Fast Facts

DID YOU KNOW?

The Tulsa Area United Way invests all contributions locally, and is a locally-governed, independent 501c3 non-profit organization.

Over 56 percent of all financial support to the Tulsa Area United Way comes from individuals like you.

The Tulsa Area United Way is the only non-profit organization in the Tulsa area in which a single gift, no matter how small or large, can directly and broadly impact the lives of our family, friends, neighbors and co-workers.

The Tulsa Area United Way has received a perfect four-star rating from Charity Navigator, one of the nation’s most respected non-profit ratings agencies (a designation shared by only a few local non-profit organizations.)

Fast Facts

Last year, the Tulsa Area United Way served tens of thousands of people through 59 partner agencies in six counties of the Tulsa region.

Our service area includes Tulsa, Creek, Okmulgee, Osage, Rogers and Wagoner counties.

During its 95-year history, the Tulsa Area United Way has raised more than $799 million for the community ($799,361,427.)

During its 2018 Campaign (most recent year available), the Tulsa Area United Way raised $25,326,613.

Best of the Best

2018 figures, most recent available:

• The Tulsa Area United Way is among the elite United Way organizations in the U.S.
• The Tulsa Area United Way is the 30th largest (in terms of dollars raised) of all 1,200 United Ways in the U.S. (Tulsa is the 60th largest city in the U.S.)
• The Tulsa Area United Way has more donors on a per-capita basis than most United Way organizations in the U.S.
• The Tulsa Area United Way conducts the largest campaign among more than 40 peer cities that utilize a similar fundraising and investment model.
• The Tulsa Area United Way is one of the most efficient United Way organizations in the U.S., raising more dollars per full-time employee than most other United Ways.

Campaign Facts

Last year, the average gift to the Tulsa Area United Way was $460.

In 2018, the Tulsa Area United Way fully subscribed (fulfilled) seven major community challenge grants, matching gifts from small and medium-sized businesses, attorneys, individuals who gave at a leadership level, family foundations, and members of the United Way’s Women United, Emerging Leaders Society and Alexis de Tocqueville Society.

The Tulsa Area United Way has met or surpassed its goal during the last 20 years, often during challenging economic conditions.

Each summer, a group of Trailblazer companies and organizations conduct early and highly structured fundraising drives to help launch and provide energy and momentum for the annual Tulsa Area United Way campaign. The Trailblazers announce the results of their campaigns at the annual Day of Caring in early September. This year, nine Trailblazer companies and organizations raised $3,822,096.

In 2018, 7,607 volunteers contributed 65,372 hours in support of the Tulsa Area United Way.

During the 2018 campaign, companies and organizations conducted 963 campaigns, foundations provided 61 gifts and approximately 31,120 individuals made contributions. (Gifts by individual donors comprise 56 percent of the overall campaign.)

In 2018, 4,888 individuals contributed at the leadership level (donating $500 or more annually), for a total of more than $4,544,494 (18 percent of the total campaign.)

The 48 volunteer members of the Tulsa Area United Way Campaign Cabinet provide vision, leadership and guidance for the annual campaign through a Leadership Team and several divisions.

In 2017, the Tulsa Area United Way’s Groundbreaker Award was given to the QuikTrip Corporation. The four Cornerstone Million Dollar Plus companies and organizations included Bank of Oklahoma, the J.A. Chapman and Leta H. Chapman Trusts (1949 and 1966), ONEOK, and Williams. These companies and organizations raised a total of $6,753,434. Pillar companies and organizations that raised $500,000 or more included Magellan Midstream Partners, NORDAM, ONE Gas, and WPX Energy.

Highly successful company and organizational campaigns are recognized at the Tulsa Area United Way’s annual Live United Awards and Luncheon with a variety of awards, including the Williams Summit Leadership Award (presented to the Best Overall Campaign), Leadership Giving Award, Trailblazer Award, Illuminate! Award, Ignite! Award, Small Business Award, and Mid-Sized Business Award.

Up to 20 Campaign Fellows (formerly Loaned Executives) are provided by area employers each year to serve as fundraising executives during the annual Tulsa Area United Way campaign.

The Legacy Society is an organization of leadership donors who have included the Tulsa Area United Way in their estate planning, providing for the long-term needs of the community.

The Tulsa Area United Way offers a planned giving program that includes a variety of gift annuities for investors, allowing them to plan for a comfortable retirement while supporting a non-profit organization.

Community Impact

The Tulsa Area United Way is an intentional community builder, collecting and analyzing data, conducting research into best practices and solutions, and serving as a backbone organization to address the Tulsa area’s most pressing social challenges.

