Are your designations increasing? Do you wish people would give unrestricted gifts to your United Way instead of designating their contributions? Here are three strategies your United Way can use to reduce designations and get your donors to give to you.

End Coercion

Our research has found that approximately 10% of United Way donors report being pressured to contribute to United Way by their employer – nearly every donor who reports being pressured to give designates their contribution.

Ending coercion starts by eliminating recognition or awards for 100% employee participation. Some United Ways have statements in their by-laws such as this article from the by-laws of United Way of Jackson & George Counties (Pascagoula, MS): “With regard to all charitable solicitation efforts, United Way’s board of directors believes: Giving is a personal matter and a personal decision. Pressure to give is wrong, unnecessary, and a poor substitute for effective campaigning. The exertion of pressure to give violates the concept of volunteerism. Pressure to give is hurtful to both the potential contributor and the cause. An objective based solely on 100 percent participation can create a perception of pressure, real or implied. No action that is coercive is acceptable.”

Furthermore, United Ways should be very clear that coercion is not tolerated by providing an opportunity for donors to report coercion such as this statement from the FAQs at River Region United Way (Montgomery, AL): “The River Region United Way is adamantly opposed to coercion in any form and does not endorse any pressuring practices in the workplace. We provide employers with a comprehensive communications package so donors can make voluntary giving decisions. We appreciate your feedback as a donor, so if you feel pressured to give, please contact our resource development staff.”

Restrict How People Can Designate

A lot of United Ways make it too easy for donors to designate their contribution by providing lists of partner agencies or community impact partners. A few United Ways go so far as to not deduct any fees for processing designations, absorbing all of the personnel costs for processing designations.

You can reduce designations by imposing restrictions such as a minimum designation amount. There are United Ways with minimum designation amounts ranging from $25 to as high as $500. Our research with local United Way donors has found that over half of all donors who designate would still contribute even with a minimum designation amount.

Another common and effective restriction is to limit designations to United Way partner agencies. This saves United Ways a lot of processing time and effort because United Way has already vetted all of the partner agencies and has a defined schedule and process for distributing funds to partner agencies. Designations can also be restricted to funding United Way initiatives like 2-1-1 or VITA.

Finally, some United Ways restrict the level of designations that can be counted toward leadership giving. For example, to be recognized as a Tocqueville Society member, at least half of your $10,000 contribution must be made to United Way’s community fund. Our research with local United Way donors has found that this type of restriction will result in about two-thirds of the donors continuing to contribute at the same level.

Adopt an Issue Focus

One of the most commonly mentioned reasons why United Way donors designate their contributions is because they do not know what their local United Way accomplishes. Quotes like “It’s important to me to direct the impact of my dollars” and “So I know exactly where the dollars go” suggest that donors do not understand what their local United Way accomplishes with their contributions. How common is this? In some United Ways we have worked with, nearly half of their donors designated because they did not know what their local United Way accomplished.

To reduce designations, donors need to know three things: what issue your United Way focuses on, what actions your United Way is taking to address that issue, and what results your United Way is achieving. At Perspectives, we refer to this as I-A-R, which stands for Issue, Actions, and Results. For example, “Your support of Camp iRock (action) has helped 438 children (results) to gain the skills to read at grade level (issue).” 

Issue Focused United Ways choose an issue, like poverty, homelessness, graduation rate, or kindergarten readiness, and they lead and convene the community to make a measurable change on that issue. When a United Way is issue focused, donors know exactly what their contribution accomplishes because an issue focused United Way only addresses one issue and measures success by the number of families no longer living in poverty, people who now have a home, students who graduated from high school, or children that are ready for kindergarten.

Time and time again we have watched designations decline and almost disappear at United Ways who have adopted an issue focus because donors understand what issue they are impacting, the actions their contribution is funding, and how their contribution changes lives.

In addition to reducing designations, becoming issue focused has many benefits for United Ways including growing resources, engaging the younger generation, and a clear and concise message. Take a couple of minutes and learn more about how an issue focus will transform your United Way by watching our free United Way Survival Guide video.

Decrease Your Designations

If your United Way wants to turn around increasing levels of designations, start by eliminating any activities that pressure donors to give. Then, look at appropriate restrictions on designations that encourage your donors to give to United Way rather than designate. Finally, make sure that donors understand what you are accomplishing with their contributions. Issue focused United Ways do this every day and as a result they have little to no designations.