U. decides two 'Ways' are better than one

The United Way and the Center for Responsible funding were both hired. Not one, but two groups will manage the University's annual charity drive this year in a "side-by-side" campaign administrators hope will maximize employee choices and placate both sides of a long-standing debate. The United Way -- which managed last year's campaign -- and the local, independent Center for Responsible Funding will run separate campaigns, allowing employees to donate to their favorite charities. The Center funds several agencies -- including the Bread and Roses Community Fund, the Catholic Charities Appeal, the Environmental Fund for Pennsylvania and the United Negro College Fund -- not supported by the United Way. Many employees complained that the decision to let United Way handle last year's campaign prevented them from donating to their favorite charities because the United Way limits the range of choices to its member agencies. The Center would have allowed donations to any group, but if the University had hired the Center exclusively, United Way would have charged a fee for any donations targeted to United Way members, according to Executive Vice President John Fry. Since the Center would have charged a fee for handling the campaign, Penn would have paid twice for donations to United Way members. "While we chose the United Way so as to minimize administrative fees to United Way participants, we chose the Center to manage the partner organizations campaign," Fry wrote in an e-mail yesterday to University employees. The Center for Responsible Funding, however, manages Philadelphia's city-wide charity campaign -- and the United Way does not levy a double charge in that campaign, said Center Director Nan Langen Steketee. United Way officials were unavailable for comment yesterday. Fry said he "can understand the United Way's decision" to double-charge. "They'll waive the fee for the city campaign -- maybe because they consider it a civic obligation," he said. "But they wouldn't do it for us, and I respect their policy." And Penn's Way campaign coordinator Barbara Murray said "the most prudent and wisest financial decision was to let each agency fund their own groups and charge their separate fee." Independent of the double-charging issue, the decision makes sense because a "vast majority of Penn employees donate to the United Way," Fry said yesterday. This year, several University employees were included in the decision process. Administrators hoped consulting with employees would avoid the controversy surrounding last year's campaign. That 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 be partly due to many employees' refusal to donate in protest of the University's failure to consult them in the decision. But this year's shared campaign may bring some of those donations back. Women's Studies Program Co-Director Demie Kurz said she would consider reinstating her donations "if the two groups are really equal." She began donating directly to the Woman's Way organization -- which is funded by the Center -- after officials outsourced the campaign last year. But Physiology Professor Martin Pring said he is "disappointed" about the decision, adding that he would have preferred to see the Center receiving the entire campaign. With the campaign's start date approaching, administrators had felt pressure to finalize the issue. This year's campaign will begin in early December and conclude by winter break.

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