# The United Was campaign is underway at my workplace... this is what our CEO told us! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 21, 2003, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510 "2003-11-21T15:37:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510/101 "2003-11-24T15:57:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Monty \* > In this thread, so far, I’ve seen irrational ranting, outright falsehoods … And that’s just in _your_ posts. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510/102 "2003-11-24T16:03:52Z")
> [@](#): > > Can someone explain why any company would care about employee donations to United Way? What’s in for them? **spooje** , there are a lot of reasons companies are so intent on their giving percentages. Namely, they get their company name on their various lists. Here’s an example: [http://www.uwci.org/cares.htm](http://www.uwci.org/cares.htm) Secondly, an independent organization (usually something like the local Chamber of Commerce) ranks local business in terms of giving. Since dollar amounts usually aren’t available, percentage of employees who give is the gold standard. When trying to attract new recruits, a company will usually trot out their United Way numbers, so they can claim the title of “philanthropic, caring institution”. Thirdly, must CEOs worth their salt will be on various boards for local non-profits. It’s pretty tough to go into that board meeting each month and say that your company didn’t donate a dime. And if you’re eying that Board Officer position, you have to compete in some way, and apart from pulling even more money out of your personal finances, it’s easier to pull it out of your employees’. Folks, if you really want to make a difference, and you really want to help out a particular organization, and you’re determined to give X amount (say, $100), it’s best to send that $100 directly to the organization. The United Way doesn’t allow groups that receive their money to actively fundraise during the UW campaign, which occurs during an incredibly important time of year. The more an organization relies upon UW funds, the harder it’s going to be for them to become financially independent from them. By giving money directly to the organization, they become that much more capable of realizing their financial independence from the UW. Plus, giving money to the UW is just introducing a middle man, and a percentage is going to be lost for transactional costs and overhead. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510/103 "2003-11-24T20:54:02Z")
Two things: United Way (at least on some level, whether regionally or nationally) stopped giving money to Planned Parenthood years back because of protests from anti-abortion rights groups. Just one more reason I have not donated to United Way. As for this: “It’s called the “United Way Chapter Awards dinner.” If your company has a 100% participation rate (or the highest rate in your “company category” for the area) your CEO will be handed a nice, shiny plaque! And his picture will be in the paper! And everybody will say, “Gosh, isn’t Mr. CEO a swell guy? And isn’t his company so generous to the community?”” That gives the lie to any claim United Way might have that they don’t support coerced giving. Virtually the only way a company of any size would have a 100% donor rate is through coercion. I like Tom’s suggestion about the shock jock. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510/104 "2003-11-24T21:54:28Z")
Clarification: According to the United Way [website](http://national.unitedway.org/aboutuwa/pos_pp.cfm), local UW chapter donations _do_ go to Planned Parenthood, just not for abortion services. This sounds a little contorted to me. I’m not sure you can hand over general fund contributions to PP with the proviso that none of it go to abortion services. If I cared about this issue and wanted to give money to United Way, I’d check to see what my local UW chapter’s policy on PP was. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510/105 "2003-11-25T00:51:10Z")
**Jackmannii** , PP keeps detailed books on who gave what and what services the money is for. They accept federal funding, but again, they can’t use that money for abortions, just routine medical care. Robin ---
**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:** [November 25, 2003, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510/106 "2003-11-25T01:11:30Z")
Prove that lie, Sauron. ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510/107 "2003-11-25T02:54:32Z")
Why do I have trouble believing that Planned Parenthood can be trusted to “only” use the money for general medical care? ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510/108 "2003-11-25T03:30:00Z")
