Historical Perspectives Archive

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES Archive

Ways have changed. Uniting hasn’t.
Authors: Dick Aft, United Way Historian and UW NEXT Emeritus Board Member, and Teresa Hall Bartels, Former United Way International President
October 2024

What has defined United Way over almost 140 years?

Federating fundraising campaigns

Social planning

Alleviating suffering

Preventing problems

Purchasing services

Making an impact

Names have changed and purposes have sharpened in response to change, but United Way’s commitment to connecting resources to needs has continued for almost 140 years. Denver’s 1887 Charity Organization Society’s consolidation of competing agency campaigns is considered to be the very first “united” campaign. Beginning in Pittsburgh in 1907, Councils of Social Agencies proliferated to give attention to gaps and duplications in human services. In 1913, Denver’s example of combined fund-raising campaigns took hold in Cleveland and began its 20th century development around the world.

From its inception, United Way was committed to combining the fundraising appeals of service organizations and the social planning that helped define and coordinate efforts to make an impact on the needs of local communities.

The purposes of today’s forebearers were reflected in their slogans. From the earliest years when “Put Your Eggs in One Basket” defined our “way,” the focus grew to include the influence of social planning with slogans like “Put your Dollars Where They Will Make the Most Cents.” Through the middle of the 20th century, the “way” of United Way could be seen in posters calling on citizens to alleviate human suffering, illustrated by Cincinnati, OH’s “helping hand,” to Rochester, New York’s “Suppose Nobody Cared? poster” All the while, annual “united” campaigns continued to garner support from millions of individuals, companies, labor unions, and foundations by continued refinement of the community-wide fundraising model instituted in 1887.

Our United “ways” of preventing problems, purchasing agency services, and making an impact followed. Today, local United Way organizations continue to evolve in creative ways to connect community resources with community needs.

Kristi Long, CEO of United Way of Lake County, IL, and Gale Graves, Vice President of Community Impact at United Way of Lake County, IL, have seen their local United Way move from what Kristi describes as, “being a middleman” to actual service delivery. The traditional allocations process has been eliminated in favor of partnerships to focus on education and 211. Fifteen years ago, the relationship with community health and human service agencies was, “we give you money,” Kristi summarized. “Now, we have shared vision and shared concern about an issue. Our sweet spot is in the impact we are having with children from birth to age eight,” Kristi said. Gale affirms the impact, “We absolutely can talk about the specific skills children are developing, including increases in reading, math and behavior management.” In addition, United Way of Lake County has hired a community engagement coordinator to make sure community organizations are aware of and utilizing the resources available through 211.
Rodney Prunty, CEO for United Way of Central New Mexico in Albuquerque, has also beefed up his local United Way’s 211 initiative. “That’s just one way that we wake up every day asking how we make a difference in people's lives,” Rodney said. He noted three trends that United Ways need to address: the rise of third-party processors approaching traditional corporate donors; the perception of United Way as “stale, old, and transactional,” and the desires of younger generations to connect and engage in purposeful ways.

To address those trends, United Way of Central New Mexico has partnered with a technology company to provide a solution for its corporate donors that still includes engagement with United Way. Rodney hired a staff member who works with these top accounts to help them create Corporate Social Responsibility goals—with plans that keep United Way connected as their “social impact partner of choice.” They are being very intentional about asking millennials and Gen Z-ers, “how do they want to be engaged—and then we connect them with purpose-driven action,” said Rodney. “We haven’t totally eliminated allocations to agencies,” Rodney explained. “We set aside $2.5 million for three-year grants and our staff connect regularly to partner with these agencies so we can measure impact and help them develop sustainability once the three years of funding ends.”
In Charleston, South Carolina, DJ Hampton II has led the Trident United Way in what he calls a “natural evolution” from its 80-year history to the specific goal of uplifting 15,000 families out of poverty by 2035. “We stopped the allocations process during the pandemic to free up as much money as possible to address urgent needs. That led the Board to consider how aligned we are with current community needs,” said DJ. What the Board learned is that the cost of living for a family of four is $89,000 in the Charleston community. With the federal poverty line established at $30,000, the Board decided to, “go all in and focus on Financial Stability,” DJ explained. United Way will be working with health and human service agencies, the College of Charleston, and other community partners to map out a collective case management plan over the next year. “We have fully embraced the ALICE framework [Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed—earning above the Federal Poverty Level yet struggling to afford basic expenses] that really defines what it costs to live here,” DJ said. “We are fortunate to have “Charity Tracker,” a single database that can track families across all the helping agencies. This will help us tremendously to manage cases across our partners and achieve our community goal.”

