The fact that United Way of Butler County missed its fall campaign goal by $270,000 should not be construed as failure.

The $1.23 million raised was $50,000 more than what was tallied in the campaign that began in the fall of 2006. Additionally, the most recent campaign reinforced the thinking that if the campaign is to reach its goals in the future, there must be stepped-up attention regarding corporate campaigns.

It was the stepped-up corporate attention under the leadership of Anne Morrison, the campaign's chairwoman, that gave the just-completed fundraising effort the push it needed to top the previous campaign's total.

"Volunteers made it a point to go to companies and really work with their employees and paycheck-deduction donations," said Leslie Osche, United Way executive director, at the United Way's annual breakfast meeting Wednesday at Butler County Community College.

Notable fundraising successes of the latest campaign highlighted Wednesday included those at AK Steel, Butler Memorial Hospital, Butler County Government and U.S. Investigations Services, Inc.

But much more needs to be done on those fronts as well as in other areas of the corporate community.

For example, Butler County Government employs 720 full-time and 74 part-time workers but those employees contributed just $6,000 to the latest campaign.

That's more than double the $2,500 in donations to the previous campaign, but no basis for any bragging rights, since the $6,000 spread out over 794 employees translates to individual contributions of only about $7.50.

And, if the workers who did contribute to the most recent campaign all gave $2 a paycheck — $52 a year — that means only about 115 of the 794 workers contributed to this important community asset — not a very impressive percentage.

While there are plenty of grounds for being optimistic based on what the latest campaign achieved, there also is plenty of room for acknowledgment that much more work needs to be done.

While many counties across the state are experiencing economic stagnation, that isn't the case here.

Although some Butler County residents are experiencing hardships and challenges that prohibit them from participating in the United Way effort, many other residents are benefiting from the ongoing economic growth here but are not doing their share in terms of United Way giving.

That's easily evident by a campaign that set a goal well within fundraising capabilities but still missed achieving its mark by $270,000.

The emphases of the just-completed campaign produced revelations on which future United Way campaigns should capitalize. Meanwhile, United Way should reject any temptation to lower future campaign fundraising expectations because of such situations as the skyrocketing gasoline prices that are proving to be a major burden for many people.

If everyone employed in the county contributed just $50 a year — well within most workers' capabilities — every United Way campaign's collections would greatly exceed the $1.5 million goal set for the past campaign.

Of course, 100 percent participation will never happen, but a significant increase in participation is well within reach.

Those who worked so hard to make the just-completed campaign successful deserve praise for their efforts. Morrison, who is a senior vice president of Citizens Bank, merits plaudits for the vision she employed and put into action during the process of chairing the campaign.

The money raised through this year's campaign was divided among United Way's 28 member agencies at last year's levels.

Based on what was learned from this campaign, it is to be hoped that those agencies will be able to benefit much more from successes of the upcoming campaign that will be launched this fall.

United Way is an important mission around which people in the county should focus their generosity.