Seven Questions Every Donor Should Ask United Way
1. How much money did you take in last year? How much of that did you pay out in grants or distributions? (The difference between those two numbers is the most accurate reflection of the United Way’s effectiveness. You can’t rely on United Way’s self-reported number of its administrative and fund raising overhead percentage because they label much of their internal paper-shuffling as “program costs.”
2. If I earmark my gift to a specific United Way member charity, will United Way treat that gift as “first dollars” against the charity’s United Way allocation? (This is a common practice. The United Way subtracts the amount of the donor’s gift from the amount of the grant it has pre-determined it will make to the charity. Thus, the donor’s gift results in no net benefit to the charity. Had that donor given to the charity directly, there would have been a net benefit. This practice dis-empowers donors and insults their intelligence.)
3. Is this list of member charities I see in your brochure or on your web site really a list of members in the sense that if I make a gift to the United Way they will all share in that money? (Don’t assume that the charities United Way presents are really “member” charities that are going to share in your generosity. Sometimes the lists are just window dressing, such as United Way of the San Francisco Bay Area’s “community certified charities.” None of these charities are necessarily going to get any United Way dollars, and few will. Other times the lists are composed of so-called “community partners.” These are charities that the United Way has made grants to in the past, but there is no guarantee they will get any money (i.e. your money) in the future.
4. If I earmark my at-work gift to a specific charity of my choice, how much of that money will United Way deduct before sending the remainder on to the charity? Will this cost vary if I choose a charity not on United Way’s list as opposed to if I choose a charity that is on United Way’s list? (This information should be disclosed up front on United Way campaign materials, but often it’s in the small print.)
5. If I earmark my at-work to a specific charity, will United Way honor my designation unconditionally or will United Way only honor the designation if it is to a charity United Way approves? (The policy among United Ways to only “allow” designated gifts to “health and human care” charities is increasingly widespread. There is no universal definition for this term – it can mean whatever the local United Way wants it to mean. Charities are asked to “prove” their “health and human care” bona fides with documentation. As a result, the recipient charity sometimes has to spend more to receive your gift than the amount you gave.
6. If this United Way has a “health and human care” limitation on designated gifts, and you determine that the charity I chose didn’t meet that criteria, what will happen to my gift? Will you return it to me or will you re-direct it to the United Way general fund? Is that re-direct automatic, or will you re-direct only with my express permission? (If United Way were a business or a government program instead of a sacred cow, people would be going to jail for this practice of re-directing designated gifts to the general fund. Even in a best case scenario, where donors are notified of United Way’s decision, United Way has an unconscionable conflict of interest by putting itself in a position to benefit if it determines that the charity the donor intended to benefit doesn’t meet United Way’s criteria.)
7. How much of the United Way operating budget is spent on lobbying governments to provide more money to social welfare and entitlement programs – in other words, to raise my taxes. (You probably won’t get a straight answer to this question, but you should understand that “networking” with government is now a key component of the “new United Way” program. Basically, the United Way is trying to reinvent itself as “the community’s ombudsman” for public health, job creation, education, etc., joining a long, long list of other self-appointed “ombudsmen” at the public trough.)
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