Tulsa Area United Way History
Tulsans were among the first in the nation to start a unified charitable fundraising organization, combining 11 human service organizations in one annual campaign. That was in 1924 when the forerunner of today's Tulsa Area United Way was organized as The Tulsa Community Fund by area businessmen.
Today it is an area wide organization encompassing Creek, Okmulgee, Osage, Rogers, Tulsa and Wagoner counties to more efficiently raise funds for the 61 partner agencies who provide health and human care services to those in need. Every year, more than 140 community volunteers decide the campaign goal after spending thousands of hours evaluating the needs of our agency partners.
That first campaign goal of $238,895 came in $9,000 over goal, establishing a pattern that Tulsa area residents have followed in most of the years since. Since 1924, $618.2 million has been raised through the donations of area individuals and corporations and this market has consistently been in the top 3% of United Ways in the nation.
Known for outstanding efficiency and the hundreds of volunteers that drive the agency, TAUW can proudly report to contributors that approximately 90 cents of every dollar donated last year went directly to local services, and that hundreds of thousands of lives were touched, changed or perhaps even saved through area contributions.
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