United Way's fiscal year runs from March 31 to April 1 of the following year.
More than a dozen local nonprofits rely on help from the United Way. Recipients include the Salvation Army and the Genesee/Orleans Regional Concern. Each year they receive a portion of funds based on the estimated percentage of people who commute to work in Rochester (since Genesee County falls under the umbrella of the Rochester-area United Way).
As expected, about $20,000 in so-called "commuter dollars" will be forthcoming this year.
But thousands of dollars could be rerouted to Monroe County charities for the 2011-12 pledge drive and beyond unless people designate Genesee County as the intended recipient of United Way funds.
"The best we can do is word of mouth -- we don't have money to market and tell people that this is required or we don't (get to) keep the money here," said Jamie Beedham-Rada, regional director of the United Way.
The option for designating funds for a particular county was not included on pledge forms until now.
The code number 9022 must be noted on donor/pledge forms, including those filled out online.
"Their thinking is that big donors, like Xerox, etc., don't have as many workers, donations are down, and there are fewer dollars to go around," Beedham-Rada said. "So unless they use the 9022 code number, the money will stay in Rochester.
"That's our concern -- we could lose thousands and thousands of dollars, Beedham-Rada said. "The fix is easy, but if people don't know, the money won't come back. And without United Way funding, many local agencies would be in dire straits."