There are several PP facilities here in Chicago, and only one of them performs abortions at all. Even that isn’t every day of the week. The overwhelming majority of care at PP is for general OB/GYN care: Pap smears, annual checkups, treatment of STDs and other gynecological infections, contraception and related counseling, the whole nine yards. It’s nearly the only place in town that provides basic gyn care on a sliding scale, or often free if you’re broke enough. For many women, it’s the only affordable/available source of basic reproductive healthcare. If you’re going to begrudge them your charity dollars because a small fraction of their budget goes to something you disagree with, I think you’re cutting off someone else’s nose to spite their face. You might as well avoid any activity that results in money going to most hospitals or OB/GYN general practices, because chances are that hospital or that doctor will occasionally provide services or counseling that lead someone to choose abortion. And in this town, if you avoid all but the Catholic hospitals, you are missing out on all the top hospitals and most of the top specialists in one of the largest and best-served cities in the country, if not the world. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510/109 "2003-11-25T03:55:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Monty \* > \*\*Prove that lie, Sauron. \*\* Ironic, considering I’m still waiting for you to prove yours. ---
**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:** [November 25, 2003, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510/110 "2003-11-25T04:27:20Z")
chique: You are obviously here to garner a reaction from me. I suggest you find another fish as I’m done responding to your ignorance and silliness. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510/111 "2003-11-25T04:32:44Z")
No, I’m not trying to garner an action at all. You’ve told me I’m “full of crap” for relating personal experiences. I want to know which part of my post was “full of crap”. If you’re unable to do that, I’ll have to accuse you of either slander or lying, your choice. ---
**Author:** ![crazy\_grady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dbc845/32.png) [@crazy\_grady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazy_grady)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510/112 "2003-11-25T08:29:53Z")
I worked at Harrah’s casino in Mississippi in the mid 1990s, and the United Way coercion was big time there. My immediate supervisor was giving me pressure about giving anything, (because higher up dirtbag managers were on his back), I ended up giving 50 cents a week, or 26 dollars a year. Now 26 bucks a year was not much skin of my arse (came out to about two hours worth of work for the year) but it was just the coercion, the pressure, and the 100% percent accountability bullshit, everything that has been posted 150 times before. And yes, the people who are the head of UW live off of big salries and live well, while a fraction of contributions go to whatever charity. If you give to the Salvation Navy (Army, that’s my name for them) or to MDA or to the Shriners hospital burn unit, or ST JUDE’S CHILDREN HOSPITAL in Memphis, Tennessee (my plug) you know where your money goes. Lastly, Harrah’s paid me $4.25 USD plus tips to sling cards eight hours a day, making the house thousands of dollars a night, and those assholes has the gall to make us give money or else. Hey Harrah’s Memphis, this year YOU WRITE THE CHECK! Grady ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510/113 "2003-11-25T14:24:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Monty \* > \*\*Prove that lie, Sauron. \*\* This is rather amusing. In my earlier post, I used your words “irrational ranting” and “outright falsehoods” to describe your posts. Your response is to ask me to prove your lie. Apparently, you’re tacitly agreeing that your posts are an example of irrational ranting. Okay, proving the lie. Multiple times, you have quoted portions of **Chandeleur** ’s posts and said they were “blatant falsehoods,” “bullshit,” “obviously incorrect,” “bald-faced misrepresentations,” and other rather inflammatory descriptions. Here’s a simple question to determine if you were lying when you used those descriptions: Were you present when these alleged events occurred? If you were, and you know for a fact that **Chandeleur** is making them up, then you’re not lying in your descriptive terms. If you were not present, then using these descriptive terms in such an inflammatory way is a deliberate twisting of the facts to fit your opinion. In other words, lying. Heck, don’t take my word for it. Here’s what an expert on the subject had to say: > [@](#): > > you asserted something above as fact. You now admit that you do not know if it happened or not … You knowingly passed it off as though it were known to you to be factual. That is known as a lie. Your call, **Monty.** Answer the question: Were you there? Your answer will determine if you were lying in your descriptive terms. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510/114 "2003-11-25T14:29:49Z")
