Tag: United Way of Harrisonburg and Rockingham

United Way: new bottle, same vinegar

(Reading time: 4 minutes)

All of a sudden United Way is in my face with fund-raising appeals in a big way, hyping its “Power Hour”—occurring as I write these words—to help it reach a $25,000 goal during its “Great Community Give.” The blessings such money will bestow on our community are multiple, we’re assured, with prominent mention of free tax-preparation assistance (presumably, at this point, for next year’s filers) and back-to-school backpacks stuffed with the supplies kids will need a few months hence. Worthy projects all, to be sure, but color me skeptical.

First, a little context. These appeals are being made by the United Way of Central Shenandoah Valley, which until last June was known as the United Way of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. The name change, and its accompanying turf expansion, followed the late 2024 collapse of the SAW United Way amid a swirl of rumors and allegations of financial impropriety. That, in turn, opened the door for the Harrisonburg-based United Way to expand its domain and thereby broaden its fund-raising base—nature does abhor a vacuum, after all.

The demise of the SAW United Way was no great loss in the overall scheme of things, as I wrote a year ago. Although in its last year the local agency disbursed $196,405 to a dozen or so area social service providers, that represented only a third of the amount it had received in contributions and donations. Virtually all of the balance went to maintaining the office itself, including an $83,250 salary for the executive director. So while Valley Supportive Housing or Renewing Homes of Greater Augusta undoubtedly felt the sting of their lost United Way contributions, local residents who had been contributing to United Way could still provide such agencies with direct donations without propping up a bloated middleman.

But as last month’s IRS filing suggests, the new United Way is only marginally an improvement over the old one.

First, the numbers. For the fiscal year that ended April 30, 2025—which is to say, just as it was swooping into the SAW region—the United Way of Central Shenandoah Valley received donations of $625,909, a 9.5% decline from the previous year. Total expenses, boosted by a 7.8% increase in wages for eight employees, were up 4.3%, to $765,725. Which, yes, means expenses exceeded donations by nearly $140,000, a hole that was partially offset by $25,746 the United Way received in interest from more than $900,000 it has stashed away in investments. The shrinking inflow of donations, meanwhile, continues an overall five-year slide from the $905,253 received in 2020.

What did our now-local United Way do with its money? It gave its executive director, Amanda Leech, a 7.5% raise, to $70,863 a year. It spent more than $7,000 on investment management fees, $42,000 for accounting fees and $103,104 on fundraising expenses. And it expended $197,945—or just 30 cents of every dollar received in donations—on donations and grants to others. Of that, $129,490 went to six community organizations “focused on sliding scale scholarships for local families,” and $68,455 went to support an unspecified number of low-income families with financial emergencies.

United Way, in other words, is a tail wagging the dog. To the extent that people want to support the organizations to which it is contributing, a direct donation will triple the impact. And while its other activities are more or less worthwhile, potential donors should weigh whether its priorities align with theirs. Helping people prepare their income tax returns is not nothing. Nor is there a lack of merit in coordinating an effort that send kids back to school with supplies that they may not otherwise be able to afford. But people contributing to United Way should understand that the lion’s share of their donations are underwriting an organization that is scrambling to justify its continued existence by taking on relatively secondary social needs.

At a time when growing numbers of people are struggling to obtain life’s most basic essentials, including medical care, sufficient food and adequate shelter, numerous local organizations are desperately trying to meet those needs with scant resources. They are leaner, they are more focused and they will make every dollar go further than can be said of United Way. Moreover, unlike United Way, almost all of them will provide you with either a direct link to their latest IRS Form 990, so you can see for yourself how they’re managing your money; or at least their EIN number, which you’ll need to find the forms yourself.

The EIN for United Way of Central Shenandoah Valley, by the way, is 54-0632716; you won’t find it on the website. Or check out its latest filing here—then go back a year from now to see the financial consequences of the agency’s southward expansion.

Don’t expect much from United Way

(Reading time: 5 minutes)

The past week’s announcement that United Way of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County (UWHR) is expanding into the SAW region doubtless was greeted with relief by many local social service agencies. The demise last fall of the SAW United Way eliminated a relatively small but not insignificant source of funding for some non-profits in the region, at a time when demand for food, housing, mental services and other basic needs is rapidly growing. And with political turmoil in Washington squeezing or eliminating much critical federal funding, any fresh source of financial support is to be welcomed.

