What is United Way

United Way refers to the effective pooling of social resources through a dedicated fundraising organization, allocating resources to qualified organizations in a professional and highly accountable manner, and monitoring the use of funds on behalf of donors. By doing so, public welfare organizations can concentrate on their work and serve the society; the fundraising burden and pressure of small NGOs can be eased; social donations can be used efficiently; and the general public can be free from the interference of duplicated fundraising.　　The earliest origin of United Way was in 1873 in the UK, when 20 social organizations in Liverpool united to organize charity fund-raising activities; in 1887, Denver in the United States was the first to follow suit, and then flourished in Western countries.　　At present, there is no mature United Way organization in China, and most social service agencies are not yet able to raise funds for their services from international sources. The reasons for this phenomenon are: first, at present, the vast majority of China's private non-profit organizations lack the capacity and talent to deal directly with organizations outside China. Second, social service organizations do not understand the international fundraising market and do not know through what channels they can obtain international funding. Third, institutional and policy barriers that are not conducive to communication between domestic and overseas organizations have yet to be removed.　　(According to Wikipedia)