United Way

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11/18/2009 S. S. says:

So are you guys a fan or not a fan of United Way? I remember news stories breaking on organizations like there's a few years ago, where it was noted that 15% of every dollar donated went to salaries.

Have charities become businesses? I remember their CEO made over a million in salary before, not sure if they changed it, or reduced the salary but paid the difference back as a bonus.

Where are the organizations that paid modest salaries and did good for mankind? And by modest salaries, I mean less than 100k a year. I know in United Way, there are a ton of employees making way more than 100k a year!

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   11/18/2009 sarah "it's a juggling injury, shut up" l. says:

   In all fairness to charities - they need to pay competitive "C" level salaries to attract and retain top talent.  
   
   They need to make business decisions to run their not for profit 'businesses' and to run a billion + dollar business, you probably need an experienced business person to run it and to hold that level of accountability.  
   
   I generally don't take a star away from "C" level executive salaries.  You can run a successful business of that size without business people, and a top talent business person wouldn't work for 60k.

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   11/18/2009 Chris "How quickly can I hit 4 digits?" P. says:

   I see another Sally Ann type conversation brewing...

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   11/19/2009 Katrina "foot" L. says:

   Yes I also heard that a fairly large percentage of their donations goes to salaries, it's unfortunate because they are tied with MANY corporations that donate specifically to them. I know that RBC and the OLG are partnered with them, as well as CTV Globe Media.
   
   And of course the upper execs are "encouraged" to donate more to provide a good example. So United Way will be running for a long time to come. They do a lot of good work, while it's not fair that your hard earned donations go to someone's new BMW, it is you that has donated to this cause and not some other one where they aren't run like a business. So basically, choose wisely when donating to charities and be informed.
   
   Chris - let us not bring up the Sally Ann conversation...
   
   Wait a minute... does S.S. = Andrew "drama Queen" L?!

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   11/20/2009 S. S. says:

   I agree they need to make money to retain top talent, but did you know every United Way has a CEO or chair? So United Way York Region, United Way Peel Region, United Way Durham Region, etc all have CEO's or President's for each one. So in Canada alone, this company has like hundreds of CEO's making at least hundreds of thousands of dollars each.
   
   My company supports this charity, so I just participate and give my $20. But if they restructured so that maybe there was a provincial CEO vs a Regional one, that would cut down administrative expenses to a large degree; and I would be more enticed to donate $1000 instead of $20, knowing my donation would go to good use.

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   11/20/2009 Christine "Meat. Sleep. Pray." C. says:

   I wasn't going to weigh in on this discussion however in light of the latest posting I just have to toss my three coins into the fountain.  
   
   My agency, which is a health service provider, funded primarily by the Ministry of Health, We don't do a large amount of fundraising but we do have charitable tax status and we receive a small amount of funding from the United Way of Peel.  So I can only really speak to the UW of P.  This is what I know:
   
   The UW of P's administrative/operating costs are 13.6% of their revenue which in my opinion speaks to a well run and cost effective organization.  As a Peel resident and a agency recipient of this particular UW, I think that's pretty darned good management.  In Peel, UW of P, funded 58 agencies and 118 programs with five identified priority areas:  Strengthening families and children; Alleviating hunger, homelessness and poverty; Helping abused women and children;Supporting seniors to live healthy and independent lives; Helping newcomers and immigrants settle and integrate.  
   
   The UW of P's annual operating budget is highly scrutinized by an independant annual audit, reviewed by a Finance and Audit committee as well as its Board of Directors.  Two years ago Revenue Canada implemented very stringent conditions to a re-vamped auditing process and they did this after watching the whole Enron debacle.   At my agency, which is governed by a board of directors, our auditing costs more than doubled because the audit process became so much more detailed, demanding specific accountability, clarity of process and full disclosure of business practices.  At the end of an audit process an Audit Management letter is issued by the auditors and it speaks to areas of best practices and what needs to be corrected, addressed or improved.  It is very serious business these days.  
   
   I cannot say for sure how much Shelley White earns in her capacity as the E.D. of the UW of P but what I can speak to is the professionalism, the leadership and the effectiveness that she has brought to this particular regional agency.  Shelley puts in a 60 hour week and there is rarely a function, event, annual general meeting that takes place in the region that I don't see her out at.  She is the key player in developing the corporate partnerships that are essential to their campaigns.  
   
   Just for the record, there are 117 United Way agencies across this country.  I would not support one CEO for the whole province.  The needs of agencies located in the inner cities are completely different than agencies that serve the outlaying communities.  We watched the amalgamation of the super city of Toronto and what that brought, talk about a fiasco.  The economies of scale that they claimed would provide cost savings where never realized.  Bigger is not always better.  
   
   Tax receipts in Peel are only issued for donations of $25 and over.  Kick in another 5 bucks and get your receipt.

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   11/20/2009 S. S. says:

   I did give a total donation of $5500 last year, but instead of donating it to United Way I went directly to the organizations that places like United Way direct their funds too. This avoids the middle man administrative fee. I gave to mission groups, hospitals, libraries, fundraising marathons, schools, etc. At least 100% of my donation will go to the places I give it too.
   
   If the places I give too also have an administration fee, its still better just to have 1 fee taken out than two (United way and them).

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   11/20/2009 Christine "Meat. Sleep. Pray." C. says:

   So is this what you consider the UW to be, a middle man?  
   
   Many agencies funded by the UW have very small capacities or capabilities to actually implement and develop fundraising programs.   Many agencies are grateful for the public education and outreach that the UW do on their behalf, including helping to manage the tax receipting processes.  To be a UW funded agency in Peel also tells Peel residents that as an agency we are dilligent about service delivery, program evaluation, outcomes measurements and best business practices.  It tells them if we can meet the standards that UW of P puts upon us for funding criteria then we are worthy of the donor's/stakeholders investment, support and their donations, not only from a financial perspective but also as an agency that is worthwhile to volunteer at.  
   
   None of the funded agencies are the biggies (i.e. Breast Cancer, the hospitals, Heart & Stroke etc.) but rather community based organizations that are providing service delivery right at the grassroots levels.  Most of these agencies are hardly in a position to manage, implement and follow through on fundraising campaigns.  The UW provides ongoing workshops to all of its funded agencies on topics from tax/charity law to effective nonprofit governance to strategic planning.  They also share with us ideas of how we, as service providers, can develop collaborative projects in our ongoing efforts to deliver our programs more effectively and efficiently.  
   
   So I guess from my perspective as a service provider in the city, I don't view the UW as a "middle man".  You are though, most certainly entitled to your opinion.

8. 

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   11/21/2009 John "underpaid civil servant" F. says:

   15% overhead seems acceptable to me for a charity.  I'd be more concerned if the overhead was 25% or above.
   
   The main issue with United Way in the States was whether or not they funded abortions.  Some chapters used to refuse gay groups because of fear of corporate cut-off, but I don't think that's much of an issue any longer there.

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   11/22/2009 S. S. says:

   Only reason I guess I find 15% excessive is that insurance companies have a 10-15% overhead, and people are crying foul at their profits and rates they are charging.
   
   United Way as a charity gets way more income than any insurance company in Canada, so for the amount of money they get, 15% seems quite expensive to me. I dont disagree with the value they add to society, but for charities I support, I'd rather 100% of my donation go to those charities than 85%.
   
   Like Christine said, it does bring attention to the lesser known charities, but I donate to the ones that impact me personally.
   Autism research, Youth Groups, and a variety of community programs in my town.

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