Great place to start a career - Specialist United Way Employee Review

3.0
Apr 6, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

As far as non-profits go, UWBA has the name recognition and more resources than most. You'll most likely have multiple roles and countless responsibilities, which guarantees you'll be learning and growing all the time.

Cons

Turnover can be pretty high on the program side. And I worked there during a time of multiple layoffs, which meant you took on increasingly more work, without being compensated for it. Overall, it's pretty challenging living in the ultra-expensive Bay Area on the salary you'll receive, but it's still better than most non-profit salaries in the region. Out of necessity, UWBA leadership also seemed to change the organization's goals and strategy to fit whatever funder at the moment could provide a large grant. That could be rather disheartening and exhausting.

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United Way Response
8y
Thanks for writing this thoughtful review! We appreciate your feedback. With the unemployment rate in the San Francisco Bay Area hovering between 2.5% and 3%, we're proud that employees stay with us for 8 years--on average (2017). That's a testimony to how committed our staff is to cutting poverty in the Bay Area, how hard we try to keep our salaries at the fiftieth percentile of like organizations, how attractive our benefits package is, and how much we focus on things like our culture and work/life balance. You're right that funders have a predilection for new projects, though. For that reason, we are especially grateful for unrestricted general support--money that we can direct to wherever the need is greatest. We have and continue to be successful in sustaining our anchor programs. SparkPoint started in 2009; it now has 15 locations around the Bay Area. MatchBridge started in 2012; it has served 20,000 youth since that first year. Earn It, Keep It Save It, Emergency Food and Shelter, and our 24 hour telephone lifeline to basic needs services, 211, are all even older. Each has served and continues to serve thousands.

Explore other reviews about United Way

5.0
Apr 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

People were very nice and cooperative

Cons

Not any that I would speak of

2.0
Jun 18, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The mission is meaningful and the work itself can be deeply rewarding. Colleagues are talented, dedicated, and genuinely care about the community they serve. For the right person, that camaraderie carries a lot of weight.

Cons

Over the past two years, this organization has undergone significant and painful change. A revolving door of senior leadership, including the abrupt loss of key executives, created instability that trickled down to every level of staff. Layoffs followed, and then a steady stream of voluntary departures that leadership appeared either unable or unwilling to address meaningfully. Under new leadership, nearly every quality-of-life benefit that made nonprofit-level salaries feel worth it has been reduced or eliminated: fewer sick days, increased healthcare costs, loss of Summer Fridays, loss of Thanksgiving week, and a shift to more required in-office days. The cumulative effect is an organization that asks a great deal of its staff, in salary sacrifice and mission commitment, while systematically withdrawing what made that trade-off feel fair.

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