Today’s United Ways are redefining success—not by the amount of money being raised or even by the number of people served. They are evolving to measures of lives changed and the health and resilience of communities achieved through partnerships. As always, they are connecting resources to needs—the United Way, a uniting way.

United Way mobilization of caring communities:  a feast of history and culture and a famine of books
Author: Dick Aft, United Way Historian and UW NEXT Emeritus Board Member
July, 2024

Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "We are not the makers of history, we are made by history.” So, what about United Way history? How has it contributed to today’s United Way? How much has been preserved? By my count, only nineteen books have been published during nearly 140 years since the beginning of community-wide social planning and federated fund-raising in the United States.

Here are a few peeks at several of the authors’ contributions to published United Way history. Perhaps their words will prompt readers to add their own publications to the list.

The United Way movement’s earliest days were described in 1927 when William Norton wrote, The Cooperative Movement in Social Work. In his publication, he identifies the strengths and weaknesses of seven different models adopted as United Way took shape during the late 19th century. They ranged from, “a new development in New York where the members of the fur trade are now trying to arrange a joint charitable fund” to the efforts of Denver’s civic, religious and business leaders who “envisioned a financial federation that was an association of agencies and an association of people interested in philanthropy.”

In her scholarly 1990 publication, The United Way, Dilemmas of Organized Charity, Eleanor L. Brilliant observed, “Organized charity has survived continued environmental turbulence and constant challenge evidently because it is adaptable to changing circumstances and because it does in the end touch some fundamental core in the American life and value system.”

Grandma Called It Charity is the name John E. Tropman titled his 2001 collection of the speeches and writings of his father Elmer J. Tropman, who retired as Director of the Health and Welfare Planning Association of Pittsburgh in 1975. He recalled a description of the way his staff described a skill common to the most successful of United Way professionals. “My father was a man who, through his very presence, helped leverage the ideas, creativity, cooperation, and candor of groups he joined that his staff came to name it ‘Elmer’s Glue.’ ”

In 2017, in Improving People’s Lives, a History of the Health and Welfare Council of the National Capital Area, Isadore “Sam” Seeman shared his perspective of the five fundamental processes common to all local United Way organizations from their beginnings:

Assess community health, welfare, and human service needs.
Evaluate existing services.
Identify gaps and overlaps.
Plan better and/or more effective and efficient ways to meet needs.
Channel financial and volunteer resources in ways to meet the highest priority needs.

Local perspective was presented in 2022 by Madison, Wisconsin, journalist Doug Moe in his book entitled Celebrating a Century of Innovation, Collaboration and Positive Change as he quoted Dane County’s United Way President Renee Moe [not related] who said, “Changing lives is not only about users of services and strengthening nonprofits. We mean donors’ and volunteers’ lives, too.” She added, “That’s how we will continue to be evolutionary and innovative, constantly being nimble to meet the needs of the community as we grow and change.”

Newsletter space limits the thousands of illustrations of United Way history and culture that our authors have captured. Each offers contemporary leaders a rearview mirror as they navigate the ever-increasing connectors among citizens and their concerns for the health and welfare of their neighbors. As Dr. King may have inferred when he said that “we are made by history,” today’s United Way is made, in large part, by its own history as it has responded to the human needs of individuals, families, neighborhoods, communities, and countries.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Our historian is constantly on the lookout for books about United Way. If you know of any, please let him know at [email protected]. What could be the complete collection includes the following:

National/International Focus
The Cooperative Movement in Social Welfare by William J. Norton, Ph.D., 1927.
Community Chest, A Case Study in Philanthropy by John R. Seeley et al, 1957.
People and Events, a History of the United Way edited by Helen Shenefield, Betty Lund and Barbara Abel, 1977.
The United Way, The Next Hundred Years by William Aramony, 1987.
The United Way, Dilemmas of Organized Charity by Eleanor L. Brilliant, 1990.
An Insider’s Account of The United Way Scandal by John S. Glaser, 1994.
Edukacja i aktywizacja społeczna w organizacjach pozarządowych Przykład ruchu United Way [Education and social activation in non-governmental organizations. Example: The United Way movement] by Agnieszka Namiuk, 2003.
Grassroots Initiatives Shape an International Movement by Richard N. Aft, Ph.D. and  Mary Lu Aft, 2004.
Global Vision and Local Action by Richard N. Aft, Ph.D. and Mary Lu Aft, 2009.
Contesting Communities, the Transformation of Workplace Charity by Emily Barman, 2006.
How Do They Help? UNITED WAY (part of the How Do They Help children’s book series) by Katy Marsico, 2016.

