How Do We Change Ourselves?
Situations We Cannot Change
Recently, United Ways have found themselves facing a lot of situations that didn’t exist years ago, such as:
Third-party processors
Open campaigns
Online giving and text-to-give
Direct debit and recurring card payments
Increasing numbers of charitable organizations
Remote work, hybrid work, and virtual workplaces due to COVID-19
Charitable donation management platforms including Benevity and Selflessly
Crowdfunding through GoFundMe and Facebook fundraisers
Nonprofit evaluators like Guidestar and Charity Navigator
Social media including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok
These situations have fundamentally changed the environment in which United Way operates – it is more difficult now than ever to be a United Way. These situations remind me of a quote from Victor Frankl:
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”
It is impossible for United Ways to change any of these situations either individually or collectively. The time has come for United Ways to change themselves.
The Challenge of Changing Ourselves
If we all agree the world is a different place, and change is necessary, the challenge is how do we change ourselves? There are a lot of things that United Ways could change, and over the years we have blogged about many of them:
Fundraising Year-Round – The Year-Round Imperative
Talk About What You Will Do Tomorrow – Stop Living in the Past
Start Saying “No” – The Answer to Being Overworked and Overwhelmed
These are just some of the changes your United Way can make, and we would encourage you to consider making these changes as soon as possible. However, there is one mandatory change that every United Way must make.
Mandatory Change: Why Your United Way Exists
Traditionally, United Way existed to raise money for local partner agencies and measured success by how much money was raised. However, when you look at all of the situations that have changed over the years, it is clear that people no longer want, or need, United Ways to provide them a way to give, vet local charities, and allocate money to deserving charities. They can easily do that themselves with all of the new options available for people to support local organizations. It is only a matter of time before traditional United Ways become irrelevant.
What must change is why your United Way exists.
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. Instead of a campaign goal, 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. Rather than spreading their money a mile wide and an inch deep, they invest deeply in programs and services that address their issue. And they ask donors and funders to give to reduce poverty, end homelessness, increase the graduation rate, or have every child enter kindergarten ready to learn and not for a campaign goal.
The Issue Focus Business Model is built on the understanding that United Way donors want to impact a local issue and change lives. How do we know donors want this? Since 2011, we have been conducting research with United Way donors in communities large and small. Only 15% of donors want United Way to raise money for local partner agencies and programs, while the remaining 85% of donors want United Way to make a measurable impact on a significant local issue.
When a United Way is issue focused, people know exactly what their contribution will accomplish because an issue focused United Way only addresses one issue with an inspiring goal for success. Issue focused United Ways raise more money because they are able to attract additional resources like grants, sponsorships, and planned giving to address their issue. When a United Way is issue focused, they are able to unify their community, volunteers, donors, partner agencies, board, and staff around a shared vision to address a single issue. Issue Focused United Ways can easily explain what they do in just one sentence, and even in as few as two words – “Crush Poverty” or “Halt Hunger.”
Start Changing Today
Take a couple of minutes and learn more about how an issue focus will transform your United Way by watching our free United Way Survival Guide video.
Schedule some time to talk with us about your United Way and how an issue focus might work at your United Way.
When you change why your United Way exists, your United Way will be able to overcome situations you cannot change and remain relevant for years to come.