FRANKLIN TWP — The United Way of Butler County kicked off its 2015-16 fundraising campaign Wednesday night, announcing that it has a goal of raising $1.43 million by June 30 for its 83rd annual campaign.

It’s the start of a new way of doing things for the agency, which said its annual campaign would not have a chairman, but would be overseen by a committee.

The three-person committee, chaired by Steve Powers with members Alice Lunn and Scott Covert, will “assist with the campaign process when, as, and if needed,” said executive director Kierston Hobaugh.

Covert, who is a training coordinator at Penn United Technology, and Powers, who is a health and safety coordinator at Penreco, are both first-year members of the United Way board.

Lunn, who has been a board member for two years, is the circulation director for the Butler Eagle.

Powers said he wants the committee to develop a fundraising hallmark for the agency.

“Something that’s a mainstay. A big event that we can do every year that people are going to know, that’s the United Way and I want to go to that,” he said.

Hobaugh said the change won’t mean more demands on her or staffers at the agency. The absence of a campaign chairman doesn’t mean much more than one fewer signature on campaign literature and one fewer person headlining fundraising events with the director, she said — a duty that will likely be assumed by a rotating cast of board members.

“I don’t see it putting a lot of extra pressure on me or the staff,” Hobaugh said.

It is also Hobaugh’s first full year overseeing the agency’s fundraising campaign. Former executive director Leslie Osche resigned from her position in December to run for county commissioner, after being the agency’s top executive for 14 years.

Hobaugh, who had been the United Way’s director for results and performance, was named interim director and then was hired in April on a one-year contact that extends through the end of the 2015-16 campaign.

She said the biggest challenge for her is the behind-the-scenes logistics of a fundraising campaign.

“The connections you need to make are not new, but finding out the timing and things needed for each (donor),” are the challenge, she said.

The agency has selected the theme “Do You Know the Way?” for this year’s campaign. That is an effort to highlight how important it is for agencies working to support education, health and income assistance to work together.

“We’ll be handing out puzzles in conjunction with the campaign to highlight that apart (agencies) are each only one small piece, but together we can function as collaborative partners to benefit Butler County,” she said.

The goal for the agency’s 2015-16 campaign is up slightly from last year. Hobaugh said the United Way sees opportunities to grow its campaign with manufacturers and energy companies that either haven’t been tapped yet or aren’t “fully engaged.”

The United Way met its 2014-15 campaign goal of $1.425 million, and in June announced that the money would fund in part 26 programs at 20 partner agencies in the county. The agency also distributed about $550,000 in donor-designated funds to specific agencies.

The 2014-15 fundraising goal was down from the $1.6 million the organization had set as its goal during the 2013-14 campaign. That year the agency fell about $180,000 short of its mark.

Other changes also marked the agency’s kickoff event this year. To distinguish between awards ceremonies for donors and volunteers, the United Way split the ceremonies from their usual place with the kickoff event. Those awards were presented in August.

“The kickoff is truly just that — an event to ... begin fundraising and bring the community together with something fun,” Hobaugh said.

After a series of tricycle races won by Jamie McKinley of “Team ‘Merica,” sponsored by VOICe, the agency also awarded prizes for Best Dressed — won by Ray Skiles of team Captain Disaster — and largest fundraiser — won by Jim Saeler of team Speedy Gonzalez.

The agency also held a basket auction as part of its kickoff event Wednesday, and said the event raised a total of $5,600 toward its campaign.