United Way of Southwest Georgia halts funding for regional restructuring

ALBANY – Responding to a report that some agencies serviced by the United Way of Southwest Georgia expressed concern about a plan to withhold typical funding for a whole year during a “restructuring” period, the agency’s president and CEO, Orson Burton Jr., said this week the area United Way would use the time from now to July 1, 2027 to “postpone the traditional allocations cycle for 12 months in order to fully rebuild our regional fundraising campaign before the next round of partner funding.”

Burton, who was selected to lead the United Way of Southwest Georgia slightly less than a year ago, said the local United Way’s board made the decision to be true to its calling as a regional agency.

“We serve 13 counties,” Burson said during a conversation at his office on Westover Boulevard Tuesday. “Historically, though, our impact has centered on Albany. We are calling this effort a type of reimagining regional impact, and it culminates in a relaunched campaign in July 2027 with a goal of $500,000 or more for a meaningfully stronger funding base than our current trajectory could sustain.

“With that in mind, when your aim is regionalism and having an impact on 13 separate counties, that takes time and intention. Continuing the allocations cycle as-is would have meant funding partner commitments from a one-time carryover that simply will not exist again next year. That path balanced a single budget while quietly eroding the foundation underneath all of us, leaving no sustainable base for future allocations. The board concluded that a full 12-month rebuild lets us engage the right staff, reach corporate donors during their Q4 giving cycles, and stand up the infrastructure to grow giving across all 13 counties.”

Burton said the funding pause would allow the local United Way to solidify its commitment to Albany-based agencies as well as agencies in the 13-county southwest Georgia region that includes Dougherty, Clay, Dooley, Early, Calhoun, Randolph, Sumter, Crisp, Mitchell, Lee, Wilcox, Baker and Worth counties 

“In short,” he said, “this is not a retreat from our commitment to (Albany nonprofits). It is the work required to make that commitment real, durable and sustainable.”

Representatives of some Albany-based agencies that had typically received United Way funding said they were “blindsided” by the announcement.

“Our particular program does not get a lot of United Way funding, so it will not be detrimental to the operations,” one representative said. “But there are some other agencies that get a significant amount of money, and announcing this out of the blue at 9:43 on a Saturday night just two days before they would normally be effective could be bad for them. That could have some significant impacts on those nonprofit agencies/programs that were expecting that money.”

Another agency representative said: “The main purpose of the United Way is to raise funds and then distribute the funds to the nonprofits. It sounds like, for the next year, they are planning on raising funds but leaving the nonprofits out in the cold with only two days’ notice. Something just does not feel right about this from both the recipient side for agencies that receive United Way allocations, and a potential donor side. Why would I give money if 100% is going to United Way?”

Burton said the local United Way is not “leaving anyone out in the cold,” that the agency has other ways of providing funding and services for local nonprofits.

“We certainly provide other services to our nonprofits, such as offering local grant allocations that align with our activities and goals,” he said. “And we’re impacting hundreds of Albany-area children through what we’re calling our Summer Collective program.”

When Albany State University announced it would not fund the summer National Youth Sports Program this year, a year after the summer program celebrated its 50th anniversary in Albany — most funded primarily by Albany State — Burton and United Way officials stepped into the breach with a proposal to continue summer activities for Albany youths.

The city of Albany allocated $350,000 for the program.

“When we saw what was happening (with the summer youth program), the board saw this as an opportunity to step up,” Burton said. “We had a strategy in place, and the city accepted our proposal to give local children an opportunity that might not have been available.

“As we speak, in real time, the United Way of Southwest Georgia is impacting hundreds of children in our community.”

Still, there are those who say the short-term impact could be harsh on local nonprofits that have traditionally relied on funding from the United Way.

“I (think one can see) the concerns that we have and the potential impact that a bunch of nonprofit agencies are now going to be facing,” one agency representative said.

But Burton asked that agencies and donors who are vital elements of United Way understand that the collective concept that will have a “significant impact throughout the region” is a plan whose time has come.

“The plan has begun; it’s being implemented throughout the region,” he said. “And I am 1 million percent sure that we’re all going to be better off together.”