Capital Area

In 1919, community leaders Ray Potter, W.H. Prudden, Frank N. Arbaugh, C.E. Bement, Donald E. Bates, and Charles W. Nichols were appointed trustees of what would become Capital Area United Way. The Committee of Organizations held the first community-wide campaign under the name Community Welfare Fund to benefit seven social service agencies. That first campaign raised $64,000 with support from about 3,000 contributors.

Over the next century, annual campaigns raised a total exceeding $300 million to meet the health and human care needs of the Capital Area. The organization embraced the United Way name in 1973. In the decades that followed, CAUW expanded its reach to serve the people of Ingham, Clinton and Eaton counties. More than 3,000 local volunteers participate in various aspects of the operation and decision-making in the tri-county area.

Today, CAUW is part of an impact-driven regional organization: United Way of South Central Michigan, formed in 2022 through a merger with CAUW, United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region and United Way of Jackson County.