Local Frame of Reference
The First Twenty Years by C.M. Bookman, 1935.
Twenty-Five Years by C.M. Bookman, 1940.
Painful Decisions, Positive Results by Richard N. Aft, Ph.D., 2000.
Grandma Called It Charity: The Collected Writings of Elmer J. Tropman by John E. Tropman, 2001.
The Story of Community Chest, United Fund, United Way of Escambia County 1924-2004 John Appleyard, 2004.
100 Years of Uniting a Caring Community by Richard N. Aft, Ph.D., 2015.
Improving People’s Lives, A History of the Health and Welfare Council of the National Capital Area by Isadore [Sam] Seeman, 2017.
Celebrating A Century of Innovation, Collaboration and Positive Change by Doug Moe, 2022.

Adaptability – a hallmark of United Way fund-raising success. Practices “THEN” and “NOW” respond to the times.
Author: Dick Aft, United Way Historian and Emeritus Board Member
April, 2024

Change has been a hallmark of the environment in which United Way raised money from its beginnings. Today, more than any other time in the movement’s history, a perfect storm of change has brought about more variety in local approaches to fund-raising than it has since the early 20th century. The COVID-induced changes in many workplaces, on top of changes in generational giving interests, electronics and external pledge processing, has sparked a wide variety of local United Way adaptations. “Uniformity” describes local fund-raising during the 1900’s. THEN, goal setting, fall campaigns, events, promotion, personnel, and data management were done uniformly by nearly every local United Way organization regardless of location or size. NOW, variety defines local experimentation to identify “best practices” that may become the “new normal” elements of United Way fund-raising.

THEN: The nearly universal 20th century fund-raising practices of most local United Way organizations are of more historical interest than current relevance. They do, however, illustrate United Way responsiveness to the fund-raising environment of the times.

The “Monroe High Speed Adding Calculator” machine symbolizes fund-raising back then. How else could the percentage of each campaign division’s goal achievement be quickly calculated as volunteers and corporate campaign chairs streamed into weekly report meetings, dropping their cash and pledge card-filled report envelopes on a table just inside the door? There, nimble-fingered staff members calculated percentages of goal achievement and entered numbers into pre-typed meeting scripts. United Way centerpieces adorned ballroom tables. Campaign leaders sat on elevated platforms. Near the head table, thermometer-filled “scoreboards” reflected the percentage of goal attainment. Woe be to that division volunteer whose team members’ “report envelopes” didn’t contain enough pledge cards and cash to raise their division’s goal attainment to an applause-earning level!

“OCT 12, 1972, United Way Scoreboard Kept up to Date Dawn Wilkins, a cheerleader at Highland High School, Adams County, places small paper football on chart to indicate progress made by various solicitation divisions in the Mile High United Way fund-raising campaign. She was one of several cheerleaders from two high schools participating in the report meeting Wednesday at the Cosmopolitan Hotel. More than 300 volunteers attended Reports by eight solicitation divisions that show the campaign has reached a total of $4,341,149 so far on the way to raising a $6,874,450 goal.” [Credit: Denver Post archives]

In 1977, the Coca-Cola Company’s Atlanta headquarters published and distributed complimentary copies of a booklet entitled, “Steps to Success: United Way Firm Campaigning Made Easy.” It was a “one size fits all” manual for United Way workplace fund-raising whose chapters included prescribed, detailed approaches to:

PRE-CAMPAIGN: Recruitment, training, materials, promotion, CEO calls.
GOAL SETTING
EVENTS: Kickoffs, Agency tours, Report Meetings, Victory/Appreciation Events.
PROMOTION
SOLICITING CONTRIBUTIONS: Corporation, employees, individuals, organizations.
SAYING “Thank you!”
EVALUATING approaches, results, and volunteer personnel.

