Regarding the July 28 front-page article “United Way rules hit small charities”:
It’s an all-too-familiar story. If you really don’t need money, the bank will give you a loan. If you do need it, you probably won’t get it. Now this business-oriented state of mind appears to have infiltrated the United Way of the National Capital Area, which has decided to concentrate on giving money to organizations that have it and not to organizations that don’t and desperately need it. Perhaps this reflects the mind-set of the United Way’s new chief executive.
I ran corporate United Way campaigns during the 1960s and 1970s and raised many tens of thousands of dollars. I also served a stint as deputy chairman of the Metropolitan United Way campaign. (It was known as the United Givers Fund back then.) We had a different attitude.
Our support was not based on size. We identified important unaddressed community needs and sought out organizations that had the potential to address them. Contrary to today’s policy, we looked for charities that needed money to make a difference. Large established charities with fundraising ability were not a high priority. Our campaign theme was “Get Off Your Apathy.” We challenged people to think differently about the United Givers Fund’s obligations to our community. So I think that today’s United Way has it exactly backward.
I hope that the United Way board will take a second look at this misguided policy.
Paul S. Forbes, Silver Spring
Loading...
Comments