Status Quo? No!
THE QUESTION
Happy New Year! Before you get too far into 2025, take a moment and think about your answer to this question:
Are you comfortable with 2025 going the same way 2024 did for your United Way?
When I talk with United Way executives, many tell me that last year was more difficult than expected, challenging, disappointing, continuing to decline, etc. My guess would be that they would say “No” they are not comfortable with 2025 going the same way 2024 did for their United Way.
If you said “No” you are not comfortable with 2025 going the same way 2024 did for your United Way, what are you doing about it? What actions are you taking to change your future? How have you planned to overcome the challenges?
If you are planning on doing everything you did in 2024 over again in 2025, and expecting different results, this quote often attributed to Albert Einstein applies: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
STATUS QUO IS NOT ACCEPTABLE
If you are not comfortable with doing the same things in 2025 and experiencing the same results (or worse), you need to look at how you might do things differently.
At Perspectives, we think differently about United Ways. Our Issue Focus Model is a different way for United Ways to work. In a sentence, issue focused United Ways decide what social issue they will impact, how they will impact the issue, ask donors and funders for the money to impact the issue, and measure progress toward a bold goal to change lives around the issue.
Issue focused United Ways raise more money because they are asking donors and funders like companies, foundations, and governments to fund their selected impact efforts. Issue focused United Ways are more impactful because they can share exactly how many children are now reading at grade level, how many families are now financially stable, or how many people are no longer homeless, as examples. Everyone understands what an issue focused United Way does because they focus on just one issue and people know supporting United Way is the way to “Halt Hunger” or “Crush Poverty.”
CONSIDER THE ALTERNATIVE
Would the Issue Focus Model work for your United Way? Honestly, I don’t know. What I do know is that plenty of United Ways have found that adopting an issue focus has allowed them to be sustainable, impactful, and relevant.
If you are searching for how your United Way might do things differently in 2025, you owe it to yourself and your United Way to consider alternatives to what you are doing now.
We offer a retreat for the board and staff of United Ways called New Directions Board and Staff Retreat. During this half-day retreat, we will explain the three types of United Ways, how their business models work, the different ways they create impact, how they market and communicate their work, and the different resource development methods available for each type of United Way. This board retreat is all about showing your staff and board several alternatives for how your United Way can operate, and we provide plenty of examples of United Ways of all three types so you can see the differences and understand the advantages and disadvantages of each model.
During the retreat, we’ll give your staff and board time to ask questions about each type of United Way, and more importantly, time to have a conversation about which type of United Way is right for your community. When is the last time your board and staff sat down together and talked about why your United Way exists and how best you can meet the needs of your community? If you said “never” or you can’t remember when, then I guarantee this will be the single most important conversation your United Way will have this year.
DO NOT WAIT
If the status quo is not what you want for your United Way – take the first step and reach out to us to have a conversation. We’ll talk about your United Way and your challenges. We’ll talk about the possibility that a different business model might make sense for your United Way. And we’ll be happy to share more information about our New Directions Board and Staff Retreat. You can grab some time on our calendar here or send us an email and we’ll find a time to talk.