Today, Coca-Cola still satisfies. The fund-raising manual does not.

NOW: Common approaches to fund-raising these days are the exception, not the rule. A universal new approach to fund-raising has yet to emerge, but the Intro in DonorPerfect’s “Guide to Fundraising in the New Normal” offers words everyone can take heart from, as follows:

“Even before COVID-19, your organization was no stranger to the ever-evolving landscape of fundraising. So as you learn new strategies, tailor your communication templates, and take on new tools, do so with the confidence that success will follow. Remember, it’s organizations like yours that showed us the way before COVID-19 and taught us how to give, help, and support those in need during this crisis.”

In its 2019-2020 Impact Report, the United Way Williamson County (now part of the United Way for Greater Austin, Texas) pictured this strategy that has come to pervade current local fund-raising approaches:

A variety of local United Way leaders shared the following “Now” information about their community’s current approaches to fund-raising. They included:

Melissa Reabold, CEO, United Way of Greater Baytown Area and Chambers County, Baytown, Texas.

Rodney Prunty, President & CEO, United Way of North Central New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Renee Moe, President & CEO, United Way of Dane County, Madison, Wisconsin
Mike Baker, Chief Strategy Officer, United Way of Greater Cincinnati, Ohio
DJ Hampton II, President & CEO, Trident United Way, Charleston, South Carolina
Several others who wished to remain anonymous.

Their responses regarding fund-raising now illustrate a variety of local efforts to adapt to changing technological, workplace and cultural changes impacting current United Way fund-raising. Comparisons with practices that became standardized during the 1900’s are interesting.

Scheduling:

THEN:   Most public campaigns kicked off after Labor Day and concluded by the end of October,
with the exception of summertime “pacemaker” campaigns among a few firms and
the springtime “bell-weather” campaign in Rochester, NY.

NOW:   “We run our campaign year-round to meet the various timelines for workplaces.”
“It is continuous. . . .not even called a campaign anymore.”
“The fall continues to be our time of the year for fund-raising, although each year we
start earlier and end later.”
“Year-round fund-raising.”
“The majority of workplace campaigns run August-December with a few outliers.”
“We continue to introduce non-workplace year-round efforts including quarterly
appeals and a sustaining monthly donor program.”

Goal setting:

THEN: Based on corporate visits by campaign volunteers, early or “pacesetter” campaigns and prior year’s result.

NOW:   “Set internally; not reported publicly.”
“Have not announced a goal or fund-raising results in several years.”
“Establish our goal for the year in January. Report in April of the following year.”
              “Considered during the summer and announced at the beginning of the campaign.”
“Have not publicly announced a goal in recent years.”

Events:

THEN:    Fall campaign kickoffs ranged from banquets to parades and public displays. Balloon
releases, running races, agency presentations and speeches were common.

NOW:   “Kickoff in August with media coverage, report meetings, and celebration in March with results.”
“Campaign celebration in April with 250 community partners attending to hear results
and award innovative campaigns.”
“No public kickoff event.”
“Over the past 3-4 years we’ve moved away from public kickoffs.”
“We now license and manage software that allows our partners to run their own special events – auctions, raffles, tickets sales, etc.”
“Public reporting of fund-raising results; regular cabinet and board reports;
celebrations.”
“Multiple public kickoffs and report meetings.”

Promotion:

THEN: Street light poles, store windows, billboards, speakers’ bureaus, PSAs featuring public
figures, U.S. President’s endorsement, direct mailing and donated daily newspaper
“double-truck” advertisements were common.
NOW: “We maintain a robust presence on multiple social platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn) as well as on our YouTube channel. Our goals are to post 50% of posts about our campaign, our donors and partners and 50% on our impact work, our services, and our agency partners.”
“Social media is a large part of our general awareness and partner recognition efforts. In particular, LinkedIn has proven to be a strong engagement platform with our corporate partners and their employee donors.”
“Recognize top corporate supporters and new business lists through social media and in-person events.”
“We have not had Public Service Announcements in recent years but have increased focus on media appearances.”
“Printed campaign brochure.”
“No printed materials.”
“Very little printed material.”
“Use PSAs on TV and purchase radio advertising to drive people to our services.”
“We continue to use PSAs, radio and TV spots, plus social media.”
“We continue to film stories to use in kickoffs and presentations. With creative editing, we can adapt specific stories to corporate and donor interest areas.”
“We have partnered with ‘Yellow Box’ to help with all marketing and communications, including videos that are made available on our YouTube channel with links in social media and on our website.”
“We typically produce an annual video that can be shown in workplace settings and produce a number of shorter videos on specific topics.”

