The United Way of America is a coalition of charitible organizations that pool efforts in fund raising. The organization has roots in Denver, Colorado, where in 1887 church leaders began the Charity Organization Society which coordinated services and fund raising for 22 agencies. Many Community Chest organizations, which were founded in the first half of the twentieth century to jointly collect and allocate money, joined the American Association for Community Organizations, which was founded in 1918. The first Community Chest was founded in 1913 in Cleveland, Ohio. The number of Community Chest organizations increased from 39 to 353 between 1919 and 1929, and there were over 1000 by 1948. By 1963, after several name changes, the term United Way was first adopted.
The organization raises money in a number of ways, the most widely known is perhaps through the workplace, where employees can have automatic payroll deductions for the United Way.
