Good or Best?
Good United Ways are Functional
Every donor expects that their United Way will be functional, that it will collect contributions and allocate contributions in an efficient and effective manner. Being able to function effectively and efficiently is the bare minimum donors expect not only of United Ways, but of all charitable organizations.
Based on our research with United Way donors, nearly every donor considers their local United Way to be functional. This is hardly a surprise, as most United Ways spend a lot of time and effort telling donors about their workplace campaigns and how to give and how to volunteer. United Ways go to great lengths detailing how dozens of volunteers sit on allocation panels tasked with the process of determining which programs are funded. Workplace campaigns and allocations are merely processes that make a United Way function, but our research finds donors have little interest in the processes of charitable organizations.
The Best United Ways are Meaningful
The best United Ways are meaningful to donors. The best United Ways provide donors opportunities to connect their passion, caring, and commitment to address the needs of the community. The best United Ways enable donors to be able to make a difference in their community. The best United Ways provide donors an opportunity to impact the community that no other charitable organization offers.
Unfortunately, most donors do not have a meaningful relationship with their United Way. Our research with local United Way donors has found that on average, half of all donors do not know the impact of their contribution. When donors do not know the impact of their contribution they are:
Significantly more likely to designate their contribution to other charities
Unlikely to recommend United Way to others
Unlikely to increase their contribution to United Way
How to Make Your United Way Meaningful
Making your United Way meaningful to donors is actually pretty simple – your United Way’s goal must be your donor’s goal. Let me be very clear about this: donors are NOT motivated by a campaign goal. A campaign goal of raising $3 million this year certainly has meaning to the board and staff of your United Way, but not to your donors. There is not a donor anywhere that woke up this morning and decided that they wanted to make a donation to a charitable organization that has a goal of raising $3 million. Remember, raising $3 million is a process for your United Way, and donors have little interest in the processes of charitable organizations.
Your Donor’s Goal
Your donor’s goal might be to reduce homelessness in their community, and they would make a donation to an organization working to reduce homelessness. Perhaps your donor wants to help keep students from dropping out of school and is looking for an opportunity to volunteer as a mentor. Or your donor wants to feed the hungry in their community and is willing to both contribute and volunteer for a local organization feeding the hungry.
The goal of your United Way should be to help donors achieve their goals. For example, your goal could be giving donors the opportunity to reduce homelessness, or giving donors the opportunity to feed the hungry.
Issue Focused United Ways
Issue Focused United Ways choose an issue, like poverty, homelessness, graduation rate, or kindergarten readiness, and they lead and convene the community to make a measurable change on that issue. Instead of a campaign goal, their success is measured by the number of families no longer living in poverty, people who now have a home, students who graduated from high school, or children that are ready for kindergarten.
At Issue Focused United Ways, donors can clearly see what their contribution will accomplish because Issue Focused United Ways ask donors and funders to give to reduce poverty, end homelessness, increase the graduation rate, or have every child enter kindergarten ready to learn and not for a campaign goal. Check out these bold goals from Issue Focused United Ways:
United, we will lift 15,000 families out of poverty by 2028. United Way of Pierce County (Tacoma, Washington)
70% of 3rd graders will be reading on grade level by 2025. United Way of Pickens County (Easley, SC)
Lift 10,000 community members to financial stability by 2033. United Way of Marathon County (Wausau, WI)
As you can see from these examples, the goal of an Issue Focused United Way is their donor’s goal. Your United Way becomes meaningful to donors when your United Way’s goals are your donor’s goals.
Becoming the Best
Step 1: Learn more about how adopting an issue focus will transform your United Way by watching our free United Way Survival Guide video.
Step 2: Is an issue focus right for your United Way? It could be, but you will never know unless you explore the idea further. Let’s have a conversation about your United Way and an issue focus. Grab some time on our calendar and we’ll talk.
Step 3: Bring your board and staff together and talk about your United Way’s goal. We help United Ways to explore questions like “Why does your United Way exist?” and “What is your United Way’s goal?” with our New Directions Board and Staff Retreat. This half-day board and staff retreat examines the challenges your United Way is facing, what you will need to do to be relevant to donors in the future, how your United Way could use the Issue Focus Model to make measurable change in the community, and facilitates an open and honest conversation about the direction your United Way will need to take to be relevant and sustainable in the future.
Functional is No Longer Good Enough
In today’s world, donors no longer need United Ways to be pass-through organizations. The best United Ways are providing donors a unique opportunity to give, advocate, and volunteer for United Ways that share their donor’s goal – to make measurable, meaningful change impacting an issue in their community.