The United Way and Corporate Pressure

The BBQ Pit
1

Once again, it’s United Way membership drive time at my company. There is significant pressure to donate through an automatic payroll deduction. My question is, why? What is in it for Corporate America to twist my arm to give to the U.W.? Every company I’ve worked for is the same with the U.W., and the higher I’ve risen, the higher the pressure. I’ll give to a charity or cause I feel is worthwhile, but I’ll be damned if I’ll be pressured into doing it through the U.W. by my company. I know the company will match my contribution, but that still doesn’t explain why they are so eager (other than P.R.) to get a high percentage of compliance by their employees. There is also an unwritten rule that at a certain level, you are expected to give a certain percentage of your salary.

Is there any logical reason for this behavior, and is my experience the exception or the rule for the rest of the Teeming Millions?

Thanks

2

I sympathize with you fully. My company is not only rabid about the UW stuff, they come by and drop a named envelope in your cubicle personally, and demand that you return it, even if there is no money you want to donate.

The pressure to donate is really bad. Everyone is cowed into donating the $5 minimum, and I wonder just how long they can keep applying this sort of pressure before someone brings a lawsuit.

Also - I was told firsthand by an ex-employee (who was “forced to quit”) that during his exit interview with his supervisor, the fact that he had not donated anything to UW came up as a reason he did “not fit in” to the corporate culture. He did seek legal help, but since nothing was ever put on paper about it, he dropped the case. :rolleyes:

Whether or not any sort of retribution occurs, I do know this - the fear of retribution is clearly there.

3

You know, this raises another point. I know that I, as well as a couple other co-workers, have mentioned that whenever the UW commercials come on TV, we all feel an instinctive hatred towards it - thinking of the shit that goes on at work. I wonder if UW cares at all about those sort of feelings of resentment being built up?

4

but I hate United Way fund drives. I don’t want to give to the UW. For one thing, I’ve heard and read some bad things about them, and their oversight. I would rather give to my local kidney foundation or the local chapter of the Red Cross. When they come to our office and do the arm twisting and “fair share” crap I want to puke. My boss doesn’t put pressure on us for other charities, so I refuse to allow him to pressure me over the UW.

5

I was reading some propaganda the other day saying
that UW donates to these Green Groups. Well, I like
my Jeep and my guns so I would never donate to anyone
that then donates my money to a group I dislike.

6

(Disclaimer - This thread is richly pit-worthy and I’m posting to it as if Manny has already moved it there.)

[Remainder of post deleted --Chronos]

[Edited by Chronos on 11-19-2000 at 12:17 PM]

7

To try to put this back towards the OP, I have heard of a case when a department chief in a city office made promotion decisions based on how you contributed to United Way. His employees sued and won, and he was fired. It was definitely illegal for the manager (an LA DWP official IIRC) to discriminate against the people for not contributing. But it took some gross abuses to rein him in.

I don’t have any use for charitable donations. I’m just one step ahead of being a charity case myself, I’m poor and broke. When people ask if I want to give to United Way, I want to ask them if they’d like to contribute to ME. They have lots more money than I do.

8

This year was the first time I experienced the United Way drive. (My last employer, who so kindly laid off every employee earlier this year, did not do the UW thing.)

Our minimum donation was $1/paycheck, so every other week. The corporate pressure was pretty intense, meaning, if a certain percentage of home office employees contributed, the entire building got a “reward”. We got the cards with our name on them as well, and they had to be returned, even if you chose not to contribute.

I did choose to contribute, only because the donation can be specified toward a specific group. Mine goes to Goodwill Industries. I have a special fondness for Goodwill, and there were a number of charities whose mission I did not agree with.

9

OK… I see that my experience is pretty much universal so far. But I guess the real question, from my OP, is why? Who is pressuring who at the corporate level? Why the U.W.? I find it kind of hard to believe it’s just for “public image and relations”. Hell, let the Company give a chunk of change to the U.W. if they want. Can it be, as Slithy Tove said, so “he can show off to his buddies (other bosses) as a measure of his success”? I mean, c’mon… who really cares? I can’t believe these guys could give a rat’s ass on who gave what to the U.W. (OTHER than what it might mean for their career advancement.) Which comes back again to my original question as to what in the hell drives this at the top?

My boss stopped by on Friday and asked where my U.W. “reward” was. (Some sort of trinket that they give donors). I, of course, told him that I don’t give to the U.W. He gave me the corporate rundown… I gave him my reasons… (I also told him that who I give to, whether it be my local library, Goodwill, or whatever is my business) but for some reason, I feel like I’ve been put on a “list”. As Antracite mentioned, perhaps I don’t fit into their desired “corporate culture”. This U.W. pressure just strikes me as a bit strange and (for lack of a better word) “cultish”.

I had no idea that hatred for the U.W. existed. It’s kind of an unspoken evil in my company, and it seems that most people won’t speak out loud about it unless they are in a very tight circle. Like many, my dislike of the U.W. comes from the strong-arm tactics used to collect, not necessarily what they are giving the money to. (In fact, I’ve seen charities that I’ve given to on their list).

BTW, I have no problem getting a thread started in the pit. But for the moment, I’d like to keep this in GQ to see if anyone can shed some light on this Corporate American extortion.

Mr. Blonde

10

Attempting to direct your donations to a specific cause has no effect on the actual donations. Let’s assume that UW bigwigs decide that XYZ charity should get $123,000. Let’s assume you direct that your entire $1000 contribution goes to XYZ charity. Well, the bigwigs adjust their discretionary donations to $122,000 and, voila, XYZ gets $123k as originally planned.

If you really want to help XYZ, just give the money directly to XYZ and bypass the expense of the UW administratve costs.

