America's struggling economy has hit a lot of places hard. Businesses are shutting down, unemployment is up and money is tight. Non-profit organizations are feeling the pinch as well because when individuals are having a hard time getting by themselves, there's little left for organizations that are relying only on public support for income. The Prestera Foundation for Behavioral Health Services is a non-profit organization that has felt the effects of an economy in distress.
The Prestera Foundation is a non-profit organization that raises funds for Prestera Center for Mental Health. Megan Burton, the director of development, said the foundation raises the money to support Prestera Center.
“Prestera Center is a behavioral health non-profit that serves about 14,000 individuals each year with mental health, substances abuse, and developmental disability issues,“ Burton said. “We have a grant program that programs within Prestera can apply for to receive funding for various projects that might not be in the budget that year.
“We kind of serve as a supplemental funding source for the different programs and services,” Burton said.
The main fundraiser the foundation has done for the past eight years is the Grand Ol' Auction. They sold tickets to get into the auction, and those there were offered catered food, silent and live auctions and door prizes.
According to the foundations tax forms, in 2008 the Grand Ol' Auction brought in $38,909. The money spent to host the fundraiser was $15,330, nearly 40 percent of what the auction brought in.
In 2007, the Prestera Foundation made $77,230 from the fundraiser, including corporate sponsorships. That same year, the money spent on fundraising was $22,304, nearly 29 percent.
Other monetary donations were down from 2007 to 2008. In 2008, only $4,500 was brought in for individual donations, while in 2007, $25,459 was brought in, showing a decrease of 82 percent.
Burton said giving has been down, to the Prestera Foundation and the non-profit community in general.
This year, the Prestera foundation is revamping their fundraising tactics and Burton said, so far, giving has increased.
Mike Mattison, marketing officer for the Prestera Foundation, said this year's fundraising has brought in more donations than the last two years put together. “I can't imagine how well we could be doing in a booming economy,” Mattison said.
“This is actually our first year of having a true annual campaign,” Burton said, “so we have actually seen an increase for our organization because it is kind of a new twist on things - new procedures, new campaigns, and new events.”
This year, the foundation is hosting A Magical Evening. The foundation is advertising this as a benefit, consisting of dinner, drinks and entertainment including a band and a mentalist. Prizes are also being given, including $2,000. The foundation is charging $50 per ticket to the event.
Another change is their new direct mail campaign, where the foundation will write letters and send brochures to ask for funds that way.
Burton said the change wasn't really due to the decrease in donations.
“It's just a change of focus,” Burton said. “We never really had a true fundraising program in the past. This past year, we just implemented a new program.
“The foundation used to just have one event, and now we are starting to take a different approach by doing the direct mail campaign and newsletters and things of that nature,” Burton said.
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