Following its fall campaign, United Way of Howard County announced that it had reached $1.73 million towards its community campaign goal of $2 million (87 percent).

The announcement of the shortfall began the process for the Fund Distribution Council (FDC) of formulating 2009 allocation recommendations for approval by the Executive Committee and Board of Directors. "Obviously we have been trying to work through this process thoughtfully," United Way of Howard County President Lori Tate said.

FDC’s recommendations to the Executive Committee and Board of Directors included the following: all programs maintain their 2008 funding levels except Girls Scouts, whose programs are to be based on a formula of per child served (modeled after Boy Scouts) and Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Salvation Army Day Care and Howard County Children's Center, whose programs were de-funded. De-funding decisions were based on decreased numbers of individuals served and community support/need for programs.

The following are what was sent to the executive board from FDC and approved by the Board of Directors on January 12, 2009.

Agency	Allocation ($)
American Red Cross	$116,823
Big Brothers/Sisters	$0
Bona Vista	$102,540
Boy Scouts, Sagamore Council	$64,205
Carver Community Center	$101,912
CASA	$44,951
Family Service Association	$266,319
Food Finders Food Bank	$16,080
Girl Scouts	$29,525
Howard County Children's Center	$0
Literacy Coalition	$40,797
Mental Health of America	$107,506
The Salvation Army	$30,000
Samaritan Caregivers	$29,000
Visiting Nurse Service	$10,000
YMCA	$98,308