Personnel:

THEN: Large numbers of campaign volunteers recruited annually from past volunteer and donor lists. A variety of training programs, including “Keyman” training for companies’ in-house solicitors.
NOW: “Since 2021, we have focused on a much smaller campaign cabinet made up of volunteers with close personal and business relationships to the chair.”
“We use campaign volunteers, but not successfully.”
“Staff relationship managers do most of our fund-raising.”
“Use approximately 30 volunteers plus Board members.”
“Three seasonal ‘campaign coordinators’ are employed to assist with workplace campaigns September-December.” “Can no longer justify the cost of staff support to volunteers so staff are responsible for fund-raising. Some use volunteers to help.”
“We no longer have a Loaned Executive program.”
“We continue to use Loaned Executives.”
“Companies claim they don’t have anyone to be Loaned Executives.”

Data Management:

THEN:   Daily, manual accumulation of pledges and cash contributions and weekly reporting of the total and divisional breakdown was common. Before records were automated, each corporate and individual giving record was often recorded on 3 x 5 index cards or McBee System edge-notched cards and could be sorted with knitting needles. Both could be sorted into two stacks: those completed, the “total raised to date” and those expected or “card value outstanding.” The total of these was often referred to as the “projected campaign total.”
NOW:    “Counting grants, contracts, and foundation grants in the fund-raising total.”
“We use a platform that makes credit card payments and online gifts simple and provides us with a record of donations."
“Card scanning and E-pledge.”
“We combine reports from independent processors with our own records of contributions.”
“Reports shared with Board of Directors as part of regular financial statements.”
“Introduced DonorPoint this year. It is an online campaign platform that allows employees to donate directly from their paychecks, via check or credit card or through gifts throughout the year through ever-green campaigns."

Searching for a “new normal.”
In the September-October 2018 edition of The Harvard Business Review retired United Way Worldwide President & CEO Brian Gallagher wrote, “We’re moving to a technology-driven engagement platform [that] increases our interactions with donors and allows them to become more closely involved in our mission.

DonorPerfect’s Guide to Fundraising in the New Normal notes,  “Although the way we come together, communicate, and do - well, just about everything we used to do - is quite different these days. . .  Even before COVID-19, your organization was no stranger to the ever-evolving landscape of fundraising.  So as you learn new strategies, tailor your communication templates, and take on new tools, do so with the confidence that success will follow.”

Before stepping down from her position as Executive Director of the United Way of Monroe County, Indiana, in 2022, Efrat Feferman spoke for all of us “insiders!” She challenged the people of the Bloomington area. "Let's build a better normal!" she said.

Finally, this sample of a positive “outsider’s” perspective supports the United Way movement’s capacity to adapt to its changing environment. From the February 6, 2024, issue of Forbes in an article entitled, “United Way Looks to the Future” . . .

“Times are tough for many nonprofit organizations. Costs are up; donations are down. Volunteers are staying home, and many charities are looking for new business models to become more sustainable. In the face of these mounting challenges, nonprofits are turning to new, transformational leaders, and forming partnerships with other organizations, corporations, and government entities. . . . . . United Way is experiencing an exciting yet challenging time of transformational growth—working to bring its 135-year-old organization into a new era, and with [Angela] William’s leadership at the helm, it is in a prime position to make positive, long-lasting changes in the world.”

Thirty-three years of association. What Holds United Way Alumni Together?
Author: Dick Aft, United Way Historian and Emeritus Board Member

January 2024

Associations like United Way NEXT make a difference in the lives of their members. Today, United Way employees, current and former, continue to value an association that formally began thirty-three years ago.
Reasons have varied:

Keeping in touch.
Continuing to make a difference.
Helping successors.
Maintaining United Way identity.

