Slumping United Way Hires Leader

Hoping to reverse a four-year decline in contributions, the United Way of Greater Los Angeles has hired the chief executive who led a turnaround of its sister agency in Phoenix.

Joseph V. Haggerty, a career United Way administrator credited with jump-starting the sagging Arizona operation, will become president and chief executive officer of the troubled Los Angeles agency May 1.

Haggerty was named earlier this month to replace Herbert L. Carter, who retired Feb. 28 after three wrenching years in which the agency’s annual fund-raising campaign dwindled to less than $60 million from its 1990 peak of $95 million, leaving many charity organizations with thinner budgets during a time of heightened need.

Although the recession and the departure of large employers such as Lockheed played a major role in the agency’s problems, Carter was criticized for not paying enough attention to fund raising.

In approving Haggerty’s appointment after a search that considered 100 candidates, the United Way board of directors adopted a set of goals with improved fund raising at the top, followed by building volunteerism.

The appointment of a leader with proven fund-raising skills brought praise from observers who believe the agency is at a critical juncture.

“Had they done anything other than that, it would have been a disaster,” said Ross Hopkins, a longtime United Way volunteer who heads the Cultural Foundation of the San Fernando Valley. “That had to be their first priority.”

Haggerty said he will try to cultivate more United Way involvement by executives of mid-size companies, the entertainment industry and private individuals.

“There are a lot of people in the workplace that United Way does not reach at all,” he said.

Haggerty will assume the $195,000-a-year job at a time of unusual stress between the region’s central philanthropic organization and about 300 partners and affiliates, charities that cooperate in fund raising and share in the proceeds.

As a result of a review of United Way’s mission conducted under Carter, the agency is reshaping its relationship with its larger partners, asking them to play a greater role in fund raising.

A spokeswoman for City of Hope said that agency, one of United Way’s major partners, severed its relationship in 1992 rather than comply. The Los Angeles chapter of the American Red Cross is currently negotiating a new contract with United Way.

Other partners have considered dropping out, too, but the Los Angeles affiliate of the American Heart Assn. decided against it.

“It is better if we can help United Way raise more money,” said Wanda Kuenzli, executive vice president of the local group. “We want to be full partners in the campaign. . . . We have not been partners from United Way’s standpoint.”

At the same time, the dwindling campaign fund has spurred competition among the smaller agencies that once automatically budgeted the anticipated annual United Way contribution. Last year, some agencies were cut far more severely than others.

“All of us out here in the communities have had to lay people off, we’ve had to curtail programs. And what they’ve (United Way) done is sit there and be fat, dumb and happy,” said one agency member who declined to be identified.

Carter, formerly the executive chancellor of the California State University system, was a United Way volunteer for 20 years. After serving two years as board chairman, he became president in March, 1992, saying he would serve only three years.

Current United Way board Chairman Kenneth Murphy praised Carter’s work in reshaping the organization during tough economic times.

“United Way had been slow to change over the years,” Murphy said. “The strategic plan has solidified United Way as an institution, corrected some areas that needed correcting and has put the organization in the posture to be successful in its fund raising.”

Haggerty, 46, was previously the president or executive director of United Way groups in St. Paul, Minn., Corpus Christi, Tex., and St. Joseph, Mich. He took on the struggling Phoenix United Way in 1988. Under his leadership, its $15.1-million campaign grew steadily to $26 million last year.

Haggerty attributes the success to his ability to persuade key people of the need for a successful United Way, and said recruitment will be his primary job in Los Angeles, a region that, like Phoenix, lacks a large group of wealthy people who give deeply as a way of life.

Although he would make no predictions, Haggerty said he hoped that in three or four years the campaign will be taking in about $75 million annually.