Flying in the Face of United

I like donating money to causes important to me, from Planned Parenthood to the local Food Bank, from Direct Relief International to the Nation Associates. I don't like my employer and its representatives harping on me to give. I don't like giving to an organization that then gives my money out as it sees fit.

I don't like the United Way.

There, I've said it. I'm sure most of the people involved are genuinely altruistic, good-hearted, kind to puppies, recyclers of all their paper scraps, etc. Still, the organization drives me nuts. It makes giving seem corporate, somehow. Or that we need an intermediary to get between us and our possible goodness.

For instance on their SB site they write:

If you want to give a one-time gift directly to one charity, it might be easier for you to do so directly – United Way supports your desire for charitable giving no matter how you choose to make it. But we truly believe that partnering with us, by donating to our community care fund, is the best way to help the most people and your gift through United Way will bring real, meaningful change to issues affecting quality living for Santa Barbara County residents who need help.

So I guess my direct donation gives unreal, insignificant change. That I don't care about my community. That I'm niggardly with my partnering skills. That when I give on my own it's the worst way for the fewest people.

Yeah, I guess part of what irks me is that to do what United Way does they have to turn on the marketing BS and that in and of itself cheapens things. After all, I'm in the business, so when I'm given the business I get a bit touchy. Particularly when they come in twice weekly emails from a coworker roped into being a department rep for the campaign. It does seem as if you don't belong if you don't take part--like maybe you're not even worth working where you do if you don't cough up the cash.

Ultimately it's so very corporate--too much a product of our age. We can't even be charitable without an entire apparatus of middle-people pushing us to give, planning our benificence, hyping us up, repackaging our hope as something we can not just believe but truly believe.

I, for one, in my own far from united and stubborn way, believe I won't.