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'Jury is still out’ on merging Dayton, Cincinnati area United Way agencies

Four area United Way agencies raise about $78 million annually

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By Margo Rutledge Kissell, Staff Writer Updated 7:41 PM Thursday, June 11, 2009

LEBANON — After more than three years discussing whether to merge and become one of the largest United Ways in the country, leaders of four United Way agencies covering the greater Dayton area, greater Cincinnati, and Warren and Butler counties are seeking community input.

That feedback from donors, partner agencies and community and business leaders will be key for Gary Auman, chairman of the board of the United Way of the Greater Dayton Area, who wants to know whether “the community will support the move.”

Lack of community support, he said, could be a “kiss of death to our fund-raising in this area.”

Auman, an attorney who has been involved in the talks since the beginning, isn’t yet sold on the idea of a merger.

“In my mind, the jury is still out,” he said.

Some fear a regional United Way could mean a loss of identity for smaller communities and partner agencies.

The first community input session was Thursday, June 11, in Lebanon. David Ramey of Beavercreek-based Strategic Leadership Associates, Inc. give an overview of the United Way Regional Exploratory Team’s “business case” for a merger.

Butler County Common Pleas Judge Michael Sage, the exploratory team’s chairman, has said this is still “very much a work in progress.”

Sage and other proponents of the merger see value in having one regional voice in terms of working with corporations, agencies and donors. They also point to the potential for a reduction in back office costs, with finance, human resources and marketing.

“There is such a duplication of efforts right now in our communities as far as what we do to raise money,” Sage said.

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Last year Charlotte North Carolina's United Way CEO Gloria Pace King received a $2.1 million pension. How many scandals does it take? Still feel like donating money to United Way?

Eric S
4:54 PM, 6/11/2009

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