Heart of West Michigan United Way runs the funds distribution program for the Raymond James Investments company's United Way campaigns conducted around the country. The company is a big United Way supporter, especially of the United Way of Tampa Bay, where the company has its headquarters. Employees are strongly encouraged to support the United Way, but "write-in" gifts to individual charities are permitted so long as the gifts are to "organizations whose primary mission focuses upon health and human service issues."
Guess who determines whether the intended recipient charity is a "health and human service" organization? And guess who keeps the money if the charity is determined not to be a health and human service organization?
Last fall a Raymond James employee in Tampa Bay made a designated write-in gift to a charity the donor had supported for years. In due course the Heart of West Michigan United Way contacted the charity and asked it to provide evidence that it met the health and human service criteria. The charity did so. A few weeks later the United Way wrote back, saying: "After careful review, it has been decided that the PRIMARY mission of (charity) is not health and human services."
And what does this charity do that makes its PRIMARY mission NOT health and human service. Wait for it...
It provides material support to orphanages and helps couples adopt orphans.
To add insult to injury, the United Way's letter pointed out that the charity's application had been reviewed by the Vice President of Resource Development -- in other words, by the executive responsible for bringing in money to the United Way. Conflict of interest anyone?
There was no mention of an appeals process in the letter, but the charity appealed anyway and eventually prevailed. The charity eventually got the gift, about six months after the donor had given it, with 10 percent taken off the top as United Way's "service" fee.
We asked the United Way in writing whether the donor would have been notified had the charity not eventually prevailed and, if so, would the donor have had the option to have the gift refunded? No response. A month later we asked again. What we got back was a fax of our request letter on which was a handwritten note that said: "I've been busy." We've heard nothing since.
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