Different day for United Way

Crain's Chicago Business, December, 1997 by Borden, Jeff

Charity rivals clamor for equal access to payroll plans JEFF BORDEN If charity once began in the home, it now starts primarily in the workplace, where Chicago-area employees funnel millions to altruism through payroll-deduction plans. No organization has been as effective at tapping payrolls as the United Way/Crusade of Mercy, which this year will raise about $95 million in the six-county metropolitan area for distribution to more than 400 not-for-profit community groups.

A fund-raising colossus led by a blue-chip board of Chicago's most powerful business executives, United Way has enjoyed a nearly monopolistic hold on private-sector payroll-plan giving. Unlike federal and state workers, who have long enjoyed a wider array of charitable choices, business...

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