Founders Chuck Devine and Gordon Berg didn’t want to let go. Each had served over thirty years as United Way professionals. Both continued meaningful involvement following retirement: Chuck, as an interim local United Way executive and United Way International volunteer who initiated United Way programs in three countries; Gordon, as CEO of the Foundation for the Carolinas, a partner with United Way in service to the people of Charlotte and beyond. Neither wanted to stop serving a mission that
inspired years of day-to-day involvement. Both wanted to continue associating with career-long colleagues in their post-United Way employment years. They, as well as many of their contemporaries, continued to take part in regional and national United Way professional conferences. They gladly shared lessons learned, relevant history and reminders of the values that had sustained them during their years of professional leadership. According to records preserved in past issues of the association newsletter, Devine, Berg and several of their retired colleagues incorporated the United Way Retirees Association to achieve these goals:

Enabling retirees to keep abreast of current events and issues in the United Way field.
Leveraging members’ time and talent to support the United Way network.
Providing periodic opportunities to reunite and socialize with one another.

From its inception, the Association sought regular informational meetings with United Way of America’s President or National Professional Council Chair. It wasn’t unusual for members to try to influence national policies and programs during those years. Their historical perspective was welcomed. Barbara Edmond, 2023 United Way NEXT Board Chair, recalls the diplomatic skill of one national CEO in particular in dealing with Association members’ well-intentioned suggestions. She wrote, “I will always
remember and love that when Betty Beene became President of United Way of America in 1997, she took time to go back, look at history and visit leaders of the past. She used recordings of these visits in a video that formed the basis of her first national conference keynote address.”

Past “UPDATES” newsletters provide a window through which a just a few of the Association’s program highlights over the years can be seen.
1990 – Association President Chuck Devine announced a strategy that was aimed at achieving UWRA’s goal of increasing members’ support of local United Way fund-raising campaigns. “Mutual of America had agreed to deduct payments to the United Way they designated to allow retirees to continue to give to local campaigns.”

1995 – Retired United Way of America Senior Vice President Ray Unk reported that, “While lunching with Gerry Cerny, executive, United Way of Summit County, Ohio, we discussed a new way for retirees to give, by leaving, by gift, will endowment, or trust, monies to their local United Way.”

2000 – President Tom Vais shared his hopes for the future of the Retirees Association. “I am hopeful that we can begin to build programs and services that can make a significant impact on the field and our membership.”

2005 – Bernie Hyman, Board President wrote, “Those of us who have spent years building the foundations of today’s United Way organizations have much to offer our successors as teachers and mentors.”

2010 – Association President Alice Thacker shared her pride in the contributions that UWRA had made at the UWW Staff Leaders Conference, the Finance/Human Resources Roundtable and the National Professional Council.

2015 – Tom Brown wrote in his regular “Chairman’s Corner” column, “Volunteers for UWRA have had a productive summer consulting on a pro bono basis with an ever-larger group of United Ways that are in the process of starting a planned giving program or rejuvenating dormant programs.”

2020 - President Carl Zapora reported that “Our portfolio of events for individual members and United Way colleagues has increased ten-fold this year, a direct response to member feedback and the needs of the network: the initiation of Town Hall webinars with United Way Worldwide, another national ‘Gathering’ for members, increased mentoring opportunities, History Hangout webinars, Member Master Classes, and a workshop on ‘Implicit Bias,’ led by Roger Frick.”

Today, United Way NEXT programs reflect an ever-growing emphasis on members’ continued service to the United Way network. Re-branding has made clear its alumni focus, as opposed to the founders’ vision of an association limited to retirees. The growth of endowment and gift planning training in local communities has increased markedly. Members’ service as interim CEOs continues to grow as with the benefit of training by Third Sector, a company created and operated by United Way NEXT alumni
member Jeffrey Wilcox. United Way Worldwide staff members’ articles have appeared in United Way NEXT newsletters. UWW staff liaisons have often briefed the Association Board on subjects of common interest. Association programs have been regularly featured in United Way Worldwide’s semi-weekly ‘Global Digest.” Based on her 2023 experience, Edmond further observed, “Current and former United Way staff members are now participating, learning, and interacting side by side in a variety of online
programming and engagements. With more and more new local and national UW professionals joining the network from the outside, instead of ‘growing up’ through the ranks, there seems to be more of a demand for seeking the experience and expertise of UW NEXT members. In addition to the topics mentioned above, there is also increasing interest in mentorship on ‘evergreen’ topics such as board and volunteer engagement, strategic planning, and donor relationship management practices.”
Thirty-three years of Association service has matured from informal gatherings among retired United Way colleagues to an interactive organization of current professionals and alumni who share interests in one another, have a common commitment to the ideals of United Way, and, in many cases, seek to continue United Way service in some fashion. Just like the founders, they keep in touch and share memories. . . .they volunteer to coach and mentor the people who have followed them as United Way
leaders. . . .they look forward to Association newsletters. . . . and they hold fond memories of the good days, and bad, when they spent years doing what one called, ‘the Lord’s work.”

