Serving as a United Way Pacesetter company is about a lot more than raising money.
Equally - perhaps more - important is energizing a community campaign to raise a total in the range of $1.5 million.
Physicist Issac Newton's Third Law of Motion - "a body at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an outside force" - also applies to fundraising.
A campaign kickoff - note the word's connotations of action and movement - is designed to apply that outside force and generate momentum.
Serving as a Pacesetter requires commitment and is not without pressure. Previous Pacesetter campaigns have established a tradition of successful starts.
During an event last week to launch the Pacesetter effort for the upcoming United Way campaign, Andy Fechtel, a campaign co-chair, addressed those themes.
"Pacesetters are so important," he said, "I mean they end up raising about 48 percent of the overall funds raised. So to get these guys energized and ready to go sets the tone for the whole campaign and really kind of ensures we start off on the right foot."
Although the commitment - and the intent, to raise money for area health and human service agencies - is a serious matter, Pacesetter firms have found their corporate campaigns flourish when fundraising is mixed with fun.
Area businesses, historically, have become inventive when it comes to creating activities that also are incentives for employee giving.
We commend the area companies, and their employees, for their willingness to step up and serve as United Way Pacesetters.
They are force that sets this community campaign in motion.