My Mailbox is Groaning. It's the Usual Suspects...
My mailbox is groaning. It’s the usual suspects--year-end appeals.
Some of them plead. Some cajole. Others yank me with photographs of sick children. Still others remind me that I gave a year ago, and surely I will want to give again, won’t I?
I make three stacks—a yes stack, a no stack, and an I’ll-decide-in-a-week stack. But first—always first—I start by writing a check to United Way of the National Capital Area.
The reason is not just habit and tradition, but suppleness and effectiveness.UWNCA does not aim my gift at just one agency—unless I tell it to. It does not aim my money at just one issue—unless I tell it to.
United Way will always honor my wishes. But it will also use my money wisely and well when I check a box—as I always do—that says, “Please use my gift in the most effective possible way.”
This is my way of recognizing that needs change in our community, sometimes very quickly. The last year is an excellent case in point.
Last December, most gifts in our community went to religious groups, higher education and hospitals, as they usually do. There’s nothing wrong with any of those causes, and there never will be.
But the recession was just beginning to develop into a Category Five storm. Some of us didn’t believe it would be as bad as it turned out to be. Others didn’t anticipate how steeply our needs for food and shelter would increase.
Now, a year later, we’ve seen reality. I’m delighted that my end-of-year gift in 2008went to provide meals and emergency housing. But my gift couldn’t have done that if I had restricted it to one agency or one geographic area.
United Way gives me the pathway to aim dollars at big, real problems. I can designate one agency, or I can designate one problem via the UWNCA Community Impact program. This gives me, the donor, the control I want. But it also gives me the flexibility that I know the community needs.
If you’re sitting on the fence about making a gift to United Way this year, I hope you’ll climb off it and write a generous check. You can rest assured that your money will go wherever you specify. But if you don’t specify, it will go toward the greatest community needs.
Sound good? It does to me, too.
Some of them plead. Some cajole. Others yank me with photographs of sick children. Still others remind me that I gave a year ago, and surely I will want to give again, won’t I?
I make three stacks—a yes stack, a no stack, and an I’ll-decide-in-a-week stack. But first—always first—I start by writing a check to United Way of the National Capital Area.
The reason is not just habit and tradition, but suppleness and effectiveness.UWNCA does not aim my gift at just one agency—unless I tell it to. It does not aim my money at just one issue—unless I tell it to.
United Way will always honor my wishes. But it will also use my money wisely and well when I check a box—as I always do—that says, “Please use my gift in the most effective possible way.”
This is my way of recognizing that needs change in our community, sometimes very quickly. The last year is an excellent case in point.
Last December, most gifts in our community went to religious groups, higher education and hospitals, as they usually do. There’s nothing wrong with any of those causes, and there never will be.
But the recession was just beginning to develop into a Category Five storm. Some of us didn’t believe it would be as bad as it turned out to be. Others didn’t anticipate how steeply our needs for food and shelter would increase.
Now, a year later, we’ve seen reality. I’m delighted that my end-of-year gift in 2008went to provide meals and emergency housing. But my gift couldn’t have done that if I had restricted it to one agency or one geographic area.
United Way gives me the pathway to aim dollars at big, real problems. I can designate one agency, or I can designate one problem via the UWNCA Community Impact program. This gives me, the donor, the control I want. But it also gives me the flexibility that I know the community needs.
If you’re sitting on the fence about making a gift to United Way this year, I hope you’ll climb off it and write a generous check. You can rest assured that your money will go wherever you specify. But if you don’t specify, it will go toward the greatest community needs.
Sound good? It does to me, too.
posted by Bob Levey's United Way at
8:42 AM
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