Conference turris::womannotes-v2

You might consider calling your local United Way to see whether they
support Planned Parenthood.


M.

    And remember that you have the option of (theoretically, at least)
    targeting a specific local UW chapter to receive your donation.
    Your site's UW coordinator can supply the magic codes needed.
    
    Chuck

    
    Usually with all the UW literature there is a list of the organizations
    which UW supports....reading thru it may highlight some groups you 
    know which hold opposing views to your own...
    
    re: .2
    Yes, you can designate your $$$, but as I had it explained to me,
    that only means UW tallies up total designated, and if it exceeds
    what they planned to give to that org, then they give that total...
    else they give what they planned all along...so your $$$ really
    go to UW to distribute as they see fit...
    which is my biggest complaint, as many of the groups they
    support, I would not choose to...
    
    deb
    

One thing to keep in mind is that when you target an organization, you probably
are not boosting the donations to that organization at all, because though UW
will give all your moneys to that company, your targeting of the organization
'frees' up other moneys to go elsewhere.  For example, let's say there are two
donators to UW, A, who donates $20 and B, who donates $40 and two organizations
who would receive 50% each of the donations.  If neither A nor B specified where
their donations are to go, the disbursement would go something like this:


        Org 1	        Org 2	       Total
A:	$10		$10		$20
B:	$20		$20		$40
Total:	$30		$30		$60

Now, if A specifies all his or her $20 are to be given to Org 1, UW uses the
unspecified moneys of B to even things out, and it looks like this:

        Org 1	        Org 2	       Total
A:	$20		 $0		$20
B:	$10		$30		$40
Total:	$30		$30		$60

Note that though A specified where his or her funds were to be used, the
difference comes out in the wash.


Therefore unless *many* people specify organizations, *you* specifying
the target of *your* moneys will have no effect.

You may want to take this into consideration if you have any political, moral
or religious differences with any of the United Way agencies.  In addition,
if you donate directly to the organization that you want to support, Digital
will still match dollar for dollar your donation and the organization will
receive $1 for every $1 you put toward it, rather than UWs $0.90 for every $1.

                                Roger

	Or, you could always choose to *not* give any money to United Way, and
give freely to the organization of your choice.

	Personally, the fastest way not to get any money from me is to push me
to contribute.  The Digital United Way drive triggers this reflex every year.


								--D

  A few years ago, when I asked a NH United Way worker, I was told
  they definitely did not give any money to Planned Parenthood.
  (She apparently though that was a "positive" attribute as it
  saved hassles over abortion funding.) I then explained my position
  and stated that I would henceforth give my money to organizations
  which had the courage of their convictions, rather than a "Let's
  not risk offending anyone" sensibility.

  Disclaimer:  I don't know if the situation with NH United Way has
  changed.

                                   Atlant

    Generally your plant's United Way coordinator can answer questions
    about which organizations are supported and why.  
    
    We don't contribute to United Way, preferring to support a variety
    of charitable and cultural organizations -- Nashua Soup Kitchen,
    the American Stage Festival, a couple of handicapped veterans'
    organizations, etc.  Most of them are local.
    
    Scanning the United Way lists always leaves me with the impression
    that UW supports organizations palatable to white middle class
    donors -- not political or controversial, full of cute kids that
    it's easy to feel sorry for -- not organizations that are really
    down in the trenches dealing with the problems of drugs, racism,
    ignornance, and failed educational systems.  Not that there's
    anything wrong with the organizations that are on the acceptable
    list, but too many of the organizations doing really useful work
    are't on the list.
    
    --bonnie

    Re .3 and .4
    Some United Way's (such as Rochester) have a THIRD option available to
    people who want to specify a specific Non-United Way Agency.  The 
    Non-United Way organization must request to be placed on the THIRD option 
    list, meet the not-for-profit criteria and allow the United Way to take a 
    12.5% processing fee from your donation...but since the organization does 
    not have a United Way budget amount it does not effect the total $ they get.
    The organization get all the donations minus 12.5%.  You can only chose
    1 organization to get your donation.  
    
    United Way is really pushed hard by employers in our town and those of
    us who do not agree with the practice can chose to have our donation go
    to something we really support such as the local volunteer fire
    department.  I am a volunteer in that department and we get about
    $3,000 a year through the Third Option United Way donation plan from
    about 60 families which is about $52.00 a family or about $42.00 more
    than the average family donates to our fund drive.  United Way also
    sends us a list of every doner(if they requested a reply) so that we
    may thank them and not bug them with our fund drive mailing. We also
    ask them if their employer will match their donation!
    So my attitude has changed a little if you can't bet them join them and
    use them to your benefit.

Re: <<< Note 771.8 by MISFIT::SCHLITZERM "Mary Ann" >>>
    
>>    The organization get all the donations minus 12.5%.  You can only chose
>>    1 organization to get your donation.  
    
