MICHELLE WILLARD, Post Staff Writer
Posted: Sunday, August 16, 2009 7:23 am

Loaned Executives Fred Cox, Lori Simmons, John Leonard, Kajeen Irwin, Kara Greer, Lori Caldwell, Steve Lanham and Danny Bertotti started training Monday to help the United Way work toward besting the $2.734 million raised in last year’s campaign.

The United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties had tapped into a reserve of talent to work smarter and harder to reach its goal of $2.8 million during this year’s fundraising campaign.

Loaned Executives from businesses around the county will help the nonprofit work toward besting the $2.734 million, the most ever raised, raised in last year’s campaign.

“They’re a huge help to our campaign because one staff person can’t make it to all the companies and give presentations and coordinate campaigns,” United Way Director of Resource Development Holly Lane-Adreon said.

Loaned Executives work along with United Way staff to help local businesses organize and manage individual fundraising efforts during the United Way’s annual campaign, which kicked off Friday.

Local companies and organizations are asked to participate in a workplace campaign, meaning that employees have the opportunity to give directly from their paycheck through payroll deduction and through workplace activities.

The task of organizing a majority of those workplace campaigns falls on the shoulders of Loaned Executives, like Josh Anderson from General Mills, who take time from their days to be a liaison between local businesses and the nonprofit organization.

Anderson, a business unit manager from General Mills, worked part time with Rock 10, Best Buy and Lowes, among other businesses, last year and is a returning Loan Executive this year.

“I think it’s a fabulous program and it’s great to see how the United Way has invested in organizations and leveraged best practices to get the best results,” he said.

Anderson said many businesses want to help but don’t know where to start. That’s where he and the other Loaned Executives step in.

The executives work with their assigned businesses to provide the resources, materials and know-how to run a successful fundraising campaign, all while working full time at their main jobs.

They do it by volunteering between 4-6 hours a week over eight weeks to give the United Way an extra set of hands in the community by managing between three to six fundraising campaigns, representing hundreds of potential donors.

Anderson said the best parts of being a Loaned Executive are getting out and helping the community and seeing how other businesses work for the United Way.

“I found it really interesting how different companies supported the United Way with different fundraisers and activities,” he said, adding the most original was a large company that made employees give a dollar every time they were late to a meeting and then donated those funds to the United Way.

More than 95 percent of the funds given to United Way’s 45 partner agencies and programs come from volunteers, donors and business campaigns.

Since 1956, the United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties has worked to improve the community by supporting 45 partner agencies that make a difference in lives.

Last year the United Way provided services to almost 93,000 people in Rutherford and Cannon counties through partner agencies and its own initiatives.

The United Way focuses on building a better community by supporting youth and education, assisting abused women and children, responding to people in crisis, building stronger and safer neighborhoods, enabling seniors and people with disabilities, and helping working poor families.

Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.

To donate …
Visit uwrutherford.org/give.html