Raising money for its annual campaign has been tough for the Gleason Family YMCA lately. The annual campaign raises money to help subsidize memberships, programs and other things at the Y.

“The last couple of years have been really difficult for fundraising,” said Jo-Ann Watson, Marketing & Development Director. “People don’t have what they used to have, and their making decisions on where they want their charity money to go. So, that has hurt the campaign, but the number of applications we get has risen as well.”

“We, so far, have not met our goal for 2013,” said Watson. “We give away more money than we raise. We always have, and we always try to bridge that gap.”

Watson said the Y has given out over $300,000 in financial aid this year and raised just around $100,000 this year. The goal was $150,000.

Most members who receive financial aid get a 10 to 70 percent subsidy, and most of that number falls between 40 and 60 percent subsidy.

“Very few get 100 percent subsidy because we want our members to have some commitment,” Watson said.

Watson said the Y uses a formula to determine how much each applicant receives in financial aid, but that formula is not always the determining factor.

“Sometimes we look at it and decide a family needs more, or maybe they need less. So, they’ll overlook the whole family situation,” Watson said.

“Within the last four years, when the economy has been so bad, we’re seeing more middle class people apply for financial aid,” Watson said. “They may have lost a job for an extended amount of time, and realized they’ve become a couch potato, and realize, ‘I’ve got to do something.’”

There are, however, more extreme situations in which financial aid is needed.

“We have had parents die, and children have had to go live with relatives,” Watson said. “Kids in foster care automatically get a free membership. It’s usually been a loss of a house or family member, or somebody with a really serious medical issue.”

“Two years ago, we had a family in Plymouth lose their home,” said Watson. “This family had lost their home in a fire, and the YMCA gave them a free membership for a year.”

“They had something fun to do – somewhere to come after they had lost everything,” said Watson. “We typically have families do paperwork, but if it’s a disastrous situation… here, we’ll give you a year or six-month membership to get you back on your feet.”

“Sometimes, it’s the right thing to do,” Watson said. “It can be middle class families. That’s what’s so beautiful about the Y. If you’re on a treadmill, you could be a CEO, and the person you’re chit-chatting with could be a finical aid recipient.”

“At the Y, we don’t turn anyone away,” Watson said.

10 percent of members at the Y receive finical aid, according to Watson. Fund-raising for the campaign is achieve through many different methods.

The Y has a $78,000 goal to be raised through face-to-face fundraising, and the Y has received about $68,000 towards that goal. Events also play a major role in fundraising for the annual campaign, which accounts for about $30,000, according to Watson.

Watson said the largest amount of donations come from individuals.

Each year, the Y will select a chairman to oversee the annual support campaign. From there, each director at the Y forms a team, making 10 teams of about eight people which are tasked with reaching out for donations.

“We utilize staff a lot, and we utilize volunteers – a whole lot,” Watson said. “They raise more money than the staff does.”

Watson said volunteers will give over an hour per week to help with the campaign.

The Y not only gets donations from the community, but also its own staff. The entire full-time staff gives to the campaign, averaging $150 in donations. About 75 percent of the part-time staff contributes to the campaign, averaging $25 in donations.

“We try to make it easy as possible, 50 cents out of every other paycheck adds up to about $26 a year,” Watson said. “When you’re able to say that you are a contributor, people will get behind you and what you’re trying to do.”

“The average giver is the average person. Our donations usually range from the $25 to $75 range,” Watson said. “Wareham is not an affluent community, so we’re happy to get those 10s and 25s.”

“We would need a lot more of them to get to our goal, but it adds up,” Watson said.