Over the past several months, I have heard some chatter about forming an alternative to the United Jewish Communities and the Jewish federation system. I’m going to say 99 percent of that talk is the stuff of pipe dreams (on their part), but I read an article today story that underscored just how much anything is possible these days.
In D.C., 21 nonprofits, including major outfits like Make-A-Wish and WETA Public Television, have suspended their memberships in the regional United Way, according to the Washington Post.
Even though the United Way is the county’s largest collector of workplace donations, the nonprofits that left are upset with what they see as stagnating results, so they joined a smaller, newer fundraising outfit called Community1st.
The reasoning?
"I and a lot of others were stuck in the way things have always been, thinking that the United Way was the only way to do things," said Community1st board member Carolyn Stevens, director of development at House of Ruth, a network of shelters and services for women and children.
