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Q: What is United Way of Lea County’s overhead/administrative cost?
A: United Way of Lea County manages to keep overhead expenses low by utilizing an enormous amount of volunteer help, guerilla marketing and donated media/advertising products. Since 2000, United Way of Lea County has averaged below 18% in administrative costs.
The Council of Better Business Bureaus' Standards call for no more than half (50%) of a charity's total income to be spent on administrative and fund raising costs. United Way of America strongly encourages local United Ways not to ever exceed 25% in overhead costs. United Way of Lea County has always sought, successfully, to stay below our own self-imposed 20% overhead cap.
Q: What exactly does United Way of Lea County do?
A: Traditionally, United Ways have been best known for conducting fund raising campaigns in local communities, then allocating grants to member organizations. That is still the cornerstone of our organization. However, modern United Ways are deeply interested and involved in impacting our communities through new and innovative roles.
- Convener
- Advocate
- Investor
- Partner
- Facilitator
For instance, 2-1-1 Information & Referral is a brilliant new resource provided by United Way of Lea County that is currently available to less than half the country. It’s a non-emergency, easy-to-remember phone number available in many communities that puts the caller in contact with the help they need.
Recognizing the marvelous potential of this type of service in our area, United Way took an existing referral program in Lea County, which got less than 20 calls per month, and nurtured it into a 300 call-per-month program working with a wide and diverse network of resources throughout Lea County, including churches, non-profits, government organizations, civic groups, companies and individuals. Working with Valor Telecom, we secured the convenient 2-1-1 phone number in a matter of a few short months.
Q: Is United Way of Lea County run by United Way of America?
A: No! All 1,400 United Ways throughout the country are independently operated. All are governed by a local board, which makes the final decision on funding, programs, operations and all other organizational issues.
United Way of Lea County is governed by a 24-member Board of Directors, one third of which are newly elected each year to three year terms. The first president of our board, which was established in 1959, was Mr. Finn Watson, a well-known historic figure in Lea County.
Q: Is United Way of Lea County just a Hobbs organization?
A: Absolutely not! It’s a common misconception about non-profits that, because they don’t have “store fronts” in every town, they must not be serving those towns. The bottom line is this: Non-profits traditionally exist on the economic fringes. They don’t have a lot of money for frills and extras. Opening branch offices in all the towns they serve would be financially impossible and impractical. Therefore, most employ outreach staff that visit clients in neighboring towns. Many also rely on clients coming to them. But rest assured all Lea County towns benefit from United Way programs and agencies.
For instance, look at these numbers from 2003:
City
Lovington
Eunice
Jal
Tatum
Hobbs
Other
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% of UWLC Units of Service Used
23%
1%
1%
Less than 1%
74%
- 0 -
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% of Giving to United Way
4%
3%
Less than 1%
Less than 1%
87%
4%
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Q:Why does United Way of Lea County automatically charge a 25% administrative fee if I designate my gift to a non-United Way agency?
A: To make the playing field equal and fair. United Way, as well as our agencies, has to take overhead into account when processing donations intended for us and it’s only fair that organizations that are not affiliated with United Way be subjected to the same costs as the rest of us.
Hundreds of volunteers give their time during the campaign to work on behalf of United Way and our agencies. Money and precious man-hours are spent to enable us to raise money for these causes. If a non-United Way agency wishes to take advantage of this hard work to benefit their own organization, it’s the right thing to share in the expenses.
Q: Who decides where the money goes?
A: Your friends, neighbors and fellow citizens. Each year following campaign, a large allocation committee is formed, comprised of people from all walks of life, professions, ethnic backgrounds and life situations.
Each requesting agency is scrutinized, with teams examining their fiscal operations and health, physical plant, staff and personnel situations, program success, mission, philosophy and vision for the future.
Teams then convene to discuss their findings and arrive at recommended allocation amounts for each agency. The United Way Board of Directors then reviews the recommendations, amends if deemed necessary and ratifies allocations for the coming year.
The degree of due diligence involved in the allocation process is one of the best around, preventing any special interests from gaining hold and influencing results.
Q: Give me three good reasons to give to United Way of Lea County.
A: I’ll go one better and give you four!
- Healthy Return on the Dollar: All donations to United Way of Lea County are matched25%! So your gift of $100 automatically becomes $125!
- Keeping it Local: 99% of your investment stays right here in Lea County, helping YOUR friends and neighbors.
- Painless Giving: With the option of payroll deduction, you can give a little from each paycheck and it doesn’t hurt!
- Local Decision Making: Local people decide where the money goes!
Q: Once and for all, does United Way of Lea County support abortion?
A: This is a good time to re-affirm that United Way of Lea County does not in any way fund abortions or abortion counseling. Further, none of our member agencies are engaged in any such activities.
We help support wonderful agencies that help young mothers obtain critical prenatal health care for themselves and their unborn babies, agencies that teach parenting skills and still others who can provide diapers, formula and necessities to young parents. However, NONE is in any way associated with abortion.
Q: Did you know that I don’t give to United Way because I feel like my employer is twisting my arm?
A: No one should ever feel coerced to give to any charity. Giving is a personal decision and most charities would like to think that people give because they believe in that organization’s mission.
However, even if you feel like you’re being leaned on, please try to focus on what really matters and keep this in mind: United Way discourages the practice of coercion and flatly denounces it in our Code of Ethics.
But please don’t let such practices obscure the good work that United Way agencies provide in your community. Please know that your gift to United Way makes it possible for thousands of people to be helped. It helps take the homeless off the streets (yes, right here in Lea County), provides desperately needed medication to folks who just can’t afford it, gives battered women and children a place to escape their abuse, provides a voice in court for children of dysfunctional homes, gets food to the hungry – and SO MUCH MORE. This is between you and United Way, and only you can decide if you want to be a part of these solutions.
Give for the people who will benefit from your kindness, not for any other reason. But, please, give.
Q: Does 2-1-1 Information & Referral help everyone who asks?
A: The short answer is that it would be impossible to help every one of the 300 or so callers and walk-in clients who come to us each month. Lea County simply doesn’t currently have resources to cover everyone’s needs.
However, even if we did have those kinds of resources available, we wouldn’t be able to help everyone. The reason is this: Our aim is to assist people who are experiencing unusual, unique, tough times – to help them bridge gaps in their lives and get back on their feet. For some folks, this may mean helping with an electric bill one month or providing a family with a couple of weeks’ worth of groceries. Still others are experiencing longer-term hard times and need further assistance.
But, ultimately, we want to get people back to a place where they are able to “do” for themselves. So it is counter to that goal to habitually assist over a long period of time. The resources are limited in an area our size and we feel that we have a responsibility to use them in a conscientious manner.
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