Unfortunately, some (many? most?) UW chapters eliminated Planned Parenthood from their charity recipient list, regardless of PP’s ability to separate out donations for “acceptable” purposes. **Eva** makes good points, but there are apparently people who won’t donate to UW if Planned Parenthood is going to get _any_ money, no matter how non-controversial its intended uses. I donate to PP directly and they can use the dough as they see fit. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510/115 "2003-11-25T14:43:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GrizzRich \* > \*\*Guess what. > Our company DIDN’T get 100% participation. > Go figure! \*\* So, whilst others are busy having at it, I thought I’d pop in and ask if _you_ ended up participating. And have you received any more voice mails? ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510/116 "2003-11-25T15:54:12Z")
A current article on United Way based corporate extortion of donations. A must read: > [@](#): > > Companies pressure their employees, she said, because they want bragging rights. They display their donation amounts on Web sites or use them to get on marketable lists in magazines and newspapers, for example. Why I and many informed people do not give to the United Way: > [@](#): > > This is despite the recent upheaval at the organization where, locally, the former head was found to have received $1.5 million in improper payments from the organization during his tenure. Earlier, in 1992, the national umbrella group made headlines when its president was convicted of stealing $1.2 million from the organization. Scandal aside, some employees don’t like it that part of their contributions pays for United Way overhead; they say they would rather give to charities directly. And another example of the corporate charitable extortion: > [@](#): > > As some have. One man said he was called upon by higher- and higher-ups, including a weekend meeting with human resources types, to explain why he would not give. Soon thereafter, he lost his job. He said he can’t prove it was because he did not donate, but he does think that was a major factor. Another said his organization sent out a district-wide e-mail, asking why he did not give. And a woman said her company gives everyone a day off if everybody in the office donates at least $10. “I’ve seen people pay for others, just to get the day off,” she said. “I used to fight it, but now I just think about my day off and grin and bear it.” Talk about pressure tactics. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5599-2003Nov22\_2.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5599-2003Nov22_2.html) :mad: ---
**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:** [November 25, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510/117 "2003-11-25T17:31:38Z")
That’s not even a nice try, Sauron. First: You jumped in with an obvious drive-by. Second: the other individual admitted to the lie. Third: your hypothetical is ridiculous (it would tend to show that any statement that a particular conversation occurred on the Moon was not false based merely on the fact of a person not being witness to the purported conversation, instead of the contradictions inherent in such an assertion). You and chique may now enjoy each other’s worthy company. ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510/118 "2003-11-25T17:43:01Z")
It seems clear a few people here are not going to be friends- can you leave it at that and stick with the topic of Satan’s charity please. Or maybe add “The United Way sucks” to the end of your posts? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510/119 "2003-11-25T19:11:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Monty \* > That’s not even a nice try, Sauron. > > First: You jumped in with an obvious drive-by. Second: the other individual admitted to the lie. Third: your hypothetical is ridiculous (it would tend to show that any statement that a particular conversation occurred on the Moon was not false based merely on the fact of a person not being witness to the purported conversation, instead of the contradictions inherent in such an assertion). > > You and chique may now enjoy each other’s worthy company. If it were a drive-by, you moron, I wouldn’t still be here, now would I? I’m just using your own definition of a lie to prove you lied. To wit: > [@](#): > > you asserted something above as fact. Which you did, several times, by refuting **Chandeleur** ’s post. > [@](#): > > You knowingly passed it off as though it were known to you to be factual. Prove to me, if you can, that you were present at the meetings/discussions **Chandeleur** had and can definitively state that he is making them up. If you can’t do that, then, sadly, > [@](#): > > That is known as a lie. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510/120 "2003-11-25T19:21:58Z")
For whatever reason, it seems **Monty** now only has two settings: warm and boiling over. I’ll probably be told to go to hell or some such but, **Monty** , I hope you can find a way to change boiling over to simmering. Even though we’ve had our differences, I’d hate to see you banned. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-was-campaign-is-underway-at-my-workplace-this-is-what-our-ceo-told-us/214510.md?page=7)