Many in Spokane's nonprofit ecosystem have expressed sorrow about the closure of United Way of Spokane County, which shuts its doors today, July 31, after more than a century of philanthropic service. 

In many cases, however, the contributions from the local United Way organization, which served as a one-stop shop for donations and distributed them to designated, vetted charities throughout the region, had been waning in the post-pandemic era.  

“We are so sad to see they are closing,” says Olivia Gaete, director of resource development for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Spokane County. “One of the biggest things United Way did was ... making sure that people had connections and accessibility to funding.”

Reduced funding, however, had already impacted the Boys and Girls Clubs.

“Contributions significantly decreased over the years,” Gaete says. “Especially after 2020.”

For nearly a decade, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Spokane County received between $20,000 to $30,000 annually through United Way as part of the Hillyard Youth Collaborative Project, a partnership with The Zone, Communities in Schools, and Gonzaga University. The support helped launch and sustain after-school and academic programs aimed at underserved youth in the Hillyard neighborhood, she says.

But by 2023, the well was drying up. “We applied for program funding in 2023, but United Way could only partially fund the request,” Gaete explains. “Unfortunately, we could not run the program with the amount of money we were granted.”

She adds, “It was a big chunk of money five to 10 years ago. But the past couple years, it’s just been slim to none.”

Gaete says it's been a couple of years since the Boys and Girls Clubs received money from United Way, so the closure does not immediately impact its finances and operations.

She attributes the decline to broader shifts in philanthropy.

“Giving has changed, and philanthropy has changed,” she says. “All of us nonprofits are just trying to adapt to a new kind of era of giving and be smart about it and just really connect with people.”

Other organizations experienced a similar tapering off of support. The YMCA of the Inland Northwest's United Way funding dropped from $57,000 before the pandemic to just $7,500 last year, says Kaylan Sisco, the Y's president and CEO. 

“Since COVID, it’s been slowly declining,” he says. “It’s a national trend that people are giving differently. People are being a little more cautious with their dollars. Economics and other things come into play, as well.”

Fortunately for YMCA, other donors stepped in. 

“None of our services are going away,” Sisco says. “We were able to pivot and find new sources. Community members stepped up in a big way and we didn’t see a big loss of programming.”

Debra Raub, executive director of Communities in Schools of Northeast Washington, tells a similar story. Her organization consistently had received $24,000 per year in general operating support from United Way since 2019. That amount dropped dramatically this past year, with only a small percentage of the promised funds delivered, she says.

“Dan Dent (former executive director of United Way of Spokane County) came to the office a year ago and shared the financial crisis United Way was in,” Raub says. “He said they had to cut 80% of the funding that we were promised, so they weren’t able to promise the award amount that they had committed to.” 

Although the organization hasn’t received its full amount promised, only $7,000 of the $24,000, she says, “Dan was brave enough to go out and meet with every executive and share that United Way isn’t able to honor the promises that they made. That’s really hard to do.”

Raub also attributes the closure to a change in the landscape of charitable giving.

“It’s really hard because people just don’t give the same way they were,” she adds. “(United Way) was relying on historical numbers, and it’s a tragedy. It’s what’s going on in the nonprofit sector. People just are not giving as much.” 

Lisa Sunderman, current board chair of United Way of Spokane County, echoed that sentiment in a public statement. “This decision reflects the combined impact of ongoing economic challenges, affecting campaigns, donor giving, and grant support, alongside an unexpected leadership transition.”

Sunderman confirmed that as of July 31, United Way of Spokane County will cease to accept campaign contributions and individual donations. She says payroll deductions set up through workplace campaigns will need to stop, leaving companies and individuals to decide how, or if, they will continue their charitable giving elsewhere.

“One of the benefits of the United Way was you could rest assured your funds were going to be used for good,” she says. “Now, I think organizations will just have to sift through that themselves.”

Affected programs

Among the programs affected is Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Since 2022, the program has delivered free books monthly to Spokane-area children.

“A lot of our kids here get it,” says Gaete. “It’s just sad to see that go because it was such a fun program.” 

The Imagination Library of Washington is currently searching for a new local partner to keep the program alive, Sunderman says.

Another program that will be affected by United Way’s closure is the Emerging Leaders Society, an organization of young professionals ran under the umbrella of United Way.

As previously reported in the Journal, the United Way-affiliated group of young leaders was established in 2014 and had grown to 200 members within its first year.

The mission of the Emerging Leaders Society was to engage young professionals in volunteerism and giving back financially.

Due in part to various leadership changes, Justin Reed, current president of the Emerging Leaders Society and owner of Greater American Construction Co., says the group has been struggling. 

Reed says the organization began to lose connection with United Way after a change in its liaison, which made operations of the group more difficult. Membership, in recent years, was reduced to 10 to 15 board members, he says.

At one point, he says, "There were dozens and dozens of active ELS members who were paying hundreds and hundreds of dollars apiece to be a part of it."

Paths forward

In order to adapt to new models of fundraising and engagement, Gaete says Boys and Girls Club of Spokane County is shifting its focus. That includes focusing on storytelling through social media and finding ways to balance the expectations of older donors with the preferences of a younger generation.

“We’re balancing staying loyal and true to the 60-plus generation of donors and kind of keeping those traditions that have been alive for so long but also adapting ourselves to a newer generation of donors,” Gaete says. “It’s become more personalized and tailored, such as the accessibility and convenience of storytelling through social media. It’s been much more necessary to reach this new generation of donors.”

Despite a shift in funding sources, Gaete remains hopeful.

“We are seeing pretty consistent dollar amounts from other organizations and foundations,” she says. 

Communities in Schools also remains optimistic, says Raub.

“We’ve weathered the storm pretty well,” she says.