Governance

The United Way of America Board of Trustees comprises national leaders from corporate America, the labor movement, academia, nonprofit organizations, and other institutions. Many of the trustees are active local United Way volunteers. On May 17, 2006, Rodney Slater, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and a partner at Patton Boggs, was elected chair of the United Way of America Board of Trustees. The 2006 Annual Report includes United Way of America's accomplishments under his leadership and that of his fellow Trustees. >> 2006 Board of Trustees.

Financial Information

Form 990 is the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)’s designation for the tax return that most public charities are required by law to submit annually. This form is used by the IRS to assess the non-profit organization for its compliance with tax. Information contained in the form includes a summary of the organization’s activities, assets, receipts, expenditures, and compensation of directors, officers, and certain employees.

United Way of America’s completed Form 990s for calendar years 2000-2006 are below. This submission only reflects United Way of America and does not represent the United Way system as a whole. Each local United Way is required to complete an individual Form 990. To review a copy of a specific Local United Way’s Form 990, contact that United Way directly.

1998 IRS Determination Letter
(Internal Revenue Service letter determining the exempt status of United Way of America, known then as Community Chests and Councils, Inc.)

Summary of Accomplishments

Below are the major areas in which United Way of America and local United Ways saw results in 2006.

Helping Children Come to School Ready to Learn: United Way Success By 6 and Born Learning
More than 80% of United Ways support early learning, by funding an agency serving children, advocating for stronger early childhood policies, or providing direct programs such as Success By 6, the community impact initiative targeting school readiness. In 2006, the Born Learning public engagement campaign fueled even greater momentum with its social marketing approach including public service announcements, parent material, and 400 online tools equipping United Ways to boost early learning awareness, education and community action. 

• In its first year, Born Learning PSAs generated $44.5 million worth of donated media.
• 10 million pieces of research-based material went to parents and caregivers.
• 375 community engagement campaigns focused on early learning.
•  United Ways connected with more than 1.2 million parents about early learning.

To reach even more parents, caregivers and communities, United Way continued its national leadership with strategic partnerships with the Association of Children’s Museums, the National League of Cities, and the National Governors Association (along with nine other national organizations comprising the Birth to Five Policy Alliance). 

Helping People Get and Give Help: 2-1-1
A partnership between United Way of America and the Alliance of Information and Referral Systems, 2-1-1 is an easy-to-remember telephone number that connects those needing or offering help with the full complement of services available in the community. While the phone number remains the same community-to-community, the services are reflective of the needs and strengths of a given locality

• At the end of 2006, 2-1-1 was available to nearly 67 percent of the United States population in 41 states.  .
• During the year, more than 8,000,000 inquiries were answered by 2-1-1 professionals across the country.

The federal Calling for 2-1-1 Legislation experienced strong bi-partisan support and more than 2,500 endorsements from organizations across the US. It continues to make its way through Congress.

The first statewide 2-1-1, Infoline 2-1-1 in Connecticut, was a public-private partnership in which the state provided the bulk of the funding. However, that model has not yet proved to be the norm. 2-1-1s have struggled to obtain sustainability funding. In recent years, however, with preparedness and response a higher priority, more states are stepping forward to include 2-1-1 in their crisis-readiness efforts, while others are embracing the cost-benefits of a comprehensive statewide 2-1-1 system.
In recognition of the increased need for local 2-1-1s to recruit high-level corporate and foundation investors, and to build relationships with state agencies and legislators as ambassadors of the 2-1-1 message, United Way of America recently created and disseminated a communicators guide and a stakeholder cultivation toolkit.

Encouraging Civic Engagement and Volunteerism
For nearly 35 years, United Way has partnered with the National Football League to build stronger communities. No other vehicle has been more effective providing visibility for United Way. While the advertising campaigns have changed over the years, the mission has been the same—to use this great vehicle to encourage people to support their communities in their own ways by volunteering. The latest campaigns drive viewers to visit unitedway.org to find volunteer opportunities in their communities.  

• This public service campaign reaches more than 120 million viewers per week during football season.
• In 2006, the NFL allocated over $20 million in media airtime to United Way, extending our reach into 85% of American households.

United Way of America’s Young Adult Mobilization and Engagement program seeks to develop the next generation of volunteer and professional leadership by:

• Building and activating a cadre of young people dedicated to affecting change in their communities.
• Positioning United Way as the “go-to” place for the development of future community leadership.
• Creating a United Way system that values young people as key community leaders and includes young people in key leadership positions.

Programs and strategies for achieving these objectives include Alternative Spring Break (Storm Corps); The 10,000 Hours Show, and the Summer Associate Program.  

• In spring 2006, United Way of America and think MTV created Storm Corps, an Alternative Spring Break program that invited young people to help United Way rebuild the Gulf Coast after the devastating hurricanes of 2005. Thousands of young people applied, and nearly 100 were invited to travel with United Way and MTV and help rebuild Biloxi, MS, and Foley, AL. 
  • 4,000 volunteer hours by 82 participants
  • 16 houses readied for mold remediation – and 7 new roofs
  • 275,000 visits to www.unitedway.org – a 20% increase
  • 30,000 visits to Storm Corps blog
  • Since beginning at the University of Iowa in fall 2003, The 10,000 Hours Show has enabled more than 4,000 college students to contribute more than 100,000 volunteer hours to local nonprofit organizations. The student-run organization offers a free concert to those students who record at least 10 hours of service. With United Way’s help, the organization is expanding rapidly. 
  • The Summer Associate Program is a United Way initiative to attract and cultivate new talent within the United Way system through intensive two-month summer internships.  During the 2006 Summer Associate Program, a diverse group of 26 high-potential college undergraduate and graduate students & recent grads worked at United Way of America and (funded through a grant from FedEx) at eight Major Market United Ways.  More than 20 percent of this group stayed on as United Way staff.  In addition to a strong rate of conversion to staff, the post-evaluation feedback showed that all of the respondents would consider a career within the United Way system and that all would recommend the United Way of America Summer Associate Program to other students and friends. 

