The idea of the united fundraising was first demonstrated in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. in 1887 and was further refined when the first community Chest was founded in Cleveland in 1913. The first United Fund was established in Detroit in 1949 and differed from the Chest concept in that it was constituted as a givers' organization rather than an organization of the participating agencies, and further, in that it embraced both local and national agencies.A United Way is a legally constituted, non-profit corporation – a completely autonomous local organization administered entirely by its duly elected Board of Directors. It annually conducts a review of agency requests, sets a fundraising goal, organizes a single community-wide campaign and distributes the proceeds according to a pre-arranged schedule. However, because every United Fund was formed, initially, with a view to reducing the number of annual drives, this remains its dominant purpose. more... See more text