United Way - Do You Feel Pressure From Your Employer to Contribute?

[ZebraStripes]

I work for a large company. They are a major contributor to UW in our area. In my opinion, the company bribes its workers to give. There are "gifts" for certain levels of giving...days off, dinners, umbrellas, etc. I don't like to be bribed. I give because I feel a group could benefit from my giving. We give a large percent to our local church. I give yearly to the organizations that are not part of the local UW that are working to help my daughter. Do I feel pressure? Yes. Do I think the company tracks who gives what? Yup...right there on the paycheck....UW contribution. I know there are many worthy organizations under the UW umbrella, but I don't like to be pressured...of course, they don't call it pressure "you are under no obligation to give" however, ther is not a "I respectfully decline" box on the form.

 

[tar heel]

I also am surprised by the negativity about the United Way. Also, there seems to be some misunderstanding. The United Way does not help you when you have a problem -- agencies funded through the United Way help you.

I find that there are very few people who have not benefited from a United Way agency. In my family, five have directly affected us:

1. My dad has a chronic disease that periodically requires blood transfusions and I am trained in CPR. Thanks Red Cross!

2. My aunt's last days were much more comfortable because of hospice care.

3. My two oldest children learned to swim at the YMCA.

4. My youngest child is a cub scout.

5. My middle child has participated in a program at the Boys and Girls Club.

 

[Pin Wizard]

My DS also had swimming lessons at the local YMCA. But the money came out of MY pocket. I don't care how much they might receive from the United Way!

I never cared for them, but a few years back when they pulled funding for the Boy Scouts, I wouldn't listen to another word! I prefer to decide what organizations I donate to and give it to them directly. Why make the United Way look good? I don't care for them at all.

 

[pacerpride]

The United Way is a good org. I know some who have used them for help........

I know when I have workers fill out the form, most of the time I have to help them, because the just don't understand how to do it!

I tell them, I am NO ONE to judge, so do whatever you feel like doing! And that is how I feel. I know some of my workers struggle as it is....and if they can't afford it, then they can't afford it.

As a boss, it makes no difference to me, but please just fill out the form and help your company look good.

 

[Lostinwdw]

It was annoying. I didn't like other's trying to control my charitable donations...

 

[Aurora63]

My ex-employer ( a school) did pressure us a bit, and also swore that he didn't know who contributed and who didn't. I felt like there was some kind of competition between principals to get 100% of their staff to contribute.

I have to wonder if their is some kind of kickback to places who do have a certain level of contributions.

I also will probably not contribute to them again, because of the scandals.

 

[carole88]

Did you all know that you can direct which agency receives your donation? Four years ago my daughter became sick with pneumonia (sp?) and was hoispitalized for 8 days. While in the hospital her escape was a playroom run by the hospital's Child Life Services department. Once she was feeling a little better she was able to go to this room and do crafts and play with various toys. The hospital is an agency belonging to the United Way. Ever since then I have directed my donation to this area of the hospital.

I work for an insurance company that is very involved with the United Way. I am in charge of collecting all pledge cards from my department. We do not pressure any employee into giving a donation. All that we ask for is that you return your pledge card so that we know that everyone had the opportunity to donate or not. Everyone is free to put a zero in the pledge amount if they choose.

 

[Amy]

My company also offers prizes (movie tickets, free lunches, etc) to those who contribute. I will not contribute because of the scandals and because United Way pulled funding for the Boy Scouts, which is an organization that DH and I support, both financially and volunteer work (DH was Cubmaster, now he's a committee member of the Boy Scout troop, I'm former secretary of the pack).

DH gets a LOT of pressure at his work, so he does the minimum to make the boss happy: $1 a week deducted from his pay.

Also, don't know if this is true of the United Way's across the country, but here in Pittsburgh this year the UW said that if you designate your contribution to go to a specific organization rather than just a general contribution, MORE $ will be taken from your designated contribution to make up for the additional administrative expenses cause by a designated contribution vs. a general contribution.

 

[TerriP]

There is considerable pressure at my place of employment to contribute to UW. We have a meeting at the beginning of each school year (we are a school-related service agency) and there is always a long speech given about employee contributions. If you fill out your donation form that day you get a present. All forms are expected to be submitted by ALL employees by the end of that week. If you don't send one in, you get an email the next week "reminding" you. If you don't respond within that week, you get a phone call. I responded to the email that I will chose to whom and when I will give to charity and NOT to contact me again. Haven't gotten my phone call yet....

 

[accomp]

Originally posted by pacerpride
but please just fill out the form and help your company look good.

I don't think that giving should be about making a company "look good".

 

[RUDisney]

Originally posted by carole88
Did you all know that you can direct which agency receives your donation?

Did you know that the UW has a budget of what they will give to each agency and if you say you want certain money to go to a particular agency, they will earmark your donation to that group, but the group will still get the same amount whether you say your money should go there or not? If it makes you feel better to earmark money to your cause, fine. Just know that they are getting the same amount and it is actually determined by the UW, not you.

