CHENANGO COUNTY – The Chenango United Way is about to kick off its 2007 campaign, and for the second year in a row, officials have set no specific fundraising goal. Instead, this year, the CUW is hoping to raise an amount equal to the anticipated community need.

In past years, the CUW set its goal at an arbitrary amount. This year, instead of announcing a traditional campaign goal, an anticipated community need will be printed on all of the campaign thermometers displayed in Chenango County. The figure will reflect the actual anticipated needs of those local programs which will be applying for funding from the CUW.

“This new approach to a fundraising target allows the United Way to solicit funds based on the actual needs of our local community. In the past, annual goals were much more arbitrary and were often decided upon based on how much could actually be raised, not how much was actually needed by the community,” Executive Director Elizabeth Monaco said.