ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Charity With an Individualistic Twist

Orange County doesn’t give as generously to United Way as some other areas. Some say it’s because there aren’t many corporate headquarters that conduct companywide giving programs. Others say it’s because the county’s neediest people are not as visible as in other areas.

Whatever the reason, United Way of Orange County is trying a new plan that’s been tried in just a few places around the nation. And United Ways in both Los Angeles and San Diego are studying the idea to see if it would provide adequate support to all their beneficiaries.

The program, called “donor choice,” allows contributors to designate their gifts in three ways:

* The traditional method, in which funds are distributed among 21 areas of need serviced by Orange County’s 118 United Way-affiliated service providers.

* “Targeted issue” care, in which donors designate an area of particular concern, such as homelessness, disaster services, hunger or literacy.

* “Specific care,” in which donors designate contributions to specific agencies affiliated with United Way or to any eligible nonprofit organization in the United States. These gifts will be monitored to make sure they are used as intended.

United Way executives in Orange County say they devised the new plan after hearing from donors that they wanted more control over which charities received their gifts and how the money was used. They hope that the program will help in their pursuit of $22.5 million this year--a 9% increase over the $20.9 million pledged a year ago.

While many United Ways allow donors to designate their donations, usually the money becomes part of the designated agency’s overall allocation and doesn’t change the total it receives. What makes Orange County’s program different is that designated donations will be added to an agency’s allocation for a given year. The program also allows donors to designate their money to nonprofit agencies outside United Way’s traditional “family.”

Los Angeles and San Diego are concerned that some good causes that are not as popular or that don’t have means of promoting themselves might suffer. That’s a good point that should be evaluated as Orange County’s program gets under way.

The Orange County experiment does respond to a feeling throughout the business community that people nowadays want more autonomy in decision-making. Thus, the creation of a stronger link between giver and receiver should foster generosity.