Great United Ways Do This

You can tell a United Way is great when they are doing these things:

SET A GOAL

Great United Ways have a goal. Whether it is a campaign goal for how much money they are trying to raise, like United Way of Midland County (Midland, MI) with their goal of “$4.4 million to support our neighbors,” or a goal of changing lives, like United Way of Pierce County (Tacoma, WA) with their goal of “United, we will lift 15,000 households out of poverty and into financial stability by 2028.”

Goals help United Ways to focus their work, and great United Ways are always focused on achieving their goal. Having a goal also makes it easier for someone to understand why United Way exists. Finally, great United Ways measure and report their progress toward their goal – which both United Way of Midland County and United Way of Pierce County do very well.

VOLUNTEERING FOR UNITED WAY

Great United Ways provide opportunities for their community to volunteer for their United Way, like United Way of Kenosha County (Kenosha, WI) who ask people to volunteer for their Readers are Leaders tutoring program and their Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.

Great United Ways provide people opportunities to volunteer for their United Way. A lot of United Ways do pass-through volunteering, where they refer people to other organizations to volunteer. When United Way of Kenosha County provides people opportunities to volunteer for their United Way, the volunteers are building a relationship with United Way of Kenosha County, and they experience first-hand how their United Way of Kenosha County makes a difference in the community.

INTENTIONAL INVESTMENT

Great United Ways carefully examine their communities to determine how their United Way can create meaningful impact that changes lives, like United Way of Erie County (Erie, PA) which has hired community school directors to bring the Community School Model to 17 schools in four school districts within Erie County. 

Great United Ways realize that opportunities exist to create impact beyond allocating money to partner agencies. When United Way of Erie County examined how to break the cycle of generational poverty, they knew that had to focus on increasing student academic achievement through the Community School Model. If United Way of Erie County had not invested with the intent of crushing poverty, the Community School Model would not exist in their community.

THERE ARE MORE

Clearly these are not the only things great United Ways do and the examples I have shared are from just a few of the great United Ways. I will share more of the things great United Ways do in upcoming blog posts.

GOT GREAT?

If your United Way wants to continue being great, check out our New Directions Board and Staff Retreat. During this half-day retreat, we explain the three types of United Ways, how their business models work, and why each type of United Way exists. During the retreat, we 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. Great United Ways have explored the three types of United Ways and have selected the right type of United Way for their community. If you can’t remember the last time your board and staff sat down together and talked about why your United Way exists, it is probably time.