My company used to really harp on UW. I was actually told about 15 years ago that my salary may be dependent on my willingness to give to UW. It didn't matter than I have my own charities to whom I contribute and in whom I believe. Those donations didn't make my company look good. I was told that I needed to give $1 per week. There was a scale upon which certain corporate levels were expected to give. The funny part was, at $1 per week, back then, I'd have been required to give a higher percentage of my salary than my boss or the CEO.

Luckily, we have gotten bigger and it isn't an issue anymore.

 

[carole88]

Did you know that the UW has a budget of what they will give to each agency and if you say you want certain money to go to a particular agency, they will earmark your donation to that group, but the group will still get the same amount whether you say your money should go there or not?

To be honest, I don't know whether this is actually true or not. What I do know is that before I directed my contribution to the Child Life Services department of the hospital the department had never before received a check directly from the United Way. Now they do. Maybe the hospital received a lump sum and then they determined where to distribute it. At least I know that my money is going directly to this department to help children feel better when they are sick!

 

[Uncleromulus]

Two things always bothered me about giving to the United Way--one was my employer. Giving parties, prizes, etc to those who contributed. It wasn't a direct bribe--but in order to participate in these "events" you needed to have contributed.
The other problem was Do I REALLY know that my money is going to the agency to whom I designate? At a previous job I had years ago, there was a scandle in which a person designated at work to help with UW was changing everyones contibution codes and diverting the $$ to her favorite charity!!
Ever since, I've always contributed directly to my charity, and not thru UW.

 

[believe]

I don't feel pressured, but I have heard the higher up you are the more pressure there is. Not sure if it is true.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Thankfully, I'm in sales and 600 miles away from my company's HQ. If there's any pressure in the office, I don't know about it, but I'm sure if there was it would filter its way to the sales force.

That said, I would be extremely uncomfortable working for a company that placed strong pressure on its employees or required its employees to donate to a specific charity. Donations should be given freely, not made mandatory.

 

[DVC-Don]

I can recall my department head pushing me to donate to the UW several years ago. His line?

The owner wants his picture in the paper handing over that check and the quotation of 100% participation. I expect you to see that it happens.

So I signed up for .10 a week and they stopped calling me into the office.

 

[KathyFP]

I am a big supported of UW. Although I don't make a lot, I give substantially. I always ear mark where I want my contributions to go.

As an individual who has worked in social service for over twenty years, Iknow how valuable those contriubtions are.

The ease of payroll deduction allows many people to give or might not otherwise.

Also there are a lot of organizations that do great work who depend on the support of UW.

Individuals who have never needed a service maybe unaware of the organizations who benefit form donations.

You never know when you or one of your family members may need a service that is supported by the United Way.

 

[kylara]

Where I work, we get an email regarding it but no pressure to sign up. I have always made it plain, no matter where I work, that I give to the charities I want to give to and that I don't need to do that through UW. Often many of the charities/services they support can also take a direct donation. But to be clear, since some on this thread has seen people not wanting to donate to the UW being negative about the UW, I think that the UW does some wonderful work. I would just prefer to give my money and time directly to those causes I care about.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

In the Mid-80s I worked for the county schools and was asked to donate--being 23 and newly married I said "No thanks"--and really heard about how they wanted 100% participation as well, so I gave $5 to shut her up.
I didn't give for a long time after that. Now I have been giving and earmarking my contribution 1/2 for the American Cancer society in the county where I live (not where I work) and 1/2 to a homeless women's shelter. I got a thank you note directly from the shelter one year so I know they got it.
But I do cut back my contribution because I also give to church, and to the Humane society (UW doesn't back any "animal" causes).
Robin M.

 

[KrnB]

My company puts on a HUGE amount of pressure every September. It's getting to the point where people I know are choosing not to donate just because of the pressure. Everyone seems to say "it's a great cause, but....." And I have to agree.

We have a "week of caring" at Corporate where each dept picks a fundraiser. Some of these fundraisers are fun, but you are often getting hounded while walking down the hall from people trying to sell you something. People seem to forget that this is a work environment.

And this is all in addition to the payroll donation. For that, our company has % participation goals that it sets (and I believe are tied in to executive bonuses). Participation is actually giving, not just those who logged in to register their intent. Our group built a web application that allows users to sign in and choose whether they want to donate or not and how much. This is how all donations are registered.

All of this info - including who you are and your cost center - gets stored in a database where it can be given to payroll and it can be tracked. There are reports that show each cost center (dept down to a pretty low level) and the % who logged in and the % that donated. My overall dept hasn't participated to the rate that they wanted, so we're getting constant emails as the last week of the drive comes to a close.

All of this has completely burned me out on the United Way, which is a shame because they do good work for the most part. DH, who has worked for the company for 10 years, chose not to give this year and I think this is going to be the last year I do it.