SEPTEMBER 1993
State Library of North Carolina
Raleigh
VOLUME USSUEl / $5.00
OF NORTH CAROLINA
Rekindling charity
United Way campaigns hope for a rebound
With the Aramony scandal
receding into history, United
Way affiliates throughout North
Carolina are cutting their losses
and looking forward to their
annual campaigns with guarded
optimism, but sure that the
United Way of America is back
on track.
By Katherine Noble
M sluggish economy, a
/\ precarious political cli-
mate and a national
/ 1 scandal combined to
make 1992 one of the worst fundrais
ing years in United Way history.
But as the 1993 campaigns get
under way, United Way leaders in
North Carolina are hopeful that a
recovering economy, a new U.S.
president and a humbled and
reformed United Way of America will
put donors in a more generous mood.
“We are confident that United
Way [of America] is on the right
track and that the problems that
occurred there cannot and will not
happen again,” says Ron Drago,
president of Wake County’s United
Way.
What’s more, officials of some
local United Way affiliates say
they’re also working hard to mind
their own stores, ensuring greater
accountability for local operations
and even greater sensitivify to com
munity needs.
“It may have made us more sensi
tive to the need for really checking
on our stewardship,” says George J.
Pfeiffer, president of the United Way
of AshevUle.
United Way’s woes started in
early 1992, when reports surfaced
about William Aramony’s high salary
and lavish lifestyle. Aramony, who
was president of United Way of
America for 22 years, was forced to
resign.
“We had a credibility and trust
problem because of the unfortunate
circumstances of United Way of
America,” Drago says. “Despite the
fact that we have an outstanding
record of being squeaky clean on all
accountabihty and trust Issues, ques
tions did arise.”
Those questions left many donors
clutching their wallets.
“It offered an incentive to not
give,” says Donald
Sanders, president of
United Way of the
Central Carolinas In
Charlotte. “People
questioned what was
going on.”
Overall in North
Carolina, fundraising
last year by local
United Way affiliates
totaled $90.5 million,
more than $8.5 mil-
Uon short of the total goal - and down
almost $5 million from 1991, accord
ing to the United Way of North
Carolina.
“It was an extremely difficult
campaign,” Wake’s Drago says. “We
lost just over $1 million from where
we were last year.”
Alternative
funds are
gaining
access to
the
workplace
Page 24
Wake raised just over $9 milhon -
more than a million dollars short of
its $10.4 million goal and nearly a
million dollars less than what it
raised in 1991.
Michael Griggs, president of
United Way of the Cape Fear Area in
Wilmington, says the root of the
problem - stemming from the
Aramony scandal - was a common
misunderstanding about how the
United Way is set up.
Many people failed to make a dis
tinction between United Way of
America and their local United Ways,
he says.
Pfeiffer of Asheville’s United Way
agrees.
The scandal, he says, “allowed us
Look for UNITED, page 24
Nonprofits keep watch
Congress
studies
tax-exempt
groups
By Barbara Solow
C ongress this summer
launched hearings to
examine federal regulation
of tax-exempt organizations - and
some non-profit leaders are worried
about what may result.
The hearings, called by
Democratic Rep. J.J. Pickle of Texas,
initially are focusing on how well
nonprofits comply with the Internal
Revenue Code, which regulates tax-
exempt groups.
While they support the need tor
compUance, leaders of some nonprof
its fear that regulatory changes
might be made without sufficient
information about how the nonprofit
sector works. In response. Indepen
dent Sector, a nonprofit research and
advocacy group in Washington, has
formed a task force to monitor the
proceedings.
“We chose the task force to be
representative of the total member
ship of Independent Sector,” says
Boh Smucker, a government rela
tions specialist for the Washington-
based membership organization.
“The goal is to provide a sense of
direction for us on issues related to
Look for CONGRESS, page 25
A Smart Start for kids
Nonprofits, government, business
unite in crusade for children, community
mrti
An ambitious project to improve
the lives of North Carolina chil
dren rests on an unusual part
nership between government
and the private sector. The
undertaking also could yield a
model for building community-
based organizations that can
tackle difficult social problems.
By Todd Cohen
Peggy Hoffman is 43 years old.
She’s a grandmother. On her own,
she’s raising her four-year-old autis
tic grandson.
She’s also a foot soldier in a revo
lution that’s being waged in North
Carolina. But Hoffman is no radical.
Her cause simply is to improve the
lives of children.
One year ago, having left a busi
ness career, she went to work for the
Rowan-Salisbury School System,
teaching parents how to improve
their parenting skills. She chose her
new career because, in seeking help
for her grandson, she had found that
local services for children and fami
lies are hopelessly fragmented. She
figured someone needed to help par
ents sort throng the maze.
“Everyone’s a specialist in their
own area, and it seemed they were
not aware of what else was offered in
a community,” she says. “And if you
don’t know^ere to go to ask, you’re
Peggy Hoffman, left, and hundreds of other people attended a statewide early childhood conference in July.
Photo by Rob Cross
lost.”
Hoffman also is working with the
Child Care Task Force, a volunteer
group that aims to help coordinate
services available for families and
children in Iredell, Davie and Rowan
counties. A growing number of simi
lar groups, such as Success by Six in
Charlotte and Children First in
Buncombe County, quietly are work
ing in pockets of the state.
Now, local efforts like those are at
the core of an unusual and ambitious
marriage between state government
and a newly formed nonprofit, the
North Carolina Partnership for
Children.
That partnership hopes to spawn
a brood of community-based nonprof
its throu^out the state. Their goal.
much like the initiative in Iredell,
Davie and Rowan counties, is to puU
together the people and organiza
tions in a county or group of coimties
who work with children and their
families.
The undertaking is massive: It
means getting rid of the fractured
Look for SMART, page 26
INSIDE
Careers 30
Connections 3
Fund Raising 16
Grants and Gifts 23
In September 22
Job Opportunities 29
Opinion 10
People 20
Resources 30
R.S.VR 22
Technology 3
Volunteers 12
IDEAS
Bill Clinton
The White House
looks to nonprofits
Bruce Reed, deputy assistant
to President Clinton for
domestic affairs, talks with
the Philanthropy Journal
about administration plans-
to work with nonprofits.
• Page 29
1 FOUNDATIONS
j CORPORATE GIVING
1 NONPRORTS
Local entrepreneurs
on the move
Supporting schools
as an investment
Center for Nonprofits
lends helping hand
They manage money.
They offer tax breaks.
They spur local change.
They're community
foundations, and they're
growing.
North Carolina businesses
and their employees have
become big backers of the
public schools. They see edu
cation as a key to better
communities and growth.
Led by executive director Jane
Kendall, a new
statewide organization
works to make nonprofits
more effective in the charita
ble work they do.
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