New Pragmatism for United Way : Charity Giant Reorders Priorities to Increase Effectiveness

This is an exciting time for United Way of Orange County. With all the economic uncertainty of recent years, it began its 1996 campaign last weekend with new leadership and goals. A new pragmatism is in the air. To its credit, this organization appears to have heeded the message that people want tangible results when parting with hard-earned dollars.

The stage was set for the campaign when, earlier in the year, United Way announced it was redirecting money from some of the larger nonprofit organizations it had funded traditionally to help finance programs at smaller ones. The idea was to designate “Priority Issues” that would give money to programs dealing with family violence; child care and development; youth development; families in crisis and homelessness; and community health.

These changes have taken place against the backdrop of the shaken trust in charities in general which followed the firing of the United Way’s national president in 1992. Last week, United Way’s new president, Maria Chavez Wilcox, greeted a study by Cal State Fullerton economists on charitable giving by noting that the organization had been losing contributions every year since 1990.

The challenge of making more effective use of dollars makes the reordering of priorities a sensible strategy. The organization has begun working with agencies to accomplish this.

To illustrate this emphasis on results, United Way, in collaboration with Camp Fire Boys and Girls, set out on Sept. 20 to demonstrate the results of a Camp Fire program to educate cities about the problem of tobacco sales to minors. United Way reported that cities targeted previously for education sold at a 20% rate to a corps of youth volunteers, while those not targeted had a 50% rate.

United Way also had a hand in a report released last May that made disturbing findings about the number of children falling into poverty in the county. It says that it is actively looking for such collaborations in order to make a difference in the county.

United Way represents a good way to address needs close to home and around the county. This year’s campaign will run until March, with a goal of raising $18.4 million. We encourage all in the Orange County community to support this important work.