We make our New Year’s resolutions with the intention to better ourselves. If we know that our resolutions are in our best interest, why are they so hard to keep? We explore this question as a follow-up to our last blog post, Three New Year’s Resolutions Your United Way Should Keep. In our last blog post, Gary laid out three ambitious resolutions for your United Way to consider adopting in 2019:

1. Stop using jargon: Keep words like “allocations process,” “collective impact,” and “core service investments” out of your communications with donors and community members. To more clearly communicate with your stakeholders, use fewer words and phrases that require their own sentences to explain their meaning.

2. Help your donors succeed: Make sure that donors are able to clearly understand the impact their contributions have on social issues in your community. To help your donors to get excited about contributing to your United Way, stop reporting progress toward your campaign goal and start discussing the change their donations make possible.

3. Understand why your United Way exists: Decide if your United Way exists to fundraise on behalf of other local organizations or to make measurable change as a community convener. To clarify your purpose, simply your messaging, and streamline your use of staff time, decide if your United Way’s top priority is raising as much money as possible or creating as much measurable change in the community as possible.

Breaking old habits is tough, and unfortunately, many United Ways have been speaking jargon, measuring progress according to campaign thermometers, and juggling competing senses of purpose for years. Tackling these bad habits in one fell swoop can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be impossible. Take a look at our four tips below to see how you can help your United Way stick to its 2019 resolutions:

1. Find your motivation: You should never change just because someone (we) told you that you should. Before you begin your journey toward change, take time to write down what you want to get out of your resolutions. Do you want your United Way to be better understood? For your donors to be more highly motivated? For your staff to have a clear sense of purpose? Know what your end goals are so that you can remain motivated when keeping your resolutions becomes challenging.

2. Start small: Breaking deeply ingrained habits and defining your purpose takes time. Don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to make all your resolutions happen at once. Instead, break each resolution into small, achievable pieces. For example, don’t rewrite all your marketing materials from scratch; as the year progresses, update them one by one to remove jargon. As you become more comfortable talking about what your United Way does in simple terms, the easier it will be to use that language in all your communications with stakeholders.

3. Ask your friends for help: Seek help from others who have been where you are now. The power of the United Way network is that you have the ability to learn from more than 1,200 other organizations. Utilize LISTSERVs or network at conferences to learn how other United Ways have simplified the way they talk to their community, transitioned away from campaign thermometers, and clarified their purpose.

4. Seek professional help: While the advice of friends can be helpful, every United Way is different; sometimes it’s helpful to receive advice from an outside specialist. If you want to see the clearest path forward to achieve your United Way’s 2019 resolutions, consider reaching out to us . Whether you’re interested in clarifying your purpose or transitioning from thermometers to measurable community impact, we can help.

Change is always hard, but as donor expectations and the nonprofit landscape continue to evolve, change is essential for United Ways that want to remain relevant, sustainable, and impactful players in their communities. As we move in to 2019, take the time to assess how your United Way needs to change in order to put itself in a stronger position for 2020. Whether your United Way adopts our suggested resolutions or creates its own, make 2019 a year of intentional, strategic change.