Philanthropic giving has been down over the past few years at most of North Carolina's biggest United Way organizations.
A decade or so ago, many United Way groups changed who they funded, and how, to a strategy called “collective impact.” The idea is to target community needs, rather than funding individual groups.
Directly or indirectly, that change has come at a cost.
For example, United Way of Forsyth County raised about $3.5 million less than it did the decade before. And fundraising at United Way of Central Carolinas, located in Charlotte, fell more than $16 million over the same period.
Of the biggest United Way groups in North Carolina, only High Point seems to have dodged the decline.
According to the Triad Business Journal, High Point's fundraising actually grew, even as it stuck with the model of giving to local organizations that other United Ways left behind.