New Year, New Perspectives
2020 was an odd year. And like many around the world, I found myself celebrating the holidays differently than in years past. Instead of traveling to see family as usual, I stayed home. This left me with plenty of time to fill and so, I found myself going back to my one true love: books. I’ve always been an avid reader of anything I could get my hands on: fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, horror, or sci-fi. It doesn’t really matter to me – only that it’s good.
One of my favorite authors is Dr. Jonathan Swift, most famously known for his book Gulliver’s Travels and his manifesto A Modest Proposal. I recently spent a lot of time reflecting on the manifesto genre as a whole. And as I did, I kept coming back to this specific piece of literature, desperately trying to pinpoint what made A Modest Proposal great, and more broadly why it is an amazing example of what a manifesto should be. And I came to this conclusion: It demands attention. It makes its point bluntly but not cruelly, and it inspires those who read it to take action. Dr. Swift believed in his country and what it could be, even as he saw Ireland falling apart. Split down the middle in factions, under the rule of a foreign invader, and overrun with poverty. Because he knew what his country was at the moment didn’t define what it could be in the future.
Over the past several months, we at Perspectives have been doing some “winter cleaning” and along the way we stumbled upon an old manifesto of ours. And as we read it, we came to a realization. This document no longer reflected who we were and, to be completely honest, it wasn’t really a manifesto. And so, we set ourselves a challenge. Before the end of the year, we would write our manifesto. We would write down our hopes for what United Ways can be, our beliefs on how you can get there, and what we could do to help United Ways be the best that they can be as we head into another uncertain year. And so, without further ado…
Our Perspectives’ Manifesto:
It’s a painful but undeniable truth - United Ways are dying.
This hasn’t been a quick death either. United Ways have been experiencing the symptoms for decades. Every year, workplace campaigns seem to go down a little further and donors continue to disappear. Fewer donors result in fewer dollars, leaving United Ways little choice but to slash funding to partner agencies. Each year, more United Ways face the threat of extinction as mergers and closures become their only options. And the question United Ways are left with is “Why are United Ways dying?”
The answers are obvious, but they can be hard to accept.
Agree? Disagree? Don’t hesitate to share your comments or reach out to us at info@perspectives4uw.com