Employing the Collective Impact Model, the Tulsa Area United Way leads community-wide responses to social issues by pulling together the resources of other non-profit organizations (including non-partner agencies), business and industry, foundations, government and educational institutions.

To improve social conditions in the Tulsa area, the Tulsa Area United Way focuses on three building blocks to a better life: education, financial stability and health/safety. 43 percent of funding is invested in health and safety, 31 percent of campaign contributions are utilized for education and 26 percent is invested in financial stability.

Tens of thousands of people are helped through the Tulsa Area United Way and its 59 partner agencies, Community Collaborations, and other partners in the Tulsa region, including Creek, Okmulgee, Osage, Rogers, Tulsa and Wagoner counties.

The Tulsa Area United Way maintains five major methods of investment in the community, including annual allocations to its partner agencies; funding for collaborative projects with other non-profit, civic and educational organizations; grants for new, innovative solutions to social challenges; bridge funding to help new agencies reach sustainability; and emergency funding in times of need.

The Tulsa Area United Way encourages agencies to combine their resources to avoid duplication of efforts and provide the best services possible.

The Tulsa Area United Way utilizes a comprehensive, community-based decision making process to determine how funds will be invested in the community. Each year, approximately 241 volunteers, serving on Community Investment Panels, Community Investments Cabinet and Audit Review Committee, engage in a state-of-the-art process to ensure all dollars are invested wisely.

This year, more than 180 trained volunteers invested more than 5,000 hours analyzing the needs of the community and studying the effectiveness of local programs to ensure that contributions have the greatest possible impact. This process of reviewing program plans, visiting agencies and analyzing budgets keeps our United Way firmly connected and responsive to the community’s most pressing needs. As human service needs grow and change over time, this process allows the United Way to direct its resources where they will do the most good.

The Tulsa Area United Way Day of Caring is one of the largest such events in the nation, with more than 5,500 volunteers completing more than 36,000 hours of work at area parks, schools and non-profit organizations.

In addition to annual allocations to its partner agencies, the Tulsa Area United Way makes investments in Community Collaborations among agencies that meet systemic needs, attract multi-source funding and offer a structured approach, including budget, timeline and measurable outcomes.

In the last six years, the Tulsa Area United Way has awarded nearly $5 million in collaborative funding to meet challenges such as reducing homelessness, improving third grade reading, and supporting child protection services.

The Tulsa Area United Way maintains several Community Collaborations, including A Way Home for Tulsa, Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, Community Response Team, Tulsa STEM Alliance, Impact! Tulsa (Strive), and the Child Protection Coalition.

Each year, the Tulsa Area United Way Social Innovation Grant Program provides financial assistance to area non-profit organizations and individuals that offer creative, innovative and proven solutions to systemic community challenges.

The Tulsa Area United Way responds to the unanticipated needs of its community, awarding $674,042 in emergency funding in the last six years, including relief from wild fires and summer heat and increased requests for food, shelter and utility assistance.

The Tulsa Area United Way assists area nonprofit agencies in overall management, volunteer recruiting and training, technical assistance and board leadership development, serving as a primary resource and anchor institution for the community.

Governance

A Board of Directors of 50 local volunteers provides governance and establishes policy for the Tulsa Area United Way through regular meetings and a highly developed committee structure including Board Development, Community Investments, Campaign Cabinet, Finance and Audit, Information Technology, Marketing, Planned Giving and Policy Planning and Issues.

Economic Impact

A study commissioned by the Tulsa Area United Way in 2016 revealed an annual economic impact of more than $275 million in the Tulsa area. For every dollar contributed to the local United Way, its partner agencies were able to leverage an additional $15 from other resources. The study also showed that the United Way’s investment in its partner agencies directly and indirectly support 5,580 jobs in the community. The United Way’s investments also generate more than $7 million in tax revenue for the state and community.

UNITED WAY WORLDWIDE AFFILIATION

The Tulsa Area United Way is independent of United Way Worldwide and other local United Way organizations. The Tulsa Area United Way is governed entirely by local volunteers, and decisions made by other United Ways have no impact on decisions made in the Tulsa region.

The Tulsa Area United Way and United Way Worldwide (UWW) enjoy a pro-active alliance.

Each year, the Tulsa Area United Way spends less than one percent of its campaign total on various services from the UWW.

Other

The Tulsa Area United Way closely tracks legislation and helps to educate local and state governments to encourage pro-active, supportive and innovative health and human services policies.

The Tulsa Area United Way does not expend funds for advertising, but instead attracts pro-bono support from area media, including the Tulsa World, Tulsa People and a variety of electronic, outdoor and print media outlets.