Another theme the Becker’s brought to the campaign is “Focus on 5”. Dale says this is tied to Springfield’s favorite son, Abe Lincoln and relates to his image on the US five dollar bill. We want to show pride in our city and make Abe Lincoln proud as well. So their call to action when speaking to the community is to “Focus on 5” as a way to make your pledge to the campaign. That could be $5 a week or $5 per pay period. Emily Becker added that it could be a 5% increase in your pledge over the previous year or even 5 minutes of your time to hear about the good United Way does in the community. Dale also suggests that as a supporter you could focus on telling 5 people about the United Way campaign, the needs in the community and getting them to be supporters too. The Becker Family is well suited for the task. Their family harmony and willingness to work together in whatever way they can to reach the goal was obvious. United Way is fortunate to have them at the helm this year. The United Way campaign runs through the end of 2014 so you still have time to participate. UW is one of the main ways companies join together each year to raise charitable dollars for the community. They do so by allowing employees to make pledges to UW and have it withheld from their paychecks. Many companies match the employee contributions before forwarding it on to the United Way. The best way to run a UW campaign in your company is to follow the guidelines UW has established for an effective campaign. It is important that employees understand the needs of the community and how effective UW is in getting those needs met. The largest donor group in the UW campaign is the Community Leaders Guild. These individuals and couples contribute $1,000 to $10,000+ a year to the campaign. The Leaders Guild is responsible for more than 30% of the annual campaign contributions each year. Generosity is the common Springfield Scene Magazine Tenth Anniversary Issue/Nov/Dec 2014 24