Different 'Ways' vie to manage U. charity efforts

The decision on who will run Penn's annual charity drive remains uncertain. The pending decision about which external organization will manage the University's annual charity campaign this year has re-ignited a long-standing debate. The choice of organizations lies between the United Way -- which managed last year's campaign -- and the local, independent Center for Responsible Funding. Because the campaign begins next month, administrators said they feel pressure to finalize the issue and hope to make a decision by the end of the week, Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs Carol Scheman said. "We need to make a decision as quickly as is humanly possible," Scheman said. "We understand that the decision has lagged -- but we need to think it through." The administration is being especially careful in its selection because its decision to outsource the campaign to United Way last year sparked feelings of anger among many University employees. The campaign -- which ran last November and December -- raised only $230,029, a sharp decrease from the $304,386 raised in a similar time span in 1995 and the $406,580 raised in 1994. This decrease may have been caused in part by donations withheld by employees upset that they were not consulted in the decision to outsource the campaign. Many employees complained that the decision prevented them from donating to their favorite charities, because the United Way limits the range of choices of member agencies. And some said they were reluctant to donate because the organization keeps about 12 percent of each contribution to defray administrative costs. When the campaign was run internally, by contrast, no money was allocated towards administrative costs. University officials did administer the Penn's Way campaign several years ago, after employees passed a referendum requesting that it be managed internally and not by an umbrella organization. But a decrease in donations led the administration to outsource the campaign to the United Way. In light of concerns raised by last year's campaign, however, some employees welcomed Penn's decision to consider an alternative organization. Representatives of both the United Way and the nonprofit Center for Responsible Funding presented fund-raising proposals to University officials and employees at a September 25 meeting. "As I could judge it, the sense of the meeting was a preference for the Center for Responsible Funding," Physiology Professor Martin Pring said. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Center Director Bob Schoenberg, who also attended the presentations, said he too preferred the Center's proposals. But some University employees said the administration's decision about this year's campaign manager will not affect their contributions. "Who manages the direction of [the fundraising campaign] doesn't matter," said Anne Marie Pitts, an administrative assistant in the English Department. "As long as the organizations are similar, it doesn't matter to me." Another employee, who requested anonymity, said each organization's overhead costs is the only factor differentiating the two groups. The difference in overhead costs between the United Way and the Center for Responsible Funding are "fairly insignificant," Scheman said. Other employees said the University's delaying of the decision led them to question the administration's commitment to a University-wide fundraising campaign. "I don't think this will succeed or get off the ground unless the senior administration really embraces it," Pring said. But Scheman underscored the administration's commitment to a workplace-giving campaign. "We're committed to making it as convenient and easy as possible for our employees to give charitably," she stressed.