About the United Way
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is United Way really different from other non-profits?
- How does United Way know that its goals are my goals?
- Will United Way still let me give directly to my favorite agency?
- Why should I choose not to designate?
- What if I want to give to an agency that is not supported by United Way?
- Our employees and their families are suffering the effects of the economy. Why should we ask them to give?
- Does our United Way support the Boy Scouts?
- Where do the dollars I give go?
- What is is overhead cost of the United Way?
"Is United Way really different from other non-profits?"
The Wiregrass United Way is fundamentally different from other non-profits and charities. It exists for one reason - to help us come together as one community to identify and work on the issues that affect all of us. Citizens can put away their differences and pull together a one cohesive force.
"How does United Way know that its goals are my goals?"
The goals, vision, mission, and priorities of the Wiregrass United Way are all set by members of its various volunteer boards. As a citizen of the Wiregrass, you are invited to come and work with our boards as they chart the course of the United Way. If you truly enjoy the way that we operate, you may be invited to serve on the boards and have a Leadership Role in the steering of the organization. In this way, the Wiregrass United Way ensures that its leaders are the people most concerned with helping in the community, and that our focus reflects the community's vision, not just our own.
"Will United Way still let me give directly to my favorite agency?"
Through the United Way designation policy, it is possible to direct your gift to one or more agencies, another United Way, or a specific county in the area. However, please take a moment and consider the powerful impact you can have if you choose instead to direct your contribution to the Community Impact Fund. Giving to the Community Impact Fund helps all of us in our 5-county region by working to change the social problems that lead to wasted lives and lost dreams. If you prefer, part of your gift can go to the Community Impact Fund, while the rest can be designated to a specific agency or agencies.
"Why should I choose the Wiregrass United Way Community Impact Fund?"
If you expect results when you give - and you want to be part of a caring community that gets things done - the Community Impact Fund is your best option. It's the one investment that helps change community conditions that affect our whole region - like ensuring children start school ready to learn. When you think about it, every other charitable giving option we have targets a specific organization or cause. Only the Community Impact Fund targets community.
"What if I want to give to an agency that is not supported by United Way?"
You certainly may, but you can't do that through United Way. That's because United Way is not in the "business" of raising money for non-profit agencies. The United Way campaign is your opportunity to make a powerful investment in a carefully crafted plan designed to make our community safer and stronger. United Way asks you to consider the annual fundraising campaign and the Community Impact Fund as your best investment in community, not as a way to give to a specific organization.
"Our employees and their families are suffering the effects of the economy. We can't ask them to give."
Time and again, some of the most generous givers are those who themselves have struggled and needed a helping hand from our community. United Way believes that everyone should be given an opportunity to express their caring through charitable giving -- to enjoy the emotional reward the comes from knowing they've helped our community safer and stronger. Only the donor him- or herself can determine whether they can afford to give at this time. Thanks to payroll deduction, even a small amount each pay period can add up over the year, and give the employee a real feeling of connection to our community.
"Does our United Way support the Boy Scouts?"
There is a popular misconception that United Way is a national organization with local chapters across the United States. This is not the case. Each of the 1,400 local United Ways in the U.S. is governed entirely by local volunteers. The money raised locally, stays in the local community. All decisions, including policy and funding decisions, are made locally.
Of those 1,400 local United Ways across the United States 23 have chosen to defund their local Boy Scout Councils. The Wiregrass United Way is not one of them and has chosen to continue funding the scouts.
We exists to bring people together to help those most vulnerable. It is not our place to take sides in controversies that divide our community.
The local leadership of the Boy Scouts used this analogy: Girl Scouts restrict their troop leaders to women because they want girls to emulate women in leadership positions. Girl Scouts do not denigrate men. By this same logic, according to the Boy Scouts, they want their troop leaders to embody the organization's "traditional" values. Men who actively espouse homosexuality as a lifestyle would, therefore, be promoting values that are inconsistent with those of the Boy Scouts.
The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling confirmed the right of the Boy Scouts to do this according to the Constitutional right to association.
United Way, as a funding source, was particularly interested in the pertinent materials given to scouts and to scout leaders on this subject. After reviewing the materials we were satisfied that tolerance was being actively taught through the Boy Scouts.
"By their own example and through encouragement from others, Scout leaders can steer Scouts away from vulgar jokes, disrespectful skits, inappropriate literature (which should be destroyed without a "display"), or other forms of negativity that denigrate people based upon their gender or sexuality. Such behavior is not in keeping with the Scout Oath and Law and should not be tolerated in a troop."
(From The Scoutmaster Handbook, Boy Scouts of America. )
No messages of intolerance, including intolerance of homosexuals, were evident. If an individual citizen is concerned about the level of funding that the scouts receive, they can obtain a copy of our annual allocations to the member agencies, which will display how much money has gone to the scouts over the last few years. Call us at 792-9661.
"Where do the dollars I give go?"
The Wiregrass United Way operates by targeting 4 sectors of society that we wish to improve. Below is a listing of the sectors.
- Helping Youth Succeed
- Meeting Basic Needs
- Serving People with Special Needs
- Strengthening Families and Individuals
"What is the overhead cost of the United Way?"
The United Way operates in order to provide funding for member agencies and programs. We provide the community a clear, efficient channel for funds to move from individual donors to the non-profit organizations and programs that need them. As such, we strive to reduce the "cost" of our fundraising efforts as much as possible without compromising our programs. This year, the Wiregrass United Way operates on less than 17% of the donations we recieve. For this figure, we provide the support and management for a $2 Million fundraising campaign, a variety of programs, and an information and referral system. Our budget decreased this year, and the Wiregrass United Way is still looking for ways to eliminate overhead so that more donor dollars can flow to the agencies and programs we support.
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