“In Los Angeles, about two-thirds of the $47 million that United Way gave away last fiscal year went to nonprofits selected by contributors, one of the highest ratios in the country. Most of the donor-designated cash ends up in the arts and education, mainly with big institutions that do not specialize in aiding the poor or target problems such as low school graduation rates. … ‘Disney Hall is great, but we need to care about the people who live in the shadows of the buildings down the street from it,’ said L.A. United Way President Elise Buik.”