United Way Changes Will Help Community
Nashua, Monday, July 12, 2004

Every organization needs to adapt to the changes around it or risk becoming obsolete, whether a private business, government institution or nonprofit agency like the United Way.

The United Way of Greater Nashua is a vital organization for the community, and its continued vitality is important to the quality of life in southern New Hampshire.

Fortunately, the United Way at the national level and its leadership in our community realize that conditions have changed since the United Way model first emerged from the old Community Chest concept 75 years ago.

The concept was simple, and for nearly a century was an effective way to generate community support for social services and nonprofit agencies. The “one campaign for all” theme enabled contributors to make a single contribution, eventually with the convenience of payroll deduction, to support a wide range of charities in the community.

KEY POINTS
Background:	United Way of Greater Nashua has joined other United Ways across the nation in adopting a new mission.
Conclusion:	The new direction will better serve the needs of the community while still providing centralized fund raising for individual charities.

The charities for their part, agreed to meet United Way criteria and to avoid independent fund raising during the United Way campaign.

In many communities across the nation, Nashua included, that model isn’t working any more. In the old days, there were a handful of widely recognized charities that garnered most of the United Way support, Today, the number of non-profit organizations recognized by the IRS has exploded, with niche charities for every conceivable interest.

Contributions to the United Way general fund have continued to decline year after year, while designated contributions for specific charities continue to rise, undermining the principle of “one campaign for all.”

At the current rate, designated contributions would become such a large part of the United Way campaign that the organization would eventually be reduced to little more than an administrative agency coordinating payroll deductions for individual charities.

The United Way can do much more than that, and its volunteers, board members and paid staff have done a good job at developing a more relevant alternative. Their goal is to reshape the organization into an agent for change that rallies a community to address critical needs.

There are some problems that are just too big for one organization to tackle with any meaningful impact. Because of it’s history, culture, resources and stature in the community, the United Way is uniquely qualified to bring together the various elements needed to make incremental improvements leading to lasting change on issues like affordable housing, domestic violence and child abuse.

This change in philosophy, as outlined in an article in the Sunday telegraph, does not mean the United Way will abandon its role as a conduit of funds to individual charities. The campaign that starts in September will, as always, offer donors the opportunity to contribute to charities of their choice or to a general fund. A portion of the general fund will be used to finance initiatives on affordable housing – the area of greatest need according to the agency’s most recent community assessment report.

Contributors to the general fund can now be assured that their dollars will not only be used for specific nonprofit agencies, but will also go toward a critical community need that no single agency can address.

When you give to the United Way this fall, please direct some, if not all, of your donation to the general fund. You will not only be helping the charities you support, you will be helping to solve the problem of affordable housing.

And you will help reshape a community organization that has wisely chosen to update its strategy for the 21st century.

Reprinted with permission. Story originally published in The Telegraph of Nashua, NH. All Rights Reserved, nashuatelegraph.com