In every American town that has a United Way campaign, there's an axiom that reflects the fragility in the annual fundraiser: If you give the people any reason to withhold their support, they'll probably take it.

So it's with their kid gloves on that officials with the United Way of Butler County are moving ahead with major changes in the way they conduct the campaign. They're about to alter long-standing traditions.

The organization has hired a Michigan consulting firm to oversee sweeping changes in how it frames its work in the community, seeks donors and distributes money to partner agencies.

From its inception, the campaign has raised money for a cluster of charities that perform vital but often unappealing, behind-the-scenes tasks.

By taking on the hard work of fundraising, the campaign volunteers have always performed two fundamental services:

n They free up the service agencies so they can concentrate on their mission of service to clients most in need of their assistance.

n They help to spare the community — most notably its employers, businesses and their workforce — from a constant barrage of solicitations from agencies seeking support for the many good things they do.

This has always been the arrangement between the United Ways and their communities. It has become regarded as a contract or even a covenant over the decades. It's something not to be trifled with.

But now the focus will change, the United Way leaders say. It no longer will be about a dollar goal and the variety of good things the many member agencies do.

Instead, they now intend to choose a central issue for a longer term campaign goal. United Way dollars and other resources will be focused on that issue.

The idea is to show measurable results — dollars spent, clients served — in an easily packaged data format.

Member agencies will be asked to conform as much as they can to the chosen issue.

For some, this will be an unreasonable request. Do agencies as disparate as the Arc of Butler County and the YMCA have overlapping missions? Should they have overlapping missions? And if the quest is for all the member agencies to pursue one common goal, then why have separate agencies at all?

Furthermore, there's an implied suggestion that United Way dollars won't cover every community issue. Member agencies with missions other than the United Way's chosen issue will be forced to conduct more fundraising on their own.

And that means more knocking on the doors of businesses and employers, seeking handouts.

It seems unlikely that the United Way's new arrangement will preserve the decades-old, covenant-like arrangement between the community and its member agencies.

Maybe the move is necessary. Maybe the move ultimately will be what's best. But it's incumbent on the United Way to thoroughly explain the changes and allay all concerns among its agencies and contributors.