Multnomah County officials and representatives from United Way of the Columbia-Willamette briefed the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners on the county's employee giving campaign (Multco Gives), describing outreach steps for 2025 and programs United Way funds to help households facing housing instability.

The campaign is organized under county management council rules (cited in staff materials as MCC 9.605), and county staff said the Multco Gives campaign has faced participation challenges since the pandemic. Matt Meline, who presented the county's campaign update, said the county plans outreach and community-building events, including an internal post-pandemic pizza event, to raise participation and to explain how payroll-deduction giving works.

Nicole Rose, strategic partner at United Way of the Columbia-Willamette, described United Way's focus on ALICE households (asset-limited, income-constrained, employed) and programs intended to prevent homelessness. Rose said United Way's housing-stability programs have helped keep more than 4,000 families housed and that the organization is leading a new coalition to end family homelessness; she also described early learning initiatives, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library partnerships and a rapid-response "Resilient Families Fund" to respond to acute needs such as reductions in SNAP benefits.

Staff and United Way noted that donors may designate any certified nonprofit, including organizations outside Multnomah County; United Way processes gifts for the campaign and works to minimize administrative burden on recipient organizations by timing distributions in ways that reduce operating costs for small charities. Matt Meline called for increased employee participation and offered a simple calculation: if the county's roughly 5,300 benefit-eligible employees each donated $1 per pay period, the campaign would raise more than $125,000.

Commissioners asked whether employees can limit donations to local organizations; presenters confirmed designation is allowed. Board members also thanked staff and United Way for focusing on housing stability and remarked that employee participation is one visible way county staff support community needs.

What happened next: staff and United Way will continue outreach and plan in-person engagement events to boost employee participation; the board supported awareness-raising and noted upcoming campaign events.