    If you can only specify one, why not donate directly, fill out the
    matching donation stuff yourself, and the org will get 100% of your
    money rather than 87.5%?
    
                             Roak

    Why not donate directly? Perhaps because of the...
    
    (attitude on) - workplace pressure to donate to UW
    
    (attitude off) - convenience (even less paperwork than matching forms)
                   - painlessness of small weekly paycheck deductions 
                   - hope that someone at UW has checked out what might 
                     otherwise be a totally unknown final recipient
    
    I do both, but the info here has me thinking about switching entirely
    AWAY from UW.
    
    Chuck

    The "United Way" campaign has been discussed in the HUMAN::DIGITAL
    notes conference, in notes 185.* and 392.* 
    
    Press <SELECT> or <KP7> to add HUMAN::DIGITAL to your notebook...
    
    
    					Nigel

    Something I discovered last year that is very little known - my manager
    didn't know and neither did my PSA until she started getting a flood
    of pledge cards back...
    
    If you currently have a United Way deduction and want to cancel it, it
    is NOT sufficient to simply write "0" in the contribution field of the
    pledge form.  You must visit your PSA and fill out a United Way
    change form, and check off the "Cancellation" box.
    
    			Steve

    The base note used the word "bias".  Do you mean "in favor of" or
    "not in favor of"?
    
    The United Way selects supported organizations based upon a criteria
    of Community Benefit Standards and Gov't SEC Non-Profit Organization
    Compliance.
    
    There are 1 or 2 UW organizations in Detroit that "support" abortion
    efforts.  There are at least that many that "support" abortion by
    education (i.e. like Planned Parenthood, which does not comply with
    the UW restrictions for "Non-Profit" designation), unwed mothers'
    housing and job programs, etc.
    
    The UW does NOT take a stand on abortion or any other controversial
    issue (such as AIDS clinics).  They simply take "Requests for UW
    Funding Assistance" forms and run their standard 1-2 yr. evaluation
    on the agency.            
    
    (Speaking as former 2-Year UW Chair for East Central...)

>    The base note used the word "bias".

	Intentionally.  I personally would be very unhappy if my
	potential contributions were going to support organizations
	that were against my beliefs.

>    Do you mean "in favor of" or "not in favor of"?

	Irrelevant.

    re..13 Steve..
    
    The Campaign runs from Jan. to Dec., if you mark your card in Sept
    or Oct, it isn't effective until the following Jan. If you want
    to cancel your contribution other than at the beginning of the calendar
    year, yes you do have to visit your PSA and fill out a United Way
    change form.
    
    re..8
    
    The best way to insure that 100% of your contribution goes to  a
    Non-United Way agency is to give through the matching gifts program.
    You can give to as many agencies as you want  and can give up to
    $1000 per calendar year per agency.
    

    +pat+_who_is_working_in_the_Corperate_Community_Relations_office_for_the_
    United_Way_and_Matching_gifts.

    Re: .16
    
    Pat, all I can tell you is what my PSA told me and what my personal
    experience was.  If you are currently having money deducted for
    United Way, and simply mark "zero" on your pledge card as a way of
    eliminating the deduction, what will happen is that you will (some
    months later) get the card returned to your PSA (and then to you) with
    a note attached saying that the ONLY way to eliminate the deduction,
    no matter when you want to do it, is to fill out the form with your
    PSA.  This is what happened to me last year.
    
    My PSA said that the first she knew about it last year was when she
    suddenly received hundreds of cards back for this very reason.  I
    consider it a rather sneaky attempt to make it hard for people to
    stop a deduction.
    
    By the way, attached to the pledge forms is a list of organizations
    that each United Way chapter supports.  This can be handy for those
    who want to decide whether to contribute and if so, to which chapter.
    
    				Steve

    
    here in seattle in the people's republic of washington, united way
    recently caved in to pressure from the catholic church to limit its
    (united way's) support for planned parenthood because of planned
    parenthood's involvement in abortions. this was a few months ago
    and the situation has changed somewhat since then, possibly for the
    better. however, united way will not get any of my money.
    

    I received this in my e-mail bag today.  I've deleted the forwardings
    but I trust the person who originated it.  I'm not so sure I trust the
    magazine from which this is excerpted.  :^)
    
    I participate in my site's United Way stuff (send a flower to a
    coworker, buy icecream at lunch) but I reserve most of my giving to
    Planned Parenthood, the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights (RCAR),
    the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), Aids research, and
    a college fund.  I simply don't believe in United Way.  If you give
    directly, you know exactly which charity/action group gets how much and
    you can give precisely according to YOUR wishes.
    
