Commuter-Route Billboard Gets Year-End Giving Message Across for Maryland United Way

The United Way of Charles County in Waldorf, Md., has always had fund-raising problems because so many residents leave each day for jobs in Washington, D.C., some 20 miles away. Often the residents give through on-the-job campaigns run by the United Way in the District of Columbia and do not realize that, in a few simple steps, they could channel their donations to programs that benefit their hometown.

Three years ago, the Waldorf United Way decided to fight the commuter problem head-on. It put up billboards by the roads on which people travel to Washington. The billboards urged people to indicate on their United Way pledge forms that they wanted the money to go to charities in Waldorf -- not to charities in the District of Columbia.

The billboard contains a simple message: “Charity begins at home. When you give at the office, make sure it comes home. Designate United Way of Charles County.”

Dottie Harper, the United Way’s executive director, says, “Our concern was that folks who work in D.C. don’t know how they can give their money back to their home community.” She adds: “Our board had talked about this for years. We wanted to keep the money in Charles County, and it was a struggle, trying to think of a way.”

The billboard is used for a month in the last quarter of the year, which also coincides with the start of the United Way’s annual campaign. “This is when people are making the decision to give at the office,” notes Ms. Harper.

The message seems to be helping the United Way. Every year that the billboard has been placed along commuter corridors, giving by individual donors has increased.

Federal workers, many of whom work in the District of Columbia, contributed $255,725 to the Charles County United Way last year and $247,950 in 1995. That’s up from $228,256 in 1994, before the charity started using the billboard.

The billboard company has provided the space, valued at $5,000, at no charge to the United Way, Ms. Harper says.

For more information, contact Dottie Harper, Executive Director, United Way of Charles County, P.O. Box 1281, Waldorf, Md. 20604-1281; (301) 932-4655.