What can United Ways learn from Supreme?

The answer isn’t that you should release United Way-branded Oreos. Instead, it’s that if your United Way wants to build a cult following, you need to build a brand that emulates…

This week, Sarah and I were presenting our session “Share the Messages Your Donors Need to Hear” at the 2020 Great Rivers conference in beautiful, but cold, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. One of the concepts we talked about was . . .

You’ve got a lot to say. Your United Way does a lot, and sometimes it may seem like you do too much to explain it all to your community. When you have so much to say, how can you simplify and prioritize your messages?

Most United Way donors we have surveyed recall being thanked by their local United Way. However, not all donors report they have been thanked the way they want to be thanked.

Your community doesn’t care how much money you raise. If you want to convince your community to support your United Way, you need to stop talking about your campaign goal and start telling donors what they really want to hear.

While it’s true that the United Way credo does a great job of explaining what the United Way system as a whole does for communities throughout the world, it does not offer local context. So, how do you expand on the credo to contextualize your United Way’s work?