From the Wall Street Journal:

“In early 2002, Brian Gallagher was catapulted out of Columbus, Ohio, and into the hot seat.

After a 21-year career inside United Way of America — the last five running the Columbus affiliate — Mr. Gallagher was named chief executive of the 120-year-old parent organization.

At the time, United Way was struggling. Once a darling of Corporate America, its reputation had been badly tarnished in the early 1990s, when the group’s longtime national leader was sentenced to seven years in prison for fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy.

In 2000, the group’s board hired McKinsey & Co., a management-consulting firm…”

Download the article in full here (.pdf, 201 kB).

Why are people so naturally generous? That’s the question the Chicago Tribune tackles in its editorial, How to Get a Charity Buzz.

What answer did the editor propose? “Because it feels good to help.”

If you donate to charity, you already knew that, of course. It does feel good. But earlier this year, a team of economists and psychologists at the University of Oregon reported in the journal Science that they’d peered inside the brain and confirmed the connection. They found that writing a check to a favorite charity activates regions of the brain associated with pleasure.

In other words, there’s a charity buzz.

The article then goes on to mention United Way specifically:

This time of year, there’s a simple way to help many people. Maybe you want to help battered women seeking shelter or a young person who needs mentoring to stay on track for graduation. Or someone suffering substance-abuse problems who needs treatment or job training. Seniors who need help with transportation to stay independent. Working families that need job training or child care. Kids who need dental care. People who need help finding affordable housing or an extra meal a week. Teens and adults who need mental health counseling.

United Way of Metropolitan Chicago helps them all, and many more, through its many generous donors.

Donating to United Way is the best way to maximize that great “charity buzz”. To read the full text, please visit the Chicago Tribune website.

United Way of Metropolitan Chicago was praised in a recent Chicago Tribune Editorial, titled Because You Can.

The November 13, 2006 editorial uses the example of Tribune columnist Eric Zorn’s witness of a fatal car accident to illustrate how people can often forget how fortunate they are. More importantly, the editor insists that those people blessed with health and happiness should take full advantage of their good fortunes and properly use their position to help others.

The editor then points out that although many nonprofit organizations are capable of using donations towards helping the community, few are more fair and generous at distributing their funds than United Way. To read the entire text of this editorial, please click here.