United Ways have spent two decades trying to overcome their biggest challenge: the fading popularity of on-the-job donation drives. United Way Worldwide still holds the top spot in The Chronicle’s Philanthropy 400 rankings of the charities that raise the most, but its annual fundraising fell by 35 percent over the last 25 years after adjusting for inflation.
The 128-year-old group, which raised $3.87 billion last year, is now inches from relinquishing the top spot in the rankings to its surging competitor, Fidelity Charitable, which raised $3.85 billion.
To reverse the slide, United Ways are trying to reach new donors, with some success. United Ways doubled the gifts they receive outside of workplace campaigns, from $280 million in 2005 to $560 million last year, and such efforts will continue as workplace drives remain flat. “That’s how we’ll stay relevant,” says Brian Gallagher, president of United Way Worldwide.
Here are some tactics that United Ways hope will help the organization stay at the top of the fundraising ladder:
MILLENNIALS WANT TO HELP LOCALLY
When the United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha began to notice that many members of a program to connect with emerging leaders had a median age of 40 — too old for the demographic — it started a new program aimed at millennials, especially professionals under 30.
“All of our emerging leaders had already emerged — many of them were baby boomers,” says Gina Santagati, the charity’s director of major gifts. To be sure, the older set was large and generous: Its size quadrupled to 1,424 members, who now raise $13 million a year for the organization.
“We knew we needed to reach young people, but we had no idea who they were,” says Ms. Santagati, whose organization runs on an annual budget of $52 million.
Tactics: Last year, United Way Milwaukee and nine other United Ways held focus groups around the nation, ultimately forming the Millennials program, called Lead Impact Network Change, or LINC. In the process, they learned that millennials want to make a difference where they live, either by giving or volunteering with their friends. In Milwaukee, young donors brought their friends on United Way farm visits designed to show how the organization is attempting to get fresh food into urban supermarkets.
Results: LINC has signed up more than 2,000 members this year. In Milwaukee, 215 new members have each donated $250 to the United Way. Six additional cities will join within the next year, says Ms. Santagati.
A separate program formed two years ago by the United Way of King County, in Seattle, has signed up 3,000 young professionals. The organization recruits some of those members to its Board of Directors and volunteer committees.
“It’s one of the priorities in our strategic plan,” says Jon Fine, president of the King County chapter, the United Way’s largest. “We’ve said that reaching young people has to permeate everything we do.”
WOMEN AS DECISION MAKERS
Dozens of United Ways are starting groups open only to women — largely because they often handle household spending.
“What it really comes down to is economics and purchasing power,” says Mr. Gallagher, whose United Way headquarters has urged its local affiliates to design new fundraising tactics. “One of the reasons we’ve focused on women is that they control what is bought. Women, as a group, also stand to inherit a good bit of money.”
Tactics: United Ways ask the women’s groups they create to make decisions on where to spend donations and channel volunteer efforts.
Results: More robust involvement by female donors and volunteers. Katy Chasney, a longtime donor to the United Way of Central Maryland and vice president of an electronic-payments processing company, became more involved with the group after it invited her to join its Women’s Leadership Council two years ago.
In September, when the United Way asked members of the women’s group to assist homeless people at a gathering designed to link them with services, she didn’t think twice, she says.
“Being invited to join the council has made me more interested in volunteering,” Ms. Chasney adds. “I’ve always loved the United Way because I know my money goes to the right places. But now I want to give more.”
Others do, too. More than 1,400 female donors, each of whom gives $10,000 or more, have joined the council.
EDUCATION SPURS HISPANICS
United Ways in regions that have large and growing numbers of Hispanics are making an effort to not only welcome Latinos as new supporters but also find out which causes inspire them, and to tailor their appeals accordingly.
Tactics: The United Way of Central New Mexico started a group called the Hispano Philanthropic Society six years ago in the hope that an emerging Latino professional class could lead the way on giving to a particular cause. Four prominent Hispanic leaders took it upon themselves to educate their communities about organized philanthropy.
Hispanics in the Albuquerque area had shown some interest in improving public education, says Stephanie Kozemchak, affinity-group manager at the United Way of Central New Mexico. They were especially interested in helping middle-school kids, who are much more likely to drop out if they have already had attendance or behavior problems or received poor grades, studies show.
Results: The Hispanic group gained 150 members in its first two years, and membership now stands at 375. The group raises $1.2 million of the group’s $26 million annual revenue, supporting a half-dozen local nonprofits that work with middle-school kids. It has also created a mentorship committee to provide coaching for parents and students.
The United Way is using the group to seek out donors, Ms. Kozemchak adds: “There are 260 people who gave to the society’s middle-school initiative who don’t give to the United Way. We’ll go after them.”
DONORS HEED BIG ISSUES
Developing new ways for people — younger or older — to give is more important now that donors have grown more interested in specifying how their charitable dollars are spent, says Mr. Fine, of the Seattle United Way. And charity supporters want to do more than just give financially. They want to help solve problems.
“We’ve grown our fundraising mostly through designated and restricted gifts,” says Mr. Fine. “If we had relied strictly on unrestricted gifts, our fundraising would have gone down precipitously. We raise money more readily when we have specific programs to offer.”
Tactics: United Ways in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Seattle have spent several years building large programs designed to improve public education, reduce poverty, or deal with homelessness. Each continues to gain momentum, mostly by drawing in new donors and encouraging public investment.
“We’ve done more than just take in money for other organizations,” says Elise Buik, president of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles. “We’ve taken the initiative in these areas.” By using its corporate connections and outreach skills, her group has been able to increase the attention paid to homelessness, in part because it has embraced using advocacy.
“United Ways have traditionally been very neutral,” says Ms. Buik. “Nowadays, people need to know what you stand for before they give. We’ve received a very strong response.”
Results: The organization’s homelessness collaborative has raised more than $200 million since 2008. In September, the city governments of Los Angeles and its surrounding county made a commitment of $300 million to deal with homelessness at its roots — a result of the collaborative’s work, Ms. Buik says.
Such successes are a sign that United Ways should do more to diversify how they raise money, she believes.
“The workplace campaign, to my mind, democratized philanthropy,” Ms. Buik says. “Now we have to work to get some new methods down right, whether it’s better use of technology or advocacy, so we can move the needle on the biggest issues we face.”
