United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona is serious about public trust. We manage our donor funds in a professional and accountable manner.

Below you will find a description of our policies for your review.

Please also review our Annual Audit, Annual Report, IRS990 Return, Privacy Policy and Tax ID Letter 501(3)(c)

If you would like further explanation of any of these issues, please contact:

Ed Parker
President & CEO
United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona
903-9000 ext. 701
eparker@unitedwaytucson.org



The United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona is one of 1,340 independently operated United Way organizations in our country. As our mission is to “Build a Better Community”, we are a “community building” organization that raises funds through an annual campaign and invests financial and other resources in both short and long term solutions. We're governed by a volunteer board of directors who live and work in Tucson and Southern Arizona.

Our service area includes:
The City of Tucson and Southern Arizona


The United Way system has guidelines for reporting campaign results and for calculating overhead.

These guidelines are documented and detailed in the following publications:

Functional Expenses and Overhead Reporting Guidelines for United Way’s Campaign Reporting and Spending Guidelines (available upon request).

These guidelines are under continual review and periodic assessment by both United Way of America and member United Way organizations. The ever-changing environment in which we work, coupled with donor requirements, warrants a continuously renewed dedication to standards that exceed public expectations.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants states that program expenses that deliver services to the community are not considered overhead. This is commonly misunderstood. In fact, some expenses are directly attributed to valued (direct or indirect) services to the community. For United Ways these services could include Information and Referral, public policy activities, volunteer development, and community needs assessment. United Way's proactive adherence to Functional Expenses and Overhead Reporting Guidelines makes us an industry leader in terms of donor-responsiveness, consistency, and clarity regarding the questions and concerns of efficiency, costs, and value to our communities.


No one number or percentage can ever define operating efficiency for organizations as diverse as those in the philanthropic arena, in general, or for 1,340 United Ways, in specific. However, the Better Business Bureau has defined what they consider to be "acceptable" overhead rates, which is one measure of efficiency:

*Better Business Bureau acceptable overhead rate - 50%
*United Way (national average) - 12.7%
*Federal Guidelines (CFC Campaign) - 25%
*United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona- 16%

United Way understands that donors are concerned about the cost of fundraising and other expenses. In that regard, United Way continually strive for efficiency without sacrificing service to the community.