11

Actually, the OP was already answered by, as it turns out, the OP.

what’s in it for the corporation, is publicity. Big time. Especially for folks like the car companies et al. Don’t short sell it.

The corporate match is a corporate deduction, a tax incentive, as well as the publicity. When you, the employee don’t cough it up, their corporate match is less.

12

My preprinted donation form has been sitting in my box for 3 days. The minimum is $24/year. I was asked “didn’t you see the paper in your box? They want it back this week…” Well, I’m going to refuse and tell them I am donating my money straight to the Salvation Army, in memory of my Grandfather who died last week. That was his charity of choice, and it will be mine as well. (sorry for the hijack!!) Anyway, I agree with the people saying it’s for the “feel-good” publicity.

13

I actually donate a lot through the United Way. I find it to be a convenient way to give to several specific charities by filling out a single form. Also, the charities don’t get my name, so they don’t harass me.

However, Bizerta makes a very concening claim - that my designations to specific charities do not actually result in those charities getting more money. If that is true, I will change my system, and (although more inconvenient) give directly to the charities instead of through the United Way. Can anyone confirm or deny this claim?

Thanks.

- Stephen
14

Now this is something about US culture (among many) about which I know absolutely nothing.

I can pick up most of it but would appreciate it if anyone would be willing to explain.
I think there is some taxation benefits in the US by payroll charity donations.
We have something similar but companies tend only to get involved if there is a measurable publicity payoff.

Because we have more intervention from our state in many areas you might regard as charitable there is not quite the same view of such things over here although some notable events and charities do well on collections or testate covenants.

We have a national lottery whose franchise is awarded by politicians and the money is divvied up according to a National Lottery Commissions Board which recieves applications from ‘good causes’.
Among those ‘good causes’ was £64 mill for the rebuilding of the Covent Garden Opera house - charity ?
The amount being put into the Millenium dome just keeps going up, must be near to £1 bill by now.
If you read up in some of our higher spec newspapers you sometimes see job ads for people to manage such applications to the Lotteries board and the wages are very good indeed.

I do not buy National Lottery tickets as I view it as a form of voluntary income tax to pay for things that the public has so little interest in that they would not find funding elsewhere.
Sometimes a local community centre gets a grant to rebuild but projects like these should be the province of local councils.

My opinion on certain charities is jaundiced by the sight of officials from them travelling first class and their administration costs taking up more of the donations than the actual work they claim to do.

Me I’d rather go direct to the street level charities such as Help the homeless or Hospices for the Terminally ill(Marie Curie Foundation) rather than the NGO’s who often seem to be political animals.

Another thing (while I’m at it), one organistion came around our workplace asking for payroll donations and one of their ‘sales’ lines was that it would be tax-free.

Now I personally think that such a donation should be of itself rather than motivated by tax considerations, also I would rather my employer knew as little about where my money goes as possible, some employers have been known to pass such details on and donators then get bombarded with mail from other charities.

I make all my donations using my bank to pay them from my account, it give me more control and keeps my life private.

Not sure where this is going, just a couple of comments I suppose.

15

Primarily, companies push United Way donations as a way to show they are good citizens and to put their names on contribution to worthy organizations without actually having to cut into their profits to do so. It is a combination of the altruistic and cynical.

Of course, they may also fear that, if the United Way fails, someone is going to figure out a way to make them pay taxes to support the charitable functions.

16

I have not, nor will I ever, waste money on the United Way. I think the idea of “generic charity” is ridiculous. If you wish to give to a certain charity, then do so. Why process it through United Way?

I wish more people would actively resist corporate coercion to dump money into UW.

17

I have loathed the United Way since i saw their logo on some of the most gratuitiously sickening anti-abortion pamphlets I have ever seen. I called and asked and was told the organization in question did receive funding from the UW.

My employer does pass out the donation envelopes which i promptly throw out. My boss made it very clear the first year that my donation or lack there of did not affect my standing in the company.

18

Slithy Tove, do not do that again. The decision of if and when to move a thread is entirely up to the moderators, not the members. If a thread does, in fact, get moved to the Pit, then you can feel free to flame. However, until and unless it actually does get moved, you are expected to hold to the rules of the forum in which it is currently residing. This is an official warning.

While I argree that there are certainly aspects of this discussion which are most appropriate to the BBQ Pit, those do not seem to be the aspects which the OP is emphasising in this thread. Mr. Blonde is specifically asking why the pressure is for United Way contributions specifically, rather than other charities, and what benefits corporations accrue from such behavior. If we can keep ourselves on those two questions, then this thread is fine right where it is.

19

The company I last worked for was also very heavy-handed when it came to donating to UW. They appointed employees as “cheerleaders” (that’s the actual term they used) who would pester all employees in their group to donate. I ended up lying to my “cheerleader” by telling her that I had donated when I had not. It was pointless to explain to her why I choose not to donate to UW.

On a similar note, the company recently decided to “encourage” volunteering by giving groups of employees a paid day off to do charity work. Of course, they couldn’t make it mandatory. Had I stayed with the company, I would have been left in the very awkward position of staying at work - holding up the office for my entire group - while they got paid to do charity work. (The reason I would not have done the charity work is that I alone will decide when, where, and how I will help my community. Which is exactly why I resent the UW drive and the numerous clothing/school supplies/food drives held by my company.)

20

In my company, each department assigns someone to solicit donations from department employees. Each agent’s goal is to make sure everyone returns their donation card, whether they make a donation or not. My UW agent was ineligible for the UW prize drawing because I refused to return my donation card. They put pressure on her so that she’ll put pressure on me. Bummer.