Strategic Planning for United Ways
Our Issue Focused Transformation is your path to becoming relevant, sustainable, and impactful
Is your United Way struggling to raise more money, attract younger donors, retain retirees, explain what you do, demonstrate your impact, and not reduce allocations? The solution is not doing more of the same – it is changing to an issue focus.
Issue focused United Ways decide what issue to impact, how to impact the issue, ask for the money to do it, and measure progress toward a bold goal. Perspectives’ Issue Focused Transformation is a proven process for adopting an issue focus that will allow your United Way to be relevant, sustainable, and impactful for years to come.
Choose our Issue Focused Transformation when you want to:
Measurably change lives
We will help your United Way establish a bold goal of the number of lives that will be changed such as the number of families who are financially stable, or the number of children reading at grade level, and then measure progress toward that goal.
Raise more money
Because issue focused United Ways can show donors and funders how their contributions change lives, you will raise more money from diversified sources including grants, sponsorships, planned giving, special events, and affinity groups.
Explain what you do
Instead of telling your partner agencies’ stories, our Issue Focused Transformation will allow your United Way to share stories of how lives are changed. When your United Way has one issue and one goal, messaging becomes simple and easy.
Start transforming your United Way to an Issue Focus in a year
Our Issue Focused Transformation includes stakeholder research and customized strategic planning that sets your direction and moves your United Way forward. We will guide you through our proven five-step process to develop your strategic plan so that your United Way becomes relevant, sustainable, and impactful.
What our clients say about us
“The process they use is so efficient that our board members were blown away by what we've been able to accomplish in a short amount of time. It's well worth the money to bring in the experts. Had I known about Perspectives before, I would have started this process sooner.”
SHANE ORR, PRESIDENT & CEO, UNITED WAY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
“Thank you for your total commitment to moving us forward on our bold goal. It has been a great run for the past seven years and I am so very thankful for your guidance and leadership.”
REBECCA MELTON, PRESIDENT, UNITED WAY OF YORK COUNTY
We have helped over 30 U.S. and Canadian United Ways change their future by adopting an issue focus
“You were so right! Focusing on the issue of early childhood education has resulted in raising more money from grants and campaigns, attracting new donors, and reduced designations. Now everyone knows what our United Way does in the community!”
JULIE CAPALDI, PRESIDENT, UNITED WAY OF PICKENS COUNTY
Providing strategic planning guidance
We know you are wondering …
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Because good research and good strategic planning take time, most United Ways complete their Issue Focused Transformation process in about one year. Sometimes it may take a little longer if you choose to avoid doing research or holding strategic planning sessions during the summer months or the holiday season.
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Our experience has found that hearing from donors, community members, workplace campaigns, key influencers, partner agencies, board members, and staff is essential to develop an informed and supported strategic plan.
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We have found that most United Ways have difficulty planning beyond three years. Years ago, we facilitated strategic planning for one United Way that wanted a five-year strategic plan and one United Way that wanted a seven-year strategic plan. In both cases, over 90% of all the planning and activities were in the first three years, and there was little planning beyond year three.
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Because we have helped dozens of United Ways create and update their strategic plans, our process recognizes both board and staff need to be involved, planning is more effective when done over three 4 hour sessions rather than two day-long sessions, all participants watch an informational webinar that explains the strategies you will be planning and the planning process, and the strategic planning is done at a high-level with staff filling in the operational details later.
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Our New Directions Board and Staff Retreat is separate from our Issue Focused Transformation process. Most United Ways we work with start with our New Directions Board and Staff Retreat. The decisions that come from the retreat set the direction for the strategic planning process. United Ways that are updating an existing strategic plan usually do not need to complete our New Directions Board and Staff Retreat.
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The cost of your strategic planning depends on many factors including; the size of your United Way, the number of donors you have, size of your community, your relationship with your partner agencies, your staff capacity to assist with some of the research, and how far your United Way is from our office. Issue Focused Transformations start at $48,500.
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If you have questions about our Issue Focused Transformation, how it works, or how it will benefit your United Way, contact us at (269) 657-5400, info@focusedperspectives.com, or schedule a conversation here.
Why choose our Issue Focused Transformation? Because you realize the strategies that worked yesterday are not the strategies you need to succeed tomorrow.
If what worked yesterday was still working, you would just continue doing it. But what you need now are proven strategies for how to do things differently and a clear direction and roadmap for transforming the future of your United Way.
Our Issue Focused Transformation is not just another strategic plan. It is a proven process that involves all of your stakeholders to determine the future direction of your United Way.
A strategic plan that changes your future. Our Issue Focused Transformation allows your board and staff to develop a strategic plan for how your United Way will move forward and remain relevant, sustainable, and impactful for years to come.
Learn More
Issue Focused United Ways are a better kind of United Way. How are Issue Focused United Ways different? Download our Introduction to an Issue Focus handout to learn more.
Perspectives Consulting Group, Inc. is an independent consulting firm and is not affiliated with, nor sponsored by, United Way Worldwide.