# Fuck United Way! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 21, 2006, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-united-way/373612 "2006-09-21T20:38:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-united-way/373612/1 "2006-09-21T20:38:11Z")
No! No! NO! I am NOT signing up for a payroll deduction or UW this year! Stop bugging me about it already! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-united-way/373612/2 "2006-09-21T20:39:37Z")
[QUOTE=Inigo Montoya] No! No! NO! I am NOT signing up for a payroll deduction or UW this year! Stop bugging me about it already! [/QUOTE] We’re trying for 100% compliance this year. You’re a team player, aren’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-united-way/373612/3 "2006-09-21T20:49:30Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] We’re trying for 100% compliance this year. You’re a team player, aren’t you? [/QUOTE] **GAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!** _I’m crushing your head!!!_ ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-united-way/373612/4 "2006-09-21T21:09:52Z")
What’s bugging you, United Way itself, or being pressured to contribute? Personally, I find it a headache-free way to give. I never even see the money. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-united-way/373612/5 "2006-09-21T21:11:35Z")
About all I’ve ever done is what I did this year: $5 to buy a lottery ticket. Two of the prizes are new laptops. ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-united-way/373612/6 "2006-09-21T21:22:26Z")
I hate it much less once I realized I could direct my donation to an org that I give to anyway. Now I just make my annual donation to them through UW at work. Everybody wins! ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-united-way/373612/7 "2006-09-21T21:25:10Z")
[QUOTE=Inigo Montoya] **Fuck United Way** [/QUOTE] Isn’t that when you have the woman on top, thrust so hard you launch her off the bed and yell “Something Special In The Air!”? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-united-way/373612/8 "2006-09-21T21:25:17Z")
The only way I could stop the dunning notices demanding compliance with the UW campaign last year was to sign up for a $0 deduction. Now my name was on the roster and they stopped bugging me, but I still felt dirty. I’ll give without the middleman, thank you very much. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-united-way/373612/9 "2006-09-21T21:40:45Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] What’s bugging you, United Way itself, or being pressured to contribute? Personally, I find it a headache-free way to give. I never even see the money. [/QUOTE] Sending an evelope full of cash care of Donald Trump “to use as you best see fit” would have about equal merit. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-united-way/373612/10 "2006-09-21T21:41:38Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] We’re trying for 100% compliance this year. [/QUOTE] Get back to me when you’re at 99.9% > [@](#): > > You’re a team player, aren’t you? Only if I can be Captain. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-united-way/373612/11 "2006-09-21T21:42:00Z")
Tell them you already donate on your own. I refuse to donate to UW after a pitch they gave, where the guy was talking about this kid that had been molested and put in a foster home, where he was molested _there_, and how that was a good thing, because it moved him to the top of The List and they could help him. 😕 :eek: :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-united-way/373612/12 "2006-09-21T21:43:14Z")
[QUOTE=Stranger On A Train] Sending an evelope full of cash care of Donald Trump “to use as you best see fit” would have about equal merit. [/QUOTE] Why do you say? ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-united-way/373612/13 "2006-09-21T22:02:17Z")
I had a six-week temp job at a United Way office back in 1998. After that up-close, rather Danteesque tour of incompetence, laziness, waste, and borderline deceit, I will never, ever give them a dime. Granted, I don’t know if all of their offices are run the same way that (very large) one was. But the hideous mismanagement, dispirited employees, and near-total lack of concern for the charitable mission of the outfit certainly appeared to have morphed from “occasional slacking” into “corporate culture,” and were clearly deep-rooted way before I came along. _And_ the coffee sucked. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-united-way/373612/14 "2006-09-21T22:06:14Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] Why do you say? [/QUOTE] > **[United Way](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Way#Criticism_and_Scandals)** > > United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual United Ways mobilize a single fundraising campaign\[clarification needed\] to raise money for various nonprofits, with most donations coming through payroll deductions. the way organizations raise funds primarily via workplace campaigns, where employers may solicit contributions o... Also, as I understand it, even if the organization ran well, you could contribute to your charity directly and they just get your money or contribute through UW and your charity gets your donation minus $X for administrative costs and such. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-united-way/373612/15 "2006-09-21T23:07:04Z")
Don’t want to donate? Simple solution: “Thanks but no thanks. I’m not donating. Don’t bother me about it or I’ll inform the UW about your non-compliance with their policies. Thanks, goodbye.” ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-united-way/373612/16 "2006-09-21T23:13:52Z")
[QUOTE=jackelope] _And_ the coffee sucked. [/QUOTE] Not only that, but they only had these teeny weeny cups to put it in. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-united-way/373612/17 "2006-09-21T23:16:47Z")
[QUOTE=cowgirl] I hate it much less once I realized I could direct my donation to an org that I give to anyway. Now I just make my annual donation to them through UW at work. Everybody wins! [/QUOTE] Bullshit!!! UW takes a cut and then give a little bit more to the other charities to even things out. Fuck the UW. They have never gotten a cent out of me and they never will. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-united-way/373612/18 "2006-09-21T23:33:27Z")
[QUOTE=Monty] “Thanks but no thanks. I’m not donating. Don’t bother me about it or I’ll inform the UW about your non-compliance with their policies. Thanks, goodbye.” [/QUOTE] That’s exactly the way the conversation would go if I were to say this to my boss. Especially the last sentence. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-united-way/373612/19 "2006-09-21T23:52:26Z")
Back in '86 I got labeled a troublemaker for not contributing to the United “Charitable Thievery” Way. I was in the Navy and they were trying hard for 100% compliance. I refused as such a huge percentage of UW money went to overhead. I have always hated them and their heavy handed wasteful tactics. Good for you **Inigo Montoya** , do not give in. Tell them “I give to charities of my own choosing, and please do not contribute in my name, I would resent it”. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-united-way/373612/20 "2006-09-21T23:59:19Z")
In the Navy, I declined giving through UW. When asked why, my response was, “Personal reasons.” Now, I’m bowing out of this thread because it’s just going to get ugly and I don’t care to read the horse apples that, no doubt, are going to be posted. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-united-way/373612.md?page=2)