United Way of Deschutes County came up about $150,000 short of its goal in the annual drive that ended in June. That means that the 28 local nonprofit agencies it supports — from two Boys & Girls Clubs to Saving Grace, best known for its 24-bed shelter for battered women — will receive a bit less from United Way this year.

That’s unfortunate. It also may be a reflection of changes in charitable giving that are occurring nationwide, says Ken Wilhelm, executive director of United Way.

Among other things, more donors are restricting their gifts to United Way, a move that lets them support the agency of their choice rather than all the agencies United Way supports.

By law, United Way must pass those restricted gifts on to the agencies they’re designated for. While that’s good for recipient agencies, it means United Way’s unrestricted donations are stretched. Moreover, United Way does not include restricted funds when deciding what to give a particular agency. Instead, the agency’s grant will come from unrestricted funds, with restricted donations added to them. That, Wilhelm says, is what United Way leadership believes its donors want.

It does create a problem. Agencies that receive fewer designated dollars will take a more noticeable hit if cuts must be made, even if, as it did this year, United Way cuts grants by a single percentage across the board. Fortunately, it was able to reduce reserves to soften the blow.

United Way remains a vital piece of the charity puzzle in Deschutes County. Its overhead, 22.5 percent last year, is well under the 35 percent charity raters say is reasonable, and it supports nonprofits that might otherwise be overlooked, generally agencies that focus on healthy kids and families.

And while this year’s drive is over, next year’s begins this fall. You can help kick it off with your unrestricted gift, knowing it will be spent judiciously on agencies that make a difference in people’s lives.