Words Everyone Should Know
There are many words that could be used to describe United Way. One survey we did asking United Way donors what words or phrases they would use to describe United Way resulted in donors naming over 170 different words or phrases. The most common word used to describe this United Way was “helpful.” This United Way isn’t alone, “helpful” has remained the top answer even after asking thousands of United Way donors from around the country. Although your United Way is indeed helpful, there are three words that every person should associate with your United Way in order to understand what you do.
1. CONVENE
There is one word that applies to every United Way – convene. United Ways convene volunteers, donors, partner agencies, governments, etc. to address the needs of the community. Bringing everyone together, convening people, is how United Way makes an impact. If you find the word “convene” to be a little dated, you can certainly express the spirit of convene using words like “unite” or “united” or phrases like “bringing people together” or “uniting people, ideas, and resources.”
2. YOUR ISSUE
People should associate your United Way with the issue you address. If your United Way has adopted community impact, and you have selected a limited number of critical issues to address, then your United Way should be known for those issues. If your United Way addresses hunger, then people should name “hunger” as a word to describe your United Way. Donors should be able to clearly associate your United Way with the issue you address, so that a donor who wants to address hunger in your community will know that a contribution to your United Way will be used to reduce hunger in your community.
One of the most common concerns I hear from United Ways is that we can’t be known for one or two issues because we address many or even all of the issues in the community. I have heard statements like “But if people associate us with hunger (or homelessness, poverty, etc.), then they will think that we only address hunger and not support us because they think we will no longer be funding programs and partner agencies that address other issues.“ This concern challenges the core reason for existence as a United Way: Is your purpose to raise funds to support programs funded by partner agencies? Or, is your purpose to impact specific issues in the community? If your purpose is to raise funds to support programs funded by partner agencies, then you should be known as fundraisers. However, if your purpose is to reduce the number of high school dropouts, or to reduce the number of homeless, etc. then you should be known for those issues.
Issue focused United Ways choose an issue, like poverty, homelessness, graduation rate, or kindergarten readiness, and they lead and convene the community to make a measurable change on that issue. Issue focused United Ways are known for their issue because their success is measured by the number of families no longer living in poverty, people who now have a home, students who graduated from high school, or children that are ready for kindergarten. People know that when they give to an issue focused United Way, their contribution helps to address the issue that United Way is addressing.
3. LOCAL
People should think of your United Way as local. While United Way is a national charity, it is so in name only, as each local United Way addresses local issues and does so in a manner appropriate for their local community. Our research with United Way donors has found that one of the primary and most important reasons donors support United Way is because United Way addresses local issues and concerns. Conversely, one of the most common misperceptions about United Way is that United Ways are not local, that money given to United Way goes somewhere else. It is essential for your community and donors to recognize your United Way as local.
For United Ways that serve a county, local is the county you serve. If your United Way serves a larger area or region, then you may want to consider naming local communities in your messaging. Our donor research has found that donors do not perceive areas outside of their county to be local.
Every United Way should aspire to be known and recognized by the community as local, for a specific issue, and as an organization that convenes people to address the issue. It takes a long time to change how a community thinks and perceives your United Way. We have worked with United Ways that have spent four to six years to change the community perception in a meaningful way. Once you have decided on your words, it is important to use them in everything you do from campaign to marketing, from allocations to board meetings.
POSTSCRIPT
I originally wrote and published this blog post back in 2012. A lot has changed in 10 years, but these three words are still essential for people to understand United Way. Perhaps now more than ever, United Ways struggle to explain what they do in a clear and concise manner. If you link these three words together, you’ll have your explanation – United Way convenes our community to address [insert your issue] in [describe local].
When you use these three words consistently and effectively, you will improve community understanding of your United Way, as well as focus your efforts internally. In fact, you’ll find that these three words will be infinitely more helpful to your United Way than the word helpful.