Preparing Communities, Rebuilding Lives: Crisis Preparedness, Response and Recovery
In 2006 United Way of America continued to strengthen its internal and systemwide infrastructure by implementing the Coordinated National Response Plan for response to future disasters and convening an Advisory Task Force that includes local United Ways, FEMA and other disaster-related organizations.

Entering the recovery phase for the 2005 hurricanes, United Way continued to step up to help identify needs and develop a vision and plan for recovery – not only in impacted communities from New Orleans to Natchez, from Beaumont to Biloxi, but also in Houston, Atlanta and many other communities that provided shelter for evacuees. The Hurricane Response and Recovery Fund entered Phase II to continue support to 73 communities where United Ways were engaged in helping people recover by providing shelter and housing assistance, job training, coordination of social services, child care, and many other essential services. >> back to top

Working Together to Create Change: Strategic Partnerships
United Way partnered with 130 United Way National Corporate Leadership partners and their employees and retirees who invested more than $1 billion in communities through United Way, bringing in one quarter of the system's revenue. For the seventh consecutive year, UPS was United Way's largest corporate supporter. In 2006, UPS and its generous employees and retirees contributed $59.5 million to improve lives and strengthen communities through United Way.

United Way continues to strengthen its partnerships with leading national organizations.  In 2006, United Way of America led Leadership 18 in conducting a listening report, Voices from the Gulf Coast, to engage Gulf Coast citizens in providing feedback about how they have tried to rebuild their lives and what challenges remain.The results were shared with leaders in the communities impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, including Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco.  Brian Gallagher plays a key role within another partnership organization, America’s Promise, by serving as Chair of their Alliance Trustees, an advisory committee made up of leaders of 45 key partners.  United Way also continues to build on its 60-year partnership with the labor movement.  Almost 200 state and local AFL-CIO Community Services Liaisons serve as links between their state federations and central labor councils and United Ways in 180 communities across the United States. In addition, 20 local labor agencies and five state labor agencies receive direct United Way support. >> back to top

Putting Principle Into Practice: Diversity and Inclusion
United Way’s commitment to diversity and inclusion begins in the United Way of America boardroom, motivates our national staff, and extends throughout our network of 1,300 local United Way organizations that serve the entire country. It’s more than just a footnote to our mission and vision statements - it holds an honored place in all of our work, at the heart of our approach to improving lives. 

Our efforts on diversity and inclusion are driven not only by our belief that inclusion is the right thing to do, but also by the understanding that it provides us with a competitive advantage.  Research shows that when local United Ways work with target markets and focus on initiatives of interest to them, both leadership giving and investor involvement in the community increase. The result is improved lives and improved communities. Not only is diversity core to our organization’s beliefs but the numbers show that it’s also the best way for us to achieve our mission.  Our success is rooted in a movement that is fully inclusive and responsive to the rich diversity of our nation.

In 2006, United Way of America’s Board of Trustees redefined community for United Way by expanding the Diversity Statement of Principle. The statement now reaches beyond race, stating that we must respect and value differences of all kinds, from gender and age to work styles and physical abilities.  Additionally, the United Way membership certification form now requires that local United Ways endorse their own diversity statement once every three years.  To follow up on our expanded definition of diversity, United Way’s 22-year-old conference to address diversity issues, known traditionally as the Roundtable, became the Inclusion Roundtable and reached out to a broader audience than ever before, addressing issues not just of race but of gender, sexual orientation and age.

2006 Honors
At United Way, we know our success is rooted in the hard work and commitment of countless volunteers.  In 2006 United Way of America honored the following individuals and corporations for their leadership and service to United Way.

• Peter and Gail Ochs of Newport Beach, CA, received the Tocqueville Society Award.   Peter Ochs is chairman of the board of The Fieldstone Corporation, a quality homebuilder.  Through his business, Peter has instilled guiding principles of supporting the communities where the company does business.  In 1983, he became the Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Fieldstone Foundation to provide grants, leadership development and service to nonprofit organizations supporting individuals in communities where the Fieldstone Corporation does business.  Through their private foundation, First Fruit Inc., the Ochs have chosen to direct resources to the poorest nations. In Orange County (CA) they have led the local Tocqueville Society from a few hundred thousand dollars a year to more than $7 million in annual support. 

The Tocqueville Society Award is United Way's highest honor for volunteers.  Previous winners include former presidents Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, John Glenn, Bob Hope and Henry Ford II.

• Ron Gettelfinger, president of United Auto Workers (UAW), received the Joseph A. Beirne Community Service Award.  Mr. Gettelfinger's commitment to United Way dates back more than 30 years.  In 2004 he served on the board and led the successful annual fund-raising campaign for Detroit's United Way.  He is the highest-ranking labor leader to lead a fund-raising campaign. 

The Joseph A. Beirne Community Service Award recognizes union members for outstanding volunteer service with United Way.

• United Way of America honored the Principal Financial Group with its 19th annual Spirit of America ® award.  With competitive entries judged by a panel of United Way of America and local United Way staff and National Corporate Leadership volunteers, the Spirit of America Award is United Way’s highest honor for a company's outstanding commitment to local communities.   Spirit of America award winners excel in four categories: Employee Community Investment, Corporate Community Investment, Community Leadership and Employee Community Engagement. Summit Awards are presented to companies that excel in one or more of these areas.