In-Kind Donors

When I first started at United Way, I had so much non-profit jargon to catch up on. “Evergreen,” “Designation,” “In-Kind.” I would hear, “So & So is giving us an ‘in-kind’,” “The food is in-kind,” “They are all in-kind.” I had no clue what that meant. Finally, I asked the question: what is “in-kind”?

An In-Kind Donation or contribution is a non-monetary contribution where goods or services are offered for free or at less than the usual charge, resulting in an “in-kind” contribution. (cite below link). While it’s true that money raised is needed to support the variety of programs in our community, in-kind donations contribute in their own way that often are incomparable in the non-profit world.

At United Way of Wayne and Holmes (UWWH) we celebrate our in-kind donors. We are more successful as an organization in serving our community due in part to our amazing in-kind donors. Here are just a few recent UWWH examples of incredible in-kind donations:

-         2022 In-Kind Donor of the Year- In 2022, we needed quite a bit of printing: our annual report, banners for the race, cut out characters for the Holmes County fair, partner stickers, a selfie-station. Heather Henthorne and her team at Wooster Color Point always helped! With many of the items donated or deeply discounted, we were able to have all our professional printing needs met by Wooster Color Point!

-         Reading Under the Lights- Helping to make these events free to attending families removes that financial barrier for many families to attend and focuses on the real reason why the event is held in the first place: To get books into the hands of local students in our community. In-Kind donors for 2023 RUL include: Certified Angus Beef, Buehler’s Fresh Foods, Frito Lay, Goodwill Industries of Wayne and Holmes Counties, American Dairy Association (Mideast), Triway’s Teacher Education Association, Rural King, Country Hilltop Market, Rittman IGA, The (Norwayne) Bobcat Bakers, Pop’s Country Kettle Corn, Taco Bell- Wooster, Rent-A-Tent, West Salem IGA and Arlene Wester. These donors were crucial through their in-kind contributions for 2023 and directly contributed to making these events such a success!

-         The Wacky, Quacky Duck Derby- This past Friday, we held our 4^th annual Wacky, Quacky Duck Derby, a positive outcome for the need to cancel in-person events in 2020. We have an incredible anonymous donor that allows us to use their property for the rubber duck race. Having a free space to use for this event ensures that ALL the money raised goes back into our community! We even had a local restaurant, Muddy’s, allow us to use their dish room on a day they were closed, to help us with event cleanup. We went from 8-10 hours of race clean up to less than 2 hours!

-         Rhinestone Round-Up- This year is our first ever fundraising event specifically for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Holmes County. Because of the in-kind donation for the event’s space from The Stables at Arrowhead Lake, the money raised at this event will go towards Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, instead of paying for the cost of the venue.



In-kind contributions often go unrecognized. Often the donation is given with no pretenses, only to serve as a way the organization can continue its mission. Some are big, and others may be considered “small,” but every in-kind donation contributes to UWWH’s mission. In-kind donations are significant in helping to mobilize community resources, which in turn measurably improve the lives of those right here in our community. The “In-Kind” contributions to UWWH are truly invaluable, and we are so grateful to every single one of our in-kind donors! We are truly better, together.

In-kind contributions (fec.gov)