Comments on: 2006 Komen Pittsburgh Race for the Cure

By: Ales Rarus - A Rare Bird, A Strange Duck, One Funky Blog » 14th Annual Race for the Cure 5K

Tue, 16 May 2006 19:55:09 +0000

[...] It was naive of me to think that I could run a personal best at the Race for the Cure. There were far too many walkers clogging the route. The really annoying thing is that there shouldn't have been any walkers on the race course at all. The walkers had their own course and were scheduled to start at a different time. Obviously a lot of people didn't realize that or didn't care. After all, rules apply to other people. *grumble* Next year I'll definitely start close to the front of the pack. I'd rather be passed by the really fast people than have to pass the really slow people. [...]

By: edey

edey — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 18:12:22 +0000

i just signed up

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 18:50:45 +0000

I walked Komen with Nancy and ran the Father's Day one myself and intend to do both this year as well.

I hope that doesn't totally kill your fundraising!

By: Emily (the Ohioan one)

Emily (the Ohioan one) — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 15:34:33 +0000

"If nobody who donates allows their money to go there, the river will run dry. There’s no legal way around it."

Granted, but most United Way donors don't put restrictions on their gifts. In fact, most local United Way campaigns I've seen pressure donors to give unrestricted gifts.

"Whoever else’s donation is supporting Planned Parenthood, mine absolutely is not."

And that ought to be true (I have no proof that it isn't). But neither are you depriving Planned Parenthood of support.

For this reason, I choose to make my charitable donations outside the United Way campaign. Because in that way, I *am* depriving Planned Parenthood of some United Way support — because if the campaign falls X percent short of its goal, what usually happens is that all member agencies' allocations are reduced by X percent. If I choose to donate to all the UW agencies except Planned Parenthood outside the United Way campaign, the other agencies get their money, Planned Parenthood gets less money, and I sidestep the whole moral quagmire. That's what I prefer to do.

(Now, if this is a chapter that simply eliminates funding for certain agencies if the campaign falls short of its goal, that's another question.)

Does United Way do good work? Absolutely. I have no problems donating to the United Way chapter in my new city, because it doesn't give funds to PP. But plenty of local chapters do.

By: howard

howard — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 07:23:12 +0000

Emily,

All that aside, I don't contend that my refusal to support Planned Parenthood changes what other people allow their money to support. That would be quite naive. But if (and it's a big if) every single person who donated to the United Way directed their donations away from a specific agency, it really wouldn't matter what agreement existed between the United Way and that agency. If nobody who donates allows their money to go there, the river will run dry. There's no legal way around it.

But the salient point is that the percentages promised to member agencies have no effect on a donor's directed support. Whoever else's donation is supporting Planned Parenthood, mine absolutely is not. And I have the receipts to prove it. If they have been falsified, I'd sure like to know it.

If you've heard different, I'd be curious to know more about your source.

By: Emily (the Ohioan one)

Emily (the Ohioan one) — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 06:25:19 +0000

Nota bene: Each local United Way chapter decides which organizations to support. Not all chapters give money to Planned Parenthood. The chapter in my new city gives money to a pregnancy resource center, and to the Boy Scouts (another controversial group), but not to Planned Parenthood.

By: Emily (the Ohioan one)

Emily (the Ohioan one) — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 06:22:47 +0000

Actually, howard… Your refusal to give to Planned Parenthood via the United Way doesn't affect PP's total allotment from the United Way at all. The way those campaigns usually work is that the local chapter of the United Way promises a certain amount of funds to each agency before the campaign begins. Although individual donors can, and do, direct their donations, such directed donations don't reduce the original allotments to the agencies. So, even though your $100 isn't going to PP, PP's allotment isn't reduced by $100. Instead, the United Way will just shuffle the funds so that PP gets all its money.

(That's United Way's dirty little secret. My former employer reassured us that we could direct our donations, but when I looked into it I realized that it's just smoke and mirrors.)

By: howard

howard — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 23:39:04 +0000

We have the same sort of issues at work when we do our annual United Way donation drive, where there is a clear option to make directed donations to specific agencies.

While the United Way may have affiliations with Planned Parenthood, my directed donations (and the matching funds my employer provides) don't go there.

There's a big difference. Hopefully this misconception doesn't hinder your fundraising, Eric.

By: Funky Dung

Funky Dung — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 14:20:11 +0000

It seems that grants are given by individual chapters. Here's the list of Pittsburgh grant recipients in 2005.

By: Funky Dung

Funky Dung — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 14:08:49 +0000

I'm almost afraid to ask, but is there anything wrong with the Fathersday 5/10K sponsored by Us TOO Prostate Cancer Education and Support?