2020 has been a rough year for all of us. I doubt there will be anyone who disagrees with me on that. Luckily, the end is in sight! 2020 is almost done and not a moment to soon. However, it’s not time to celebrate just yet.

Over the years, United Ways have watched their donor rolls shrink, despite all their efforts to try to attract and retain donors. This begs the question “Where did your donors go?” The simple truth is that most of your donors have . . .

Cutting costs is not a long-term sustainable strategy for United Ways. Instead of cutting costs, a more appropriate, albeit harder, strategy for long-term United Way sustainability is growing revenue.

While many United Ways proclaim that they are community impact organizations, they do not act like community impact organizations. If you want to create a culture of community impact at your United Way, then there are four tenets of community impact you need to be acting upon . . .

Think your United Way’s greatest challenge is relevance? You might be right, but addressing your challenges with relevance requires stepping back to assess other challenges too.

In our part of southwest Michigan, you don’t need to drive very far to see a farm with silos next to the barn. The barns and silos that dot the rural southwest Michigan landscape look like they have been there forever, like the tallest oaks and maple trees.