Posted: 11/28/2007 10:19:26 AM EDT
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Hello one and all, We all received a e-mail at work today about a company meeting planned for late next week. Seems that a couple of reps from “United Way” want to stop and give us their song-and-dance about their organization. Looks like they are looking for money. Lots of chatter about this here at work right now. Some say they pay their top-dogs a pretty good chunk of change. Others say they support Planned Parenthood – a no-no for me. So . . . can anyone tell me about United Way and just what exactly do they do ? ? Thanks ! ! |
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I go through the same shit every year at my job. I'm in a management position and I am expected to set an example by donating or having payroll deductions to them. Fuck em. I'd rather donate directly to a charity or foundation I believe in. EDIT: I hear that they no longer assist the Boy Scouts of America either in regards to their anti-gay policy. Is this correct? EDIT 2: dang beat by jmonarch1 |
Also they are big on paying for lawyers for terrorists, that is with what is left of the money that is donated to them. IIRC they are one of the worst for percentage of donated dollars actually being used, something like $0.80 is used for admin purposes. You would be better off just writing a check to Osama Bin Ladin and cut out the middle man 
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Best I can tell, United Way takes YOUR money and then gives your money to the charities the United Way Chooses. I am a faithful, monthly giver to the Salvation Army. I will NOT give a fucking nickel to the Red Cross* or the United Way. 5sub *Had I the authority, I would try the Red Cross under RICO laws - extortion and running a continuing criminal enterprise. After the trial, I would sentence the management of these worthless cock suckers to live the rest of their worthless lives in a Chicago Public Housing Project. |
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You can decide where your money goes, there are different charity codes that you can put on your donation slip, and there are some good ones. Just don't put it in the general fund, or it ends up going to Jamaican Crack dealers who make coconut bird feeders when not selling crack to school kids and shit like that. That being said, United Way is basically strong-arm robbery. Once you start giving them money, the yearly donation slip loses the option to end your donation(which is lifted from your check automatically). United Way campaigns at work tend to be run by committees full of lefties who think they have a right to your money, and in some instances threats of termination of employment are made. At my employer, you HAVE to go to the annual United Way "pep rally" or you get a nice threat of a day in the street without pay(I ignored this threat this year as it was time for me to clock out and go home.....in my words "It's time for me to go home, tell United Way to suck it".) I never did get a one day suspension, as I'm fairly confident that with the right attorney, I would have owned myself a business or at least a large chunk of it when it was all said and done. |
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Ask them about what the United Way is doing with their never-ending scandals that mis-appropriate donations: D.C. United Way Leader Sentenced to Jail Time By Brad Wolverton A federal judge last week ordered Oral Suer, former chief executive of the United Way of the National Capital Area, in Washington, to serve 27 months in jail -- the maximum sentence -- for his role in a financial scandal that rocked the charity. In March, Mr. Suer pleaded guilty to two felony charges that he stole about $500,000 from the organization during his 27-year tenure. He admitted to receiving excessive pension payments, pocketing unreimbursed cash advances, and charging the organization for fraudulent business expenses, including bowling equipment and visits to see his children when they were attending college. At a hearing in Alexandria, Va., U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee ordered Mr. Suer to pay $497,000 in restitution for the thefts. After serving his jail sentence, Mr. Suer, 69, could be deported to his native Turkey because he is not a U.S. citizen and people found guilty of crimes are automatically deported. __________________________________________________ Questions Arise On Accounting At United Way STEPHANIE STROM Some United Way organizations, trying to appear more successful and more efficient with their donors' money, are counting contributions in ways that make the numbers look more robust -- and expenses look smaller. In a number of cases, including two of the largest United Ways -- those in Washington and Chicago -- different organizations counted some of the same contributions, thus inflating not only their own numbers but the system's totals, according to United Way executives. Moreover, the United Way of America's reporting guidelines direct its 1,400 members to count as their own contributions money that was actually handled by or raised for competing organizations in shared campaigns, the executives said. The guidelines also tell members to count as contributions the value of volunteers' time, a practice many other charities frown on, although it is permissible in limited circumstances. And while local United Ways publicly report the percentage of their total contributions used for administrative purposes, they do not tell donors that different