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United Way of Spokane County shutting down after century of giving

Tim Henkel, who served as president and CEO of United Way of Spokane County for about 14 years, poses in 2021. The organization is shuttering after more than 100 years in the Lilac City.  (Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review)
By Thomas Clouse tomc@spokesman.com(509) 459-5495

The United Way of Spokane County, an iconic nonprofit organization that has served the Spokane area for more than 100 years, has begun to shutter operations after the local governing board recently voted to end operations.

The United Way website has mostly been scrubbed, and the six staff members have been informed that their jobs are ending.

Lisa Sunderman, who became the board president on July 1, said the decision is an emotional one for an organization she helped serve and for thousands of local residents who benefited from its programs.

“I am grateful to have played a small role in the United Way’s recent work,” she said. “This was an extremely tough board decision to close United Way of Spokane County. Being the incoming board chair, I am focusing board and staff efforts on honoring our existing commitments with integrity.”

Sunderman indicated she was somewhat limited in her ability to speak freely about the decision without consulting her board members. But she issued a statement in response to questions about the end of the organization.

“United Way of Spokane County will be concluding its operations following a thoughtful evaluation by our board of directors,” she said as part of the statement. “This decision reflects the combined impact of ongoing economic challenges, affecting campaigns, donor giving and grant support, alongside an unexpected leadership transition.”

Liz Bluff, the United Way director of resource development, said the organization brought in about $1.3 million from July 1, 2024, to now. It’s been serving the Spokane region for 103 years, she said.

A new feature of the 1975 United Way campaign was this giant thermometer on the Main and Wall corner of the Bon Marche Building. Its 31% reading showed progress toward a $1,715,000 campaign goal. Financed by an anonymous donation, the display was erected by Baldwin Signs & Displays. Briggs Electric furnished the lighting. The organization announced this month it is ceasing operations after raising only $1.3 million in the last year. (Spokesman-Review archives)
A new feature of the 1975 United Way campaign was this giant thermometer on the Main and Wall corner of the Bon Marche Building. Its 31% reading showed progress toward a $1,715,000 campaign goal. Financed by an anonymous donation, the display was erected by Baldwin Signs & Displays. Briggs Electric furnished the lighting. The organization announced this month it is ceasing operations after raising only $1.3 million in the last year. (Spokesman-Review archives)

Tax filings for the nonprofit show that the organization brought in an average of roughly $3.5 million per year between 2017 and 2021, the most recent year for which data is publicly available. The United Way’s expenses outpaced revenues by $373,094 for the fiscal year ending in June 2022, according to its most recent tax filing.

Last year alone, Bluff said United Way assisted about 87,000 people through the 29 organizations it helped fund as a pass-through agency.

“We know our commitments that we have to pay. We have enough money to fulfill those commitments,” Bluff said. “If we hadn’t shut down now, we wouldn’t have had the money to fulfill those.”

Sunderman’s statement also spoke to making sure that United Way’s partners would be made whole.

“We are taking this step proactively, with the goal of honoring our existing commitments to the best of our ability,” she said.

Bluff and Sunderman said the organization has lost grants and the local giving environment has changed.

In April, AmeriCorps announced cuts to about 41% of its grant funding and placed 85% of its staff on leave. All told, Washington state officials expected to lose out on $21.6 million in program funding.

Included in that figure was a $50,000 grant to United Way of Spokane, which served as an intermediary agency for Volunteers in Service to America, or VISTA.

CJ Peterson, VISTA director for the local United Way, said in April that the organization had received the grant for 10 years. As a result, five VISTA members were placed on administrative hold and were to have been terminated by May 20.

Bluff, the resource director, said the organization has struggled to keep old donors and find new ones.

The United Way of Spokane County promoted it's fund-raising goal of more-than $2 million on a hot air balloon that flew by the U.S. Pavilion in Riverfront Park in September 1977. The organization announced this month that it is ceasing operations after only raising $1.3 million in the last year. (Spokesman-Review archives)
The United Way of Spokane County promoted it’s fund-raising goal of more-than $2 million on a hot air balloon that flew by the U.S. Pavilion in Riverfront Park in September 1977. The organization announced this month that it is ceasing operations after only raising $1.3 million in the last year. (Spokesman-Review archives)

“There has just been a shift in the giving environment,” Bluff said.

Things changed after the COVID-19 pandemic. Some donors started giving directly to organizations, rather than using United Way as a pass-through agency. And recent grant cuts have also hurt.

“Most of our money comes through workplace campaigns. When companies went remote, it’s hard to get employees together to try and rally,” she said.

She and Sunderman said other United Way agencies in Washington also have decided to shutter, although they declined to say where.

Former Spokane City Councilman Steve Corker was a board member of United Way from 1978 to 1988.

He thinks fondly of his time with United Way, recalling making skits and videos with his colleagues to promote their organization.

“We just had fun,” Corker said. “It engaged the biggest leaders in the community in a significant way.”

He was disappointed to hear of its closure. It’s symbolic of a societal shift in the way governments financially support their communities, which is becoming more detached, he said.

“It was an exciting experience connecting with the community and a much larger sense of purpose and activity,” he said. “That synergy and intimacy is something I’m going to miss.”

One of the most popular recent programs was the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.

“We relied on state grants for that program,” Bluff said. “VISTA from AmeriCorps is going away. That was another big program. We just kept losing funding.”

Mike Covey, then-CEO of Potlatch and the 2010 United Way Campaign chair, at rear, watches as volunteers and board members raise placards with the monetary goal at the kickoff rally at the Spokane Salvation Army Headquarters on Sept. 10, 2010. The United Way of Spokane County's goal for that year was to raise $5 million dollars. The organization announced this month that it is ceasing operations after only raising $1.3 million in the last year. (Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review)
Mike Covey, then-CEO of Potlatch and the 2010 United Way Campaign chair, at rear, watches as volunteers and board members raise placards with the monetary goal at the kickoff rally at the Spokane Salvation Army Headquarters on Sept. 10, 2010. The United Way of Spokane County’s goal for that year was to raise $5 million dollars. The organization announced this month that it is ceasing operations after only raising $1.3 million in the last year. (Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review)

Late last month, Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal said the Dolly Parton Imagination Library will continue to offer free books to children younger than 5 for at least the next year.

Reykdal said he was forced to use money from his office to help cover the cost of the program after legislators did not include a $7 million request to help fund the program over the next two years in this year’s operating budget. The lack of funding for the program came as lawmakers worked to address a multibillion-dollar shortfall in the state budget.

But the imagination library was just one program. United Way also supported Spokane Immigrants Rights, YWCA, YMCA, American Indian Community Center, Girl Scouts, SNAP Financial and Feast World Kitchen to name a few. Overall, the local United Way raised more than $100 million to support the community.

“From putting books in the hands of young children … to mobilizing over 120,000 volunteers through Spokane Gives, to funding critical services across the region,” Sunderman said as part of the statement, “this community showed up time and again to make a difference.

“We definitely want to thank our community, our volunteers and the people who have donated,” Sunderman continued. “We are deeply grateful for their trust and generosity throughout the years.”

Correspondent Kip Hill and reporter Bonny Matejowsky contributed to this report.