What holds the Association together? It’s been more than five excellent staff directors and nineteen dedicated Board Chairs. “Live UNITED” isn’t just slogan to United Way NEXT members. It’s a description of values that they hold dear as they seek to continue to make a difference as a "Community of United Way leaders".

I gave at the office. But what’s happened to the office?
Author: Dick Aft, United Way Historian and United Way NEXT Emeritus Board Member
11/1/23

Scrooge wouldn’t give at the office, but most people over 40 have. Back in the day, United Way employees and community members would have signs on their windows and doors of their homes that advised door-to-door solicitors that they had already given to United Way. Lapel pins and certificates hung on the walls illustrated their pride in having contributed to United Way.

Workplace giving most likely began in 1929 when a Cincinnati Milling Machine Company foreman stood next to the paymaster to “pass the hat” for fellow employees whose jobs had been eliminated due to the Great Depression. Since then, local United Way organizations have been challenged a number of times to respond to changes in the places and ways in which people work. The workplace has undergone sea changes in response to world wars, corporate nationalization, and economic globalization. Many Main Street businesses have been replaced by big-box stores. Electronic processors handle office work that not long ago required desk work at the office. People Zoom on a screen rather than meeting at a workplace conference room table. Recent pandemic quarantines require new perspectives on workplaces.

As the definition of “workplace” undergoes change, so does United Way workplace giving. Competitive departmental scoreboards have gone the way of pen and ink accounting. Modular workspaces whose walls displayed United Way Certificates of Appreciation are disappearing. Production floors are populated with more robots than people. Crowdfunding has replaced “passing the hat.” Texts, emails, and cell phone messages have replaced most inter-office memos and cork bulletin boards. By and large, employee contributions are made electronically. Reaching prospective donors is no longer just a matter of making workplace presentations any more than mid-20th century campaign volunteers reaching their goals by pushing working peoples’ doorbells. Gone are workplace campaign rallies and agency tours. No more “I gave at the office.” for most employees.

Just as United Way leaders found ways to meet past changes, today’s United Way strategists are focusing on new approaches to workplace fundraising. They aren’t alone. Employers are facing similar challenges in defining where and how work is done. Workplace design, methodology and processes are being continuously reinvented. For example: Christian Jesse, the visionary owner of OFFICE INSPIRATION, headquartered in Munich, Germany, responded to my request for his thoughts about the places people work. “Agile working, digitalization and new work are changing the demands on the office world immensely,” he wrote. “In our new concepts for organizations, we don´t think in terms of desks, chairs, and storage per worker. The following question matters much more: ‘How can we support the activities of workers during a working day?’. We think about major activities that increase workers productivity: focus, regeneration, collaboration, networking, and learning.” He added, “In our new concepts, it is possible that a worker doesn´t have a personal office. But, workers have the ability to choose a place in the building which is good for their requirements. For example, they can book a table in the morning for two hours to check their email. After that they may have a training in another area, before going to lunch. In the afternoon they may have a project team workshop with in another room.”

Gary McClimans, owner of GHM Operations Consulting, LLC, has been recognized for his track record as a successful change agent, both as an interim operations leader and consultant. His work has focused on companies facing major competitive challenges. During the early 1990s, he provided extensive pro bono service to the United Way of Greater Cincinnati as it fought to maintain its position of philanthropic leadership during a period of crippling publicity emanating from the United Way of America. “Look at United Way from the outside and you see an organization that depends on people, both paid staff and volunteers, to achieve its goals, right? So don’t expect it to be exempt from the redefinition of ‘workplace’ that is sweeping the world of work. In fact,” he continued, “your history of uniting people from all kinds of employment, backgrounds, and experiences, is just what we all need as we learn to take advantage of change. You need to lead change instead of being the victim of it.”

Carson Aft, amused his United Way Historian grandfather with a much more focused description of his relationship with the offices of his employer. When asked how often he goes into his office, he responded, “I try to get into the office two or three times a week because the food is really good.”

