- Every year Johns Hopkins participates in the United Way Campaign. Why is Johns Hopkins helping the United Way raise money and not lots of other charities that are just as important?
- Is the United Way one big organization?
- But I thought there was a national United Way organization?
- So how does United Way of Central Maryland (UWCM) fit into the national United Way picture?
- Are local people on the UWCM Board or isit only national people?
- What areas does UWCM serve?
- Does that mean that if I give undesignated money to UWCM it will only go to charities and for services in the city and those counties?
- What is Johns Hopkins Medicine’s history of giving to UWCM?
- What is Johns Hopkins Medicine’s history of participation?
- For fiscal year 2008, how much money from UWCM went to these charities for programs and services?
- How does UWCM decide which charities get the program dollars?
- What is the breakdown between undesignated and designated gifts?
- Who are the seven contractual partners?
- Who are some of the 42 impact partners and how were they chosen?
- Are there any Hopkins programs among the impact partners?
- Hopkins is very involved in the East Baltimore Development Institute redevelopment program near Hopkins. Does UWCM support any charities that are particularly focused on the EBDI area?
- What are the other UWCM programs funded from undesignated gifts?
- How do I designate all or part of my UWCM gift?
- If I designate $100 to a charity, how much will the charity receive? Does that charity add another administrative fee?
- What are some examples of health and human services organizations that would qualify for a “charitable” designation?
- Why not give directly to my favorite charity?
- Is UWCM sort of like acollection agency for charities?
- Can I make my gift electronically?
- If I use the paper pledge form, can I enclose a check or cash?
ABOUT UNITED WAY:
Q. Every year Johns Hopkins participates in the United Way Campaign. Why is Johns Hopkins helping the United Way raise money and not lots of other charities that are just as important?
A. Because over 82 years ago, major nonprofit charities formed United Way to be the one organization to come into the workplace and raise money for them and other participating organizations. It does this for a number of reasons:
- Instead of countless charity campaigns at the office each year, there is one.
- Because United Way of Central Maryland accepts both undesignated and designated gifts, it handles pledges to over 1,000 non profit organizations every year.
- All participating agencies that share in United Way’s undesignated pool of funds agreenot to solicit employees in a payroll workplace campaign and agree not to fund-raise in the community during the United Way Campaign.
Q. Is the United Way one big organization?
A. No. There are hundreds of United Way organizations all across the United States serving their local communities.
Q. But I thought there was a national United Way organization?
A. There is. It is United Way of America, which serves as a trade organization, manages the United Way brand, establishes operating and governance standards, and provides support in training, research and national leadership. You may be familiar with the ads that run during football season showing United Way’s partnership with the NFL. That is handled at the national level.
Q. So how does United Way of Central Maryland (UWCM) fit into the national United Way picture?
A. It is one of the 1,300 local United Way organizations nationwide. UWCM is a separate 501c (3) corporation with its own board of directors, audited financial statements and management team.
Q. Are local people on the UWCM Board or isit only national people?
A. All of the UWCM board members are local members. Edward Miller, M.D., dean of the medical school faculty, and Ronald Peterson, president of The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System, both served on the UWCM board for several years. Patricia Brown, president of Johns Hopkins HealthCare, is a current board member.
Q. What areas does UWCM serve?
A. UWCM serves Baltimore Cityand the five surrounding counties — Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard.
Q. Does that mean that if I give undesignated money to UWCM it will only go to charities and for services in the city and those counties?
A. Yes. Unless you, the donor, designates another charity outside of Central Maryland, money given to UWCM helps only charities located in Maryland or those that have a local chapter in Maryland. Of course, some agencies located in Central Maryland may have programs that extend outside of this region. You may, however, designate your gift to go to health and human service charities located outside of Central Maryland. In this situation, UWCM will make sure your gift gets to the charity you designate anywhere in the United States.
JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE HISTORY OF GIVING TO UNITED WAY:
Q. What is Johns Hopkins Medicine’s history of giving to UWCM?
A. Here are the numbers:
2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
All JHHS | $777,806 | $826, 024 | $904,017 | $870,778 |
JHUSOM | 625,960 | 580,737 | 770,248 | 712,772 |
totals | $1,403,766 | $1,406,761 | $1,674,265 | $1,583,550 |
Q. What is Johns Hopkins Medicine’s history of participation?
A. Here are the participation percentages:
2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
JHH/S | 20.1% | 21.1% | 25% | 18% |
JHUSOM | 13.6% | 13.3% | 19.1% | 16% |
UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL MARYLAND FINANCES:
Q. For fiscal year 2008, how much money from UWCM went to these charities for programs and services?
A. Over $31.5 million.
Q. How does UWCM decide which charities get the program dollars?
A. UWCM distributes money to seven large nonprofit organizations called contractual partners, 40 charities called impact partners who were selected through an RFP process, several programs sponsored by UWCM, and over 1,000 other health and human services programs specifically designated bydonors.
