This is NOT Community Impact!

When United Ways talk about their community impact, they often talk about things that are NOT community impact, such as:

Amount of Money Raised

You would be surprised how many United Ways start a discussion about their community impact with a statement like “We did it! We raised $1.5 million this year!” This is NOT community impact. Our surveys of United Way donors find that on average only 16% of donors care about the campaign goal or how much money was raised. Donors do not equate the amount of money raised with the amount of community impact.

Funded Programs and Allocation Amounts

Many United Ways list all of their funded programs and the amount of money each program received in their community impact reports. This is NOT community impact. Our surveys of United Way donors find that on average fewer than 15% of donors care what programs are funded and only then if they are concerned United Way is funding a program they disapprove of. Donors do not consider the programs that are funded as community impact.

Allocation Process

Some United Ways explain in great detail how hundreds of volunteers spent thousands of hours meeting with partner agencies, conducting site visits, and determining allocations. This is NOT community impact. Our surveys of United Way donors find that on average about 33% of donors would be interested in volunteering for United Way on Days of Caring and the like. Donors do not consider all the volunteers involved in the process of allocating money to programs to be community impact.

Administrative Costs

Every year there are United Ways that feel compelled to explain their administrative costs when talking about their community impact. This is NOT community impact. Our surveys of United Way donors find that on average only 4% of donors check United Way’s administrative costs before donating. Donors do not see administrative costs as a measure of community impact.

After all this discussion about what is not community impact, you may be asking what is community impact? Based on our donor research, we know precisely what community impact information United Ways need to be communicating to donors and how to communicate it. And we’ll explain it all during our How to Communicate Your Impact: What to Say and How to Say It webinar on December 8, 2021 at 2 p.m. ET.

Four Reasons You Cannot Miss This Webinar:

1. You will learn precisely what you need to say to communicate impact. If your donors do not understand your community impact – they will NOT increase their contribution.

2. You’ll get a simple formula you will use everyday to communicate impact

3. You will see how to communicate your impact using your website, social media, campaign brochure, pledge form, thank you letters, special events, and annual reports

4. If your United Way is talking about the amount of money raised, funded programs and allocation amounts, the allocation process, and/or administrative costs – you’ll know what to replace them with!

Join us on December 8th for How to Communicate Your Impact: What to Say and How to Say It and learn how to communicate your United Way’s community impact most effectively.