As Los Angeles Transforms, So Must the United Way : Charities: To remain a catalyst for positive change, the organization has to adapt its methods and respond to new attitudes, people and problems.

As Los Angeles enters the final decade of this century, the region’s social services are facing greater pressures and dynamic change. This is illustrated by United Way of Greater Los Angeles, which recently published an exhaustive survey of the challenges ahead as it prepares a strategic plan to guide its response to community needs. The goal is to enable the organization to continue to serve as a catalyst for positive change.

The task will not be easy. The greatest challenges will likely involve how United Way works with its traditional constituencies--its member organizations, affiliates and donor base. For the human-services sector and for United Way, it can no longer be business as usual.

Many of the changes to which United Way must respond are already here: the increasing ethnic diversity of our region; the growing youthfulness of our population, combined with the expanding needs of our elderly; more single-parent or one-person households; shifting attitudes toward traditional sex roles; the onslaught of catastrophic diseases; a widening gap between the “haves” and “have nots”; and an overtaxed educational system.

The needs presented by these realities cannot be answered effectively by the methods that have served the public sector and United Way so well in the past.

Because of the study, United Way recognizes that new methods of raising and distributing funds must be closely tied to its mission of serving a community in the throes of complex change. Only in this way can the organization continue to find and shape solutions.

In the 1990s, United Way is challenging itself to foster new and more effective means of meeting the human-service needs of our region. In addition to supporting social programs, United Way is strengthening its relationships with the many ethnic segments of Greater Los Angeles to build a sense of community. This is critical to United Way’s effectiveness. People who feel a part of a community will work together to solve problems that threaten their welfare.

In addition, United Way must address issues traditionally outside its scope; crime, lack of low-cost housing, poor transportation and environmental issues increasingly impinge on our quality of life.

Today, United Way funds 350 member agencies and health partners; many more want to--and should be--included. To admit more agencies will require considerably more resources than United Way has been able to generate.

One way to address this is for United Way to expand its relations with emerging segments of the business community. While major corporations remain loyal supporters, the small- to mid-sized companies increasingly dominating our markets must be recruited in greater numbers.

This will take new thinking. The entrepreneur building a company has less time and a different ethos for community participation than his or her executive counterpart at the multinational corporation down the street. The same holds true for many business leaders new to this country and its corporate culture of community support, and also for young professionals just beginning careers.

Other major segments of our region enjoy great economic progress but haven’t made the commitment to give something back. These groups must be reached, not only to generate more funds but also to create a new spirit of volunteerism.

How will this be achieved? Not easily when you consider this: Of the 35 largest metropolitan regions in the United States, Los Angeles ranks last in per capita giving to United Way. Yet the vibrancy and diversity of this region’s economy points to the ability to raise far more dollars than United Way’s current--and record--goal of $95 million for 1989/1990.

As great as that amount seems, it is not enough. Current social needs could easily absorb several times that amount and will require outreach beyond the corporate sector and penetration of the newer constituencies of our business community.

Through its strategic-planning process, involving hundreds of citizens, United Way is considering the following recommendations:

--It must be recognized as a catalyst for positive change, continually defining solutions to community problems as well as funding them.

--United Way must become more inclusive, broadening its base of volunteers to reflect the rich diversity of the area. It must expand its number of service providers and seek new fund-raising sources.

--It must redouble its efforts to work with donors, giving them a greater say in the services they choose to support.

Accomplishing these goals, which lie at the heart of United Way’s strategic planning process, requires increased investment in marketing, communications and people, and leveraging resources through partnerships with other organizations.

Over the long term, success in these areas will strengthen United Way’s ability to generate broad community understanding of its role, instead of the fragmented perceptions that now exist.