Legal Aid of West Virginia (LAWV) launched its annual “Just One” fundraising campaign with a kickoff challenge in the second half of April 2018, involving firms in Charleston and Huntington. Firms participating in the kickoff included Bailey Glasser LLC, Bowles Rice PLLC, Farrell, White & Legg, Flaherty Legal, Jackson Kelly PLLC, Jenkins Fenstermaker PLLC, Kay Casto & Chaney PLLC, Lewis Glasser PLLC, Nelson Mullins, Spilman Thomas & Battle PLLC and Steptoe & Johnson PLLC. Together, they raised over $130,000 in the period from April 15-30, putting Legal Aid more than half way toward its overall annual fundraising goal of $240,000 for 2018.
LAWV Director of Development and Communications Erica Pulling explains, “The Just One campaign has a simple premise: we’re asking every licensed West Virginia attorney to show they support equal access to justice for all our state’s citizens by contributing a minimum of just one gift, just one time a year, in an amount equal to or greater than their billable hour rate. Many of the firms who have traditionally provided institutional support for Legal Aid are located here in Charleston and Huntington, and by giving us the opportunity to engage their individual attorneys in this campaign, they really provide us with a tremendous kickstart as we go on to engage other firms in other cities, as well as the plaintiff’s bar.”
The kickoff challenge is billed as a friendly competition, with each firm vying to distinguish itself in categories ranging from total dollars raised to donors recruited. This year, top fundraising honors go to the following large-, mid-, and small-sized law firms: Jackson Kelly PLLC, Flaherty Legal, and Lewis Glasser PLLC—who together brought in nearly half of the total $130,000 raised. Firms with 100 percent of their attorneys participating in the Just One Campaign include Bailey Glasser LLC, Jackson Kelly PLLC, and Nelson Mullins. Spilman Thomas & Battle took home the honors for most new donors, recruiting 23, and Jenkins Fenstermaker won the “Freshman Award” for best performance by a firm participating in the Just One campaign for the first time.
“Our annual fundraising is really the backbone of our development program and is among our most stable sources of financial support,” says LAWV Executive Director Adrienne Worthy. “The Just One campaign, which we initiated just last year, has really helped us broaden our base of engagement and raise more money, and we are looking forward to taking our efforts to new attorneys, new firms and new areas in the upcoming months.”
