United Way of America
United Way Worldwide logo
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| Formation | 1887 |
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| Headquarters | Alexandria, Virginia, U.S. |
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Region served
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United States |
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President/CEO
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Brian Gallagher |
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Main organ
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U.S.A. Board of Trustees |
| Website | unitedway.org |
United Way of America (now United Way Worldwide) based in Alexandria, Virginia, is a nonprofit organization that works with almost 1,200 local United Way offices throughout the country in a coalition of charitable organizations to pool efforts in fundraising and support. United Way's focus is to identify and resolve pressing community issues, and to make measurable changes in communities through partnerships with schools, government agencies, businesses, organized labor, financial institutions, community development corporations, voluntary and neighborhood associations, the faith community, and others. The issues United Way offices focus on are determined locally because communities differ. The main areas include education, income, and health.
The organization has roots in Denver, Colorado, where in 1887 church leaders began the Charity Organization Society, which coordinated services and fundraising for 22 agencies. Many Community Chest organizations, which were founded in the first half of the twentieth century to jointly collect and allocate money, joined the American Association for Community Organizations in 1918. The first Community Chest was founded in 1913 in Cleveland, Ohio, after the example of the Jewish Federation in Cleveland—which served as an exemplary model for "federated giving". The number of Community Chest organizations increased from 39 to 353 between 1919 and 1929, and surpassed 1,000 by 1948. In 1948, Walter C. Laidlaw merged the Community Chest and other Detroit charities to form the United Foundation. Walter Laidlaw's work with the United Foundation became the model for united funds nationally and eventually the United Way organisation.
In 1928, a Community Chest organization was established in Cape Town, South Africa — the first Community Chest outside North America. (In 2015, continued neglect by United Way Worldwide, including legal and financial scandals, has led to no active United Way presence in the country and completely severed ties with Community Chest). By 1974, there were enough United Way organizations internationally to demand the kind of support provided by the national organization, United Way of America and United Way International was born (later these organizations were joined together and renamed to United Way Worldwide). Its staff spoke eight languages, with a Board of Directors from more than seven countries, working with member organizations. Amundsen, Chief Administrative Officer, served as interim president during a yearlong search.
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