In 1887, Denver became the first city to establish a united organization to raise funds in order to meet community needs. Other cities adopted the idea, creating organizations that were commonly called the Community Chest, later becoming known as United Way (United Way of America, n.d.-a). By 2003, there were more than 1,400 local United Ways, raising almost $4 billion to support a broad range of nonprofits in their communities (Wolverton, 2003). Local United Ways are independent nonprofit organizations. In the United States, the national office provides support and assistance to local United Ways, and the local organizations are required to meet certain standards in order to use the name.

In 1995, the president of the United Way of America, then the national umbrella organization, was convicted of stealing funds for personal use, eroding public confidence. Another blow came in 2001, when the CEO of the United Way of the National Capital Area, the local chapter serving the Washington, DC, region, was charged with similar abuses. But larger forces also were at work, presenting challenges to the United Way and its model. By 2003, the amount of gifts to United Way that were designated for specific nonprofit organizations had risen 13 years in a row (Ogden, 2008). That approach to giving denied the United Way the ability to select recipient nonprofits, reducing its influence. More donors were bypassing the United Way altogether to make gifts directly to nonprofits that interested them. Some were questioning the continued relevance of the United Way model, which raised funds through workplace fundraising campaigns and provided support to a wide variety of nonprofit organizations. Both individual and corporate donors were becoming more interested in the impact of their gifts and less interested in giving to a fund that would benefit any nonprofit organization that qualified (“Brian Gallagher,” 2007). In addition, an economic recession in 2003 had led to a significant decline in workplace giving by employees, which accounted for 66 percent of United Way revenues, and support for United Way from corporations, which comprised the balance (Wolverton, 2003). Brian Gallagher, who had worked in local United Way chapters for 20 years, had been appointed as the new president and CEO of the United Way of America in 2002. He recognized the urgent need for change.

Gallagher raised a basic question about the mission of United Way: Was it to raise funds or to have an impact on communities? “We are in the business of changing people's lives,” he concluded, “Fundraising is a strategy.” He explained, “We had forgotten to connect with donors as customers and to combine community interests and corporate interests because we were so focused on raising money in the workplace using a monopoly position” (Boston Consulting Group, 2011)..................

Questions
1. Which theory or theories seem to best describe the leadership of Brian Gallagher at United Way?
2. In what ways does the process for change that Brian Gallagher implemented at United Way reflect Kotter's model?
3. If you had been the CEO of a nonprofit organization that had been receiving United Way funds, how would you have prepared for the changes that Brian Gallagher led?
4. What advice would you give to Gallagher's successors about how to keep the change process moving forward?