History doesn’t provide any “silver bullet” solutions to the challenges of adapting to changes in workplace giving. It does, however, illustrate volunteer and staff creativity in marshalling volunteer and financial resources. United Way has a long history of bringing people together. Our history suggests that our continued success will be built upon that foundation, whether at traditional workplaces or in those of which no one has yet thought.

Beatle Paul McCartney once offered a clue to how United Way might successfully adapt to today’s workplace changes. “As long as you’re close,” he said, “something grows. When you’re not, something goes.”

Labor and United Way: An 80 Year Partnership
Author: Dick Aft, United Way Historian & United Way NEXT Emeritus Board Member

8/31/2023

It was Jordan “Bud” Biscardo, AFL-CIO Community Services Labor Liaison-Vice President at United Way Worldwide, who summarized his bridging role between labor and United Way when he spoke at a late 20th century Community Leaders Conference. “It’s not about the organizations that I’m privileged to represent. It’s about the people we serve.” Those words reflected the shared vision that has undergirded this United Way relationship since its beginning in 1942.

In late 1942, Matthew Wolf, Vice President of the American Federation of Labor, wrote about this relationship in the American Federationist, “Few events in the history of the trade union movement have held so much significance for the future status of organized labor in the life of the American community. . . . . the AFL War Relief Committee’s agreement to coordinate fundraising for Community Chests by creating the first version of Labor Liaisons.”

Thanks to the research of United Way Worldwide’s Director of Labor Engagement Kelly Temple, we know that by the end of 1945, more than 4,000 labor leaders served on the boards of directors of local War Chests. Their coordination of services to and campaigns among members of local labor unions was evident in local and national advertisements and posters. During the following year, according to People & Events: A history of the United Way, “Community Chests & Councils of America approved a budget for its first Labor Relations Department.” This led to the creation of Union Counselor Training programs in hundreds of communities. As a result, countless numbers of union and non-union people in need of services have received referrals for help. Worthy of special mention: United Way and the AFL-CIO are founding partners of the annual National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, the largest one-day food drive in the U.S. that is now over thirty years old.

People & Events traces the first quarter century of the United Way-Labor relationship, during which union leaders held high offices in United Way. William Green, President of the American Federation of Labor and Philip Murray, President of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, as well as George Meany, President of the merged AFL-CIO, served as Vice Chairs of United Community Campaigns of America, the fund-raising arm of United Community Funds & Councils of America. Some United Way alumni will recall the 1966 election of the Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO President Joe Beirne as Board President of UCFCA. Beirne had previously served as the founding chair of the joint AFL-CIO Community Services Committee. Subsequently, the presentation of the “Joe Bierne Nautilus Award” was made during the remainder of the 20th century to an outstanding labor leader who exemplified the “endless connection of United Way and organized labor values to the good of humanity.”

When Douglas A. Frazier, Vice President of the United Auto Workers, was named general Chair of Detroit’s 1974 United Way Torch Drive, he stated the meaning of United Way-Labor teamwork, “It gives emphasis to the principle that the United Way is all parts of the community working for common goals.” Today, in the words of Temple, “the partnership continues to work together to create sustainable impact in local communities.” Illustrating her point, she observed, “United Ways and Labor also continue to partner for disaster relief efforts across the country. When the pandemic hit in 2020, United Way local Labor Liaisons and labor staff jumped into action to help community members in need from holding vaccine clinics and offering testing sites, to holding hundreds of events, collecting and distributing food and other essential items.” Today, the important bond between organized labor and the United Way movement is evidenced by the United Way Worldwide Board membership of Liz Shuler. She is the first woman President of the AFL-CIO whose membership includes sixty unions and over twelve million members.

For nearly four decades, Leo Perlis was responsible for maintaining the productivity of the Labor-United Way teamwork. He was Director of the Community Services Department at the AFL-CIO from its beginning until his retirement in 1980. According to B. G. “Pete” Culver, author of a biography of Perlis entitled "An Angel with the Union Label, a History of the AFLCIO Community Services Program", Perlis often spoke of organized labor’s partnership with United Way by saying, “When times change, we must change with the times. That’s why we have endured it all. That’s why we endure in our mission to serve others.” Over 80 years of productive partnership? That’s why!

(Major resources for this article: Kelly Temple, People & Events, 1977, and An Angel with the Union Label, Jewett Publications, 1996.)