One of your board’s most important responsibilities is answering the question “Why does our United Way exist?”  Your board, and only your board, bears the responsibility for answering this existential philosophical question. According to John Carver, the author and evangelist of Policy Governance®, the most important work of any governing board is to create and recreate the reason for organizational existence.

Endlessly

In my experience, most United Way boards cannot answer this question. They cannot tell you why their United Way exists or the purpose of their United Way. Well, let me refine that a little. If you ask a board of 20 people why United Way exists, you are likely to get 20 different answers. United Ways exist, according to board members: to help people, to raise money for local organizations, to provide donors a single place to make their charitable contribution, to make sure local nonprofits are accountable and effective, to understand and address the community’s needs, to help families, to end homelessness, to halt hunger, and the list goes on - endlessly.

If your board expresses such a diversity of response and belief as to why your United Way exists, it should not come as a surprise when donors or the community do not know what your United Way does. Perhaps the reasons why United Ways existed several generations ago are no longer the reasons why United Ways exist now? And what if United Way has changed, but the perceptions of why United Way exists have not?

A Conversation That Has Never Occurred

This question must be answered clearly and concisely by your board. At least once a year, at one of your board meetings, the question “Why does our United Way exist?” should be asked and answered by your board. This is not necessarily a difficult conversation, but more likely a conversation that has never occurred. Don’t set any boundaries on the conversation, let your board members dialogue freely about why your United Way exists.

There is not a singular, uniform, wrap-it-up-in-a-bow kind of answer to the question “Why does our United Way exist?” Recognizing that the reason why your United Way exists could be entirely different from the United Way in the next county, makes it even more important to be able to articulate your answer. What you will find, once your board decides why your United Way exists, is an incredible focus in your work. Your board will be able to go out and talk with one voice about why people should give, advocate, and volunteer at your United Way. Your staff will understand what the board values and expects your United Way to accomplish. Your donors will support your United Way knowing what their contribution will be enabling. Your community will understand how your United Way fits into the larger fabric of the nonprofit and social service organizations in your area.

A New Direction

Our New Directions Board and Staff Retreat will help you answer this question. During this retreat, your board and staff will examine the challenges your United Way is facing, what makes your United Way relevant, different business models for operating your United Way, and provide an opportunity for an honest and open conversation about why your United Way exists. George McCanless, President & CEO of United Way of Central Georgia, said this about our New Directions Board and Staff Retreat; “Thank you for a great day of thought-provoking conversation! I know I conveyed to you that I had high expectations for the day, and y’all exceeded them!” You can learn more about our New Directions Board and Staff Retreat here. 

How to Unlock Your Board’s Potential

Every board has the potential to advance the work of their United Way, however all too often boards fail to unlock that potential due to lack of direction, micro-management, limited engagement, and apathy. But the problem is unlikely to be your board members or your executive director, and more likely to be the way your board operates.

Perspectives’ upcoming webinar, Unlocking Your Board’s Potential: Policy Governance for United Ways, will introduce you to the Policy Governance model for board governance and how it can transform the work of your board. In this 75-minute webinar, you will:

• Understand the basics of Policy Governance and how it differs from what your board is doing currently

• Explore how Policy Governance overcomes four challenges facing most United Way boards: lack of direction, micro-management, limited engagement, and apathy

• See examples of how Policy Governance could work in your United Way

• Learn how your United Way can implement Policy Governance

Unlocking Your Board’s Potential: Policy Governance for United Ways is designed for United Way executive directors and Presidents/CEOs as well as your board leadership. You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions about the Policy Governance model as well as share challenges and concerns your board is facing at your United Way.

Join us on Wednesday, October 16th at 2 p.m. ET for this 75-minute webinar. This webinar is free, however attendance is limited to 100 participants to allow sufficient time for sharing and questions.

Sign up for Unlocking Your Board’s Potential: Policy Governance for United Ways here.