But the news isn’t all that rosy. The fact is, only a small fraction of the money collected by United Way ever makes it to the people and programs on whose behalf it’s raised. Most of what’s collected stays with United Way, for salaries and other payroll expenses, office overhead and rainy-day savings accounts. And while the SAW United Way closed its doors amid allegations of fiscal improprieties, that was only one layer of a nearly impermeable filter that already exists between United Way donors and its recipients.

Consider, for example, that the SAW United Way raised $589,152 in contributions for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2023, the last time it filed its 990 federal tax form. Of that amount, only a third—$196,405—was disbursed to area social service providers, while payroll expenses consumed $258,617, including a $83,250 salary for chapter president Kristi Williams; the balance went to office expenses and travel. Among the recipients of the chapter’s largesse that year was Renewing Homes of Greater Augusta, awarded a whopping $7,167, and Valley Supportive Housing, which got $15,000.

UWHR is not beset by similar hints of financial hanky-panky, but the imbalance between contributions to the agency and contributions made by the agency is even more pronounced than it was in the SAW region. According to UWHR’s most recent Form 990, for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2024, the Harrisonburg-Rockbridge chapter received $691,655 in cash contributions, in addition to reaping $24,538 in investment income, for a total of $716,193. Cash awards made that same fiscal year? Just $92,139, spread among six daycare and early learning centers.

UWHR payroll expenses, meanwhile, despite CEO Amanda Leech’s more moderate salary of $65,919, amounted to $335,864. Office and other expenses claimed another $223,317, which means that the agency kept 80% of all the money it took in for itself.  At that rate, the working poor are destined to be with us for a long, long time.

These stark contrasts may explain, to the extent that the public knows such things, why UWHR’s fund-raising has plummeted over at least the past five years, albeit with a minor bump up in 2023. Contributions received in 2019 amounted to $1.3 million—then steadily ticked down with each passing year, to $905,000 in 2020, $767,000 in 2021 and $653,000 in 2022, or a plunge of roughly 50% over four years. In 2023-24 the inflow rebounded a bit, to $691,655.

Given those numbers, it may come as a surprise to learn that UWHR is sitting on a pile of cash, with $201,301 in savings and $987,436 in securities, or substantially more than it receives in annual contributions.  Aside from generating some investment income, the purpose for this nest egg is unclear. It isn’t mentioned in any of the agency’s public-facing documents, and Leech did not respond to my inquiries about her plans for those reserves, or why she thinks it’s appropriate for a charitable organization serving the working poor to have squirreled away more than a year’s worth of revenues.

Assuming that UWHR operates in the SAW region much as it has in its own backyard, it’s clear that local social service providers should rein in any expectations about what they’ll get. Moreover, note should be taken of one other aspect of UWHR’s decision-making, a so-called “focused” approach to dispensing funds. As already noted above, for example, all six of its current major recipients are devoted to young children: First Step, Generations Crossing, Harrisonburg-Rockingham Child Day Care, Plains Area Day Care Center, Second Home and Connections Early Learning Center.  All those recipients undoubtedly need those funds, but that focus also means any non-child oriented social service agency can only hope that its focus aligns with UWHR’s the next go-round.

Of the dozen or so recipients of the now-defunct SAW United Way’s last funding cycle, only three would have been eligible for UWHR grants this year. Leech has said that the United Way will hold listening sessions over the next few months to figure out how to best serve its expanded region, so it’s possible UWHR will take a different approach in the SAW region—if local agencies make themselves heard. Even 20% of a donated dollar is better than nothing. On the other hand, potential donors are best advised to just cut out the middleman and make their contributions directly to the social service agency of their choice. Renewing Homes of Greater Augusta and Valley Supportive housing are good places to start. So is WARM, the Waynesboro Area Relief Ministry, which is SAW’s only provider of emergency shelters for the homeless during winter months and which was hit especially hard financially by this past season’s bitter cold.