amounts are applied from different types of contributions to cover costs, a review of their practices shows. United Way of America's president said that while some of the practices conformed with generally accepted accounting principles, they might no longer pass muster after recent corporate scandals demonstrated that even approved practices can be used deceptively. _________________________ From the United Way website: .....The past decade has been a tremendous learning experience for United Way leadership. The balance between necessary administrative expenses and program expenses is part of this process, but it isn't a simple formula. Since 2001, we have seen significant declines in fund raising as we have been making significant investments in technology and administrative resources that are necessary to reach donors outside of large workplaces and to provide accurate data to those donors. As a result, our administrative expenses increased from 17 to 25 percent between 2001 - 2005 (our last completed audit). (That means they "eat" 17-25% of every dollar you intend to go to charitable organizations). _______________________________________ Charity By Michael Kinsley William Aramony, president of United Way of America, was getting $463,000 a year in pay and benefits. He flew on the Concorde and spent $20,000 one year on limousines. A spin-off organization bought an apartment for Aramony's use and hired his son. Exposure of these abuses led to Aramony's sudden retirement. The head of the New York-area United Way division (pay: $341,000) also recently retired -- on a lump-sum pension of $3.3 million. In February 1992, William Aramony, president and CEO of United Way of America (UWA) resigned under allegations that he conspired to defraud UWA and its spin-off companies. On April 3, 1995, Mr. Aramony was convicted in a U.S. District Court of various counts of conspiracy, fraud, and filling false tax returns. He was sentenced to 84 months in prison and fined $300,000. These are just the tip of the stinking United Way iceberg. Their scandals that waste millions and millions of donation dollars continue year - after year - after year. |
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Reportedly, some workplaces with United Way collection programs do not follow commonly used ethical procedures when soliciting donations. Employees may be pressured into donating through peer pressure which is tolerated or even encouraged by management and threats of delayed professional advancement for non-contributors.[citation needed] United Way has made public that it does not support such measures.[1] Some local United Way chapters have faced criticism that their donation options are misleading. United Way allows individuals to specify that their donation go to a particular charity. However, if that charity is already a part of the United Way network, the money sent to that charity may not be affected by user requests unless the total amount of designations exceeds the amount otherwise budgeted for that charity. This rarely happens even for the most frequently designated charities, meaning that in practice individual designations have no effect on United Way funding. [2] Some United Way chapters maintain separate accounting for designated and undesignated funding, eliminating this criticism. In 1992, William Aramony, CEO of the national organization, and in 2004, Oral Suer, CEO of the Washington, D.C. chapter, were convicted of misuse of donations. [3] Some local United Ways have been known to double count contributions, thus making their totals look higher and the perceived overhead of operations look better.[4] Others have been accused of double-dipping overhead costs in donations, especially when donations are earmarked for a specific charity, or transferred from one location to another. In an effort to address these problems, United Way has implemented new membership requirements and accountability standards in 2003; however problems have continued to occur. In May 2006, Kim Tran the former CFO of United Way of the National Capital Area (Washington, D.C.) resigned, claiming many issues remain.[5][6] In April 2006, the New York City United Way revealed misappropriation of assets by Ralph Dickerson, the retired CEO of that chapter. The appropriation of resources occurred over a three year period, ending in 2005 www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?keyword_list=united+way&bay=search.results |
Several years back the executive director was indicted for stealing perks from the United Way and the whole scam almost went bust. Apparantly his $400,000 + salary wasn't enough for him to live on. |
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I stopped giving to United Way in 1982 when they convinced employers to begin strong arming their employees so that they can be listed as having a 100% participation rate and they began to steer money to liberal-only type causes. Give directly to the organization you want and avoid the UW overhead, BS and political correctness. But beware if your company signs up for it, be prepared to be pressured to participate. It's the subtle way that UW increases its contributions, by having the participating companies pressure employees into giving money. |
At my last place of employment, you were "expected" to allow deductions from your paycheck to be given to United Way. If you refused these deductions, a note went into your employee file and it was held against you in your next evaluation. Told them I donate to the charities of MY CHOICE and found another job. |