Q. What is the breakdown between undesignated and designated gifts?
A. Approximately 68 percent of funds raised by UWCM in the 2008 campaign were undesignated and 32 percent were designated.
UNDESIGNATED GIFTS:
Q. Who are the seven contractual partners?
A. The contractual partners are:
- American Red Cross
- Associated Black Charities
- American Cancer Association
- American Heart Association
- Catholic Charities
- The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore
- Community Health Charities of Maryland
Q. Who are some of the 42 impact partners and how were they chosen?
A. These are local agencies that have a significant impact in the following four impact areas: school readiness, family safety, basic needs, and youth achieving potential.
Examples include AIDS Interfaith Residential Services, the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning, the House of Ruth, St. Vincent dePaul of Baltimore, etc., all of which were identified as meeting critical needs in the community. UWCM began funding them in January 2007 for 2.5 years (subject to successful achievement of measures and outcomes). A full list of all impact partners is available at www.uwcm.org.
Q. Are there any Hopkins programs among the impact partners?
A. Yes. The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s early childhood intervention program in East Baltimore was selected last year as an impact partner. Dr. Anne Duggan’s ground breaking program, which helps to identify developmental delays in young children in at-risk families before the delays become a problem, received $157,898 last year from UWCM and will receive $157,898 per yearfor the next 18 months.
Q. Hopkins is very involved in the East Baltimore Development Institute redevelopment program near Hopkins. Does UWCM support any charities that are particularly focused on the EBDI area?
A. Yes. There are at least four that are very involved in this immediate area. They are:
- Associated Black Charities
- Baltimore Child Abuse Center Inc.
- Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning
- Project PLASE (People Lacking Ample Shelter and Employment) Inc.
Q. What are the other UWCM programs funded from undesignated gifts?
A. These include such programs as “2-1-1/First Call for Help," a free 24/7 information and referral hotline number that connects the caller (in over 100 languages) with social services and other resources available in the community, and “Success by 6," a home-visiting program aimed at decreasing low birthweights, infant deaths, preterm births, child abuse and neglect, and accidents and injuries in high-risk communities in the area.
DESIGNATED GIFTS:
Q. How do I designate all or part of my UWCM gift?
A. As long as you donate $50 to the campaign, and you name a charitable health or human services organization anywhere in the United States, your donation will be sent to that charity by UWCM, less a designation handling fee of 12.5 percent. “Charitable” is a designation given by the IRS, and it means that gifts to that organization are exempt from federal taxation.
Q. If I designate $100 to a charity, how much will the charity receive? Does that charity add another administrative fee?
A. If you designate $100 to a charity, and you do so electronically, the charity will receive $87.50. It costs the receiving charity nothing to receive this money. Therefore, the $87.50 can go directly to the charitable purposes of that organization. This is an incredibly efficient way to give to your favorite charity; most charities have administrative costs well above12.5 percent.
Q. What are some examples of health and human services organizations that would qualify for a “charitable” designation?
A. Many health care organizations such as hospitals, hospices, nursing homes, disease research associations and rehabilitative groups, and human service organizations such as after-school programs, family crisis centers and child and adult abuse organizations would qualify. If you have an organization in mind and are not sure if it qualifies, please ask Hopkins’ UWCM representative, Molly Boncaro, at 410-895-1503 or molly.boncaro@uwcm.org
Q. Why not give directly to my favorite charity?
A. You could. But if you donate electronically through UWCM, your charity will receive 87.5 cents ofevery dollar you donate. That is a very high percentage – probably higher than the amount that would go for programs if you gave directly to your favorite charity.
Q. Is UWCM sort of like acollection agency for charities?
A. Yes. For example, over the last few years UWCM has secured designations amounting to $500,000 per year for the House of Ruth from almost 1,000 individual donors. The House of Ruth would have had to have ramped up its staffing and marketing substantially to find, communicate with and capture all of these donors directly. UWCM is a very efficient fund-raiser for this and many other very worthy causes.
WAYS TO GIVE TO UNITED WAY:
Q. Can I make my gift electronically?
A. Yes. Just go to https://portal.johnshopkins.edu/unitedway. That’s what we mean when we say give by “E-way”. Your user name is your JHED ID and your password is your JHED password.
Q. If I use the paper pledge form, can I enclose a check or cash?
A. Checks are welcomed by UWCM. You also may enclose cash if you give your envelope to a Hopkins representative.
MORE QUESTIONS:
E-mail Molly Boncaro at molly.boncaro@uwcm.org or Stephanie Reel, at the Johns Hopkins Medicine United Way Campaign Chair, at sreel@jhu.edu.
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