===================================================================
		"United Way Versus Planned Parenthood"
					_Playboy_, September 1989

    "United We Stand" reads one of the United Way's fund-raising posters.
The 100-year-old charitable organization claims that "United Way-supported
services benefit individuals and families by making possible the help and
expert care needed when critical problems arise."  Not always--not when the
critical problem is an unwanted pregnancy.
    Consider the situation in Seattle, Washington.  In 1987, Planned Parenthood
of Seattle-King County decided to establish an abortion clinic.  Last year,
United Way requested that if Planned Parenthood wished to continue to receive
its funding, it divide itself into two corporations--one that would provide
abortions and one that would not.  United Way would fund the latter.  Planned
Parenthood agreed.  Unfortunately, that plan did not work.  Two Seattle Roman
Catholic powerhouses, Archbishop Raymond H. Hunthausen and Coadjutor Archbishop
Thomas J. Murphy, wrote to the Planned Parenthood board of directors, accusing
the affiliate of declaring itself "ready to become the abortion factory
of western Washington."  Seattle anti-abortionists conducted an aggressive
campaign to remove Planned Parenthood from United Way.
    The United Way board passed a resolution stating that United Way would
not fund abortions or organizations that provide abortions.  Seattle Planned
Parenthood was forced to withdraw from United Way.  "Our mission is to provide
reproductive-health services to people who need them." explained Lee Minto,
Planned Parenthood's president.  "We could accept United Way's policy of
not funding abortions.  We couldn't accept its policy of not funding any
organization that provides abortions."
    The Seattle situation is not an isolated occurrence.  Planned Parenthood
affiliates in Illinois and Hawaii lost their United Way funding when they
elected to include abortion as part of their reproductive-health operations.
    Women complained in the Seventies that United Way was top heavy with funding
for male programs.  United Way tried to rectify that.  Now it looks as though
it's trying to short-shrift women again--this time by denying funds to Planned
Parenthood.  It's time it rectified *that*.	-- Lisa Page

    The card we recieved this year from the United Way campaign gave us the
    option of were we wanted our donations to go. I wrote in Large letters
    "Planned Parenthood'. I'd like to see them say they couldn't see it
    :-)
    
    vivian

I've heard, from someone who shared that article with me as well, that in NH
the United Way _does_ support some small organizations that deal with rape,
incest, and abortions. And you don't know the names of these small
organizations (the generic you), so you won't be sending them money when you
stop giving to United Way. If I can get more information on this, I'll post.

It seems that United Way politics vary on a state-by-state basis.
	Mez

    re. -.20 --
    
    Vivian, how do you plan to track it?  I've always been a bit suspicious
    that once it's in the pot, like a stew, it all just gets melded
    together.
    
    Karen   

    re .-22
    Karen,
    I'm not sure how I would track it from here.  I'll see if I can find
    the United Way Rep for the center and see if I can get some answers.
    
    vivian

    Will Digital match the contribution if you give it _directly_ to
    Planned Parenthood?  If not, we have really no leg to complain about
    United Way.  If yes, why bother with United Way?
    
    - Vikas

   This string seems a little one-sided.  One of the **good** things about 
   United Way is that it relieves the charities of some of their fund-raising
   efforts leaving them more time and energy to devote to their work.   It 
   also relieves the giver from the time devoted to checking out the charity
   to determine its legitimacy.

   Naturally, there are specific causes that each of us feel compelled to 
   support, but United Way does provide a broad base of support for some
   worthwhile causes.

    Barbi

    
    In spite of the fact that I am working in the United Way office
    here at DEC, I feel that if you have a problem or a doubt about
    how and where your contribution is handled, give directly to your
    favorite charity and file a matching gift card. Don't feel pressured
    into giving to the United Way. 

    I give to United Way because a few years ago I asked for and got
    their assurance that they do not fund Planned Parenthood.  I could
    not in good conscience help fund taking children's lives.  If you
    feel that you should help Planned Parenthood, you should give directly
    for this.  If United Way ever funds them, I will discontinue my
    dontation.  It's sad that there's such a division of conviction
    on this.  The only common ground is that there is no room for
    compromise.
    
    Bud

    Today's Boston Globe had a "pro and con" feature article on United
    Way and its role in corporate contributions.  I didn't have a chance
    to read it thoroughly.  Perhaps someone can abstract?
    
    			Steve

    I received today the attached message from Joanne Urgotis of
    Corporate Community Relations concerning the statements I made in
    this forum about United Way.  I am reproducing it here with her
    permission.  I've also attached my response.
    
    Having not been the subject of the intense pressure to contribute that
    I've seen others report, I'm not in a position to supply Joanne with
    details.  If others have experienced this pressure, they may choose
    to write Joanne about it.
    
