The global financial crisis had barely begun when fundraising campaign manager Leitha Cosentino got her own batch of bad news.
A handful of area businesses started phoning the United Way of the Central and South Okanagan/Similkameen in Kelowna, B.C., to say they couldn't run a workplace campaign this year because of fallout from the economic meltdown.
"I've had some managers say on behalf of their employees that they won't be able to give this year," she said, dismayed. Other businesses said they would participate but might not be able to raise as much as they did last year.
United Way offices across Canada have heard similar stories. And they're not the only ones feeling the crunch.
Many Canadian charities will be forced to rethink how much they'll rake in, says Owen Charters, executive director of CanadaHelps.org, an organization that facilitates charitable giving online.
"People [are] seeing things on TV and keeping the wallet in their pocket. At the same time we're hearing from charities we serve the same story," he says.
Even the less formal or organized fundraising efforts in many workplaces appear to be taking a hit.
Every fall, Tom Kondert would sell cases of chocolate-mint Girl Guide cookies at work on behalf of his wife, who helps lead a Guide troop in Merrickville, Ont.
But this year, when he arrived at the auto-parts department at the Ottawa Sears store from which he recently retired, some of his former co-workers said they had to take a pass; the financial crisis was weighing on their minds.
"A couple of them said it wasn't a good time, money-wise," he said.
Still, he managed to sell one of the two cases he hauled there.
To counteract dwindling donations, charities have had to develop workplace-specific strategies. They don't have a choice - organizations such as the United Way depend heavily on office fundraising to bring in the bucks, says Carole McDougall of the United Way in Halifax.
"United Ways don't really do those big event things where they sell tickets for dinners. It is in workplaces and it is peer-to-peer and it's me going to the person in the next cubicle or the next desk and talking to them," she says.
When Sacha Fraser, who is co-chairing the United Way campaign in Toronto's Xerox office, had worries that this year's fundraising drive would suffer, she sought advice from the charity on how to reach employees who might be pinching pennies this season. Organizers there suggested Xerox campaigners stick to their target goal of $260,000 and use the financial crisis in their message.
"We decided rather than to stay quiet on the issue, the better thing to do with our employees is be upfront and acknowledge the fact that the economy was going to be on their minds," Ms. Fraser said.
So far, it seems to be working. In the first four days since its campaign kickoff on Oct. 14, Xerox met nearly 50 per cent of its campaign goal. By last Friday, $210,000 had been raised - just over 80 per cent of the target.
As an incentive for employees to donate, the Xerox folks lopped the minimum donation requirement from some of the early-bird draws so people wouldn't have to shell out more than they'd maybe like to, Ms. Fraser said. And instead of just touting the "leading" donors who pledge more than $1,000 each campaign, Xerox created another sub-bracket of donors called "pacesetters" a few years ago to highlight people who give $500 - a move that has proven helpful in this year's gloomy economic climate.
Alister Campbell of Zurich Insurance in Toronto says he can understand how his employees might consider holding back on major donations this year.
"I think most people are feeling poorer these days. They're all getting their third-quarter updates from their financial advisers and are taking a look at what their mutual funds have done for them," says the peppy CEO who recently climbed the CN Tower in Toronto to raise funds for the United Way. Even still, he's confident Zurich employees will beat last year's fundraising efforts.
At other workplaces stretched a little thin this season, employees who might not have the money to donate may instead be rolling up their sleeves to help out, says Robert Howard, spokesman for the United Way office in Oshawa, Ont. - a community recently battered by thousands of job cuts in the auto industry.
"I think when people know there's hardship, they may become more involved."
And there's historic proof of that, says Niels Veldhuis, a senior economist with the Fraser Institute. His organization releases its Generosity Index each December, tracking the spending patterns of Canadians donating to charity.
"When you have tough times in the economy, naturally a part of that is going to have an impact on the generosity of companies and of individuals," he says. "Many times, you get a substitution effect as well: Instead of giving income, what happens is people give more of their time. ... Companies will do the same thing."
