The Top Five Blog Posts of 2025!
As we begin 2026, let’s take a quick look back at what our subscribers thought were the top five blog posts of 2025! Below are the most read blog posts from last year. Our thanks for being a blog subscriber in 2025 and we hope that you have an amazing 2026!
#1
Allocate to Your United Way First (February 26, 2025)
I have noticed that many United Way boards have a preoccupation, or even an obsession, with maintaining partner agency funding. Even when workplace campaigns raise less money, the board is all about making sure that partner agencies continue to receive funding at current levels. The dark side of this obsession is that when workplace campaigns do not raise enough money to support partner agencies in the manner they are accustomed, United Ways look to cutting costs and/or raiding their reserve.
#2
Why Do We Keep Losing Donors (September 3, 2025)
Many United Ways face the challenge of decreasing numbers of donors. We constantly hear from United Ways that their donor numbers keep dropping, no matter how hard they try to attract and retain new donors. So, if you are asking, “Where did our donors go?” you would not be alone. The simple answer is that your donors have not gone anywhere.
#3
The Three Things You MUST Do to Attract Younger Donors (September 17, 2025)
Over the years, one of the most common challenges United Ways have shared with us is their difficulty attracting younger donors. We know from our years of research that the average United Way donor is between the ages of 50 and 64. Meaning that for most United Ways, a large portion of their donors will be retiring within the next 15 years, and not enough younger donors are coming in to replace them. So, how can you attract younger donors?
#4
Can You Be Efficient AND Effective? (November 12, 2025)
A lot of United Ways work really hard to be efficient but drop the ball when it comes to being effective.
United Ways spend a lot of time and effort trying to make their allocations process, volunteer activities like Day of Action, board meetings, and workplace campaigns as efficient as possible. Over the years, United Ways have adopted new technologies and methods for making these activities more efficient. One of my favorite ways to be more efficient is to stop doing something that is inefficient. For example, instead of creating a new workplace campaign slogan and brochure every year, use the same workplace campaign slogan and brochure for two or three years.
#5
DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOUR UNITED WAY! (July 23, 2025)
For the third time this year, I am sharing news of another United Way closing. The headline reads “United Way of Spokane County shutting down after century of giving.”
United Way of Spokane County’s director of resource development said there has been a shift in the giving environment as things changed after the COVID-19 pandemic. She explained that some donors started giving directly to organizations, rather than using United Way as a pass-through agency and recent grant cuts also hurt.
In my last blog post about a United Way closing, I suggested that most United Ways are doing what they have always done. Their future is a continuation of the past because they are unable to see what a different future might look like for their United Way.