    				Steve
    
From:	FACMTS::FACMTS::MRGATE::"WITNES::A1::URGOTIS.JOANNE"  4-OCT-1989 11:40:34.74
To:	QUARK::LIONEL
CC:	
Subj:	United Way

From:	NAME: Joanne Urgotis @MSO           
	FUNC: Corp. Comm. Relations   
	TEL: 223-6083             <URGOTIS.JOANNE AT A1 AT WITNES AT PKO>
To:	LIONEL@QUARK@VMSMAIL

I've just read through your messages from the NOTES file and thought 
I'd offer some help, if you want/need it.

I know that +pat+ was trying to help you out with your concerns, but 
maybe I can make things clearer since I have worked on 3 campaigns in 
the Corporate Community Relations group (we're responsible for the 
United Way & Matching Gift programs company-wide).

You're right - last year (as with all the previous years), in order to 
cancel your payroll deduction, it was necessary to go to your PSA and 
have them take it off the system.  Until this year, we didn't have 
access to that part of the EMF - it was limited to personnel only.  
Now that we have that enhancement, we can cancel payroll deduction 
directly.  What +pat+ was trying to say is that if you submit your 
card with a cancellation, it will not go into affect until the first 
of the year; if you want your deduction canceled immediately, you 
still have to go through your PSA.

I hope this is helpful.

Also, below is Digital's Philosophy regarding the United Way, taken 
directly from the Policies and Procedures manual:

    "As a corporate citizen, Digital takes its civic and social 
    responsibilities seriously and encourages its employees to 
    take their individual civic and social responsibilities 
    seriously as well.
    
    Digital believes that the United Way is an efficient way for 
    the company and its employees to channel support to a wide 
    range of agencies providing essential social services to our 
    individual communities across the country.
    
    Therefore:
                We offer our employees the opportunity to give to 
                the United Way of their choice through payroll 
                deduction or one-time gifts.
    
                We match all employee's donations, dollar-for-
                dollar, doubling the impact of their gifts to the 
                united ways they choose to support.
    
    We further encourage our employees to support the United Ways 
    and agencies in their communities by volunteering their 
    personal time and, whenever appropriate, to participate in 
    the management of the United Way organizations.
    
    Digital believes in choice.  We support, not demand or 
    coerce, our employees' choice to give to the United Way.  We 
    assume responsibility to educate them as to what the United 
    Way represents so that their choice to give is an informed 
    decision."
    
If you think it would be helpful, feel free to publish this 
message in the NOTES file.

Regards
    

From:	QUARK::LIONEL "Steve Lionel  04-Oct-1989 1152"  4-OCT-1989 11:53:25.78
To:	FACMTS::MRGATE::"WITNES::A1::URGOTIS.JOANNE"
CC:	lionel
Subj:	RE: United Way

Joanne,

Thanks for the information.  Has the change about cancelling the
deduction through the pledge card been communicated to PSAs?  Mine didn't
know about it (nor had she been told of last year's situation.)

While I think that in general United Way is a positive force, there are too
many side issues surrounding it that have made me uncomfortable.  The
primary issue is the force (and I do not use that word lightly) applied
to employees in most Digital facilities in coercing them to contribute
to United Way.  This practice is too widespread and too well documented to
ignore.  I am thankful that my own management is the exception and simply
makes the forms available.  There are discussions in the HUMAN::DIGITAL
conference about this.

My other concern is that many United Way chapters withdraw support from
organizations that they feel it would be politically inopportune to
support, such as Planned Parenthood and similar organizations that
provide reproductive planning and assistance to women.  I suppose they are
free to pick and choose whom they want to support, but then, so am I,
and some of the organizations that UW DOES support are not those I would
willingly contribute to.  Thus I prefer to make my contributions
directly.

I understand that United Way is an efficient means of collecting charitable
donations.  I just wish that Digital as a corporation did not exert such
pressure on its employees to contribute and that UW chapters would be not
so quick to use politics as a selection criteria.

				Steve

    A little late for the UW decision, but worth noting:
    
�    Will Digital match the contribution if you give it _directly_ to
�    Planned Parenthood? 
    
    Yes.
    
    Ray

    Does anyone know if Greenpeace is a not-for-profit organization that
    qualifies for matching contributions? I couldn't find any notice on
    Greenpeace's mailing stuff that says things like donations are
    tax deductable etc.
    
    

It does, or at least, I've never had my matching contribution forms returned
to me.  They have a sister organization that does not qualify, though I don't 
remember why or what it's called.  Literature from that organization does state
clearly that donations to it are not deductible.

M

    On a recent flyer I had from Greenpeace asking for donations it
    said that they "cannot accept donations from payroll".
    
    I guess that means that they cannot accept donations raised from
    the way that our Charitable Society works i.e. #x off your paycheck
    each month. But I don't know where they'd stand on specific donations
    raised by activity and matched by the company....
    
    'gail