The United Way was formed in 1887 when a Denver priest, two ministers and a rabbi recognized the need for cooperative action to address their city's welfare problems. The first campaign raised $21,700 for 22 agencies.
The United Way of Greater St. Louis began in 1922 as the Community Fund, organized by volunteers to raise money to help operate 40 charities.
By the 1950s, more than 1,000 communities across the United States and Canada had established United Ways. In 1974, United Ways raised nearly $1.04 billion, marking the first time in history that a single organization raised more than $1 billion in an annual campaign. Over its long history, the United Way has helped with everything from the Persian Gulf War to the Olympic torch relay to the President's Summit for America's Future. It's won awards, such as the Charity of Choice from Financial World magazine. Across the country, United Ways now raise more than $4 billion annually.
Today, the United Way of Greater St. Louis provides a wider social safety net, both in geographic scope and the number of agencies we support. In the late 1970s, the downtown office merged with the United Way in Swansea, IL to create the Illinois Division. An auxiliary board for the counties of St. Charles, Lincoln and Warren was established in 1980, which is now the Tri-County Division. In 1995, the United Way of Greater St. Louis entered into a partnership with the Washington United Fund, now the Franklin County Area United Way. The Tri-Cities Area Division in the southern part of Madison County, IL, was added in September 1999, and the Southwest Illinois Division, covering Jersey, Calhoun, Green, Macoupin and northern Madison counties, was added in December 2001.
We remain a volunteer-driven organization that operates independently of all other United Ways. That means the money we raise in our community stays in our community. More than 90 cents of every dollar we receive is allocated to local agencies, fulfilling our original Community Fund mandate of "philanthropy without waste."
Our mission
The United Way of Greater St. Louis unites people of different backgrounds and interests who work together to strengthen health and human services in Missouri and Illinois. The United Way:
- efficiently raises and allocates funds to support a strong network of quality agencies and services;
- provides information, management and technical resources;
- identifies critical issues and unmet needs; and
- builds collaborations with the public and private sectors to meet those needs.
Our core values
Community
The United Way of Greater St. Louis is the place where people of our community come together in the spirit of teamwork and servant leadership to share our responsibility to care for one another.
Stewardship
As excellent stewards of financial and human resources entrusted to us, the United Way of Greater St. Louis ensures that those resources are effectively developed and properly invested to achieve optimum impact in the community.
Integrity
We are an integral part of this community's leadership; we conduct ourselves with the highest regard for trust, fairness, ethics and respect for one another.
Volunteers
Volunteers are our foundation and most valuable resource. We were founded by volunteers and are a volunteer-directed organization.
Autonomy
We take responsibility for directing and managing this organization and in partnership with our agencies, we meet our community's critical human service needs.
Diversity
The United Way of Greater St. Louis values and is committed to the richness of diversity in all aspects of our organization and those with whom we partner and serve.
Compassion
We are a catalyst for change, creating awareness of needs and celebrating successes in caring for one another and in creating a more compassionate community.