Time for a New Goal?

It’s almost campaign season – already! In a couple of weeks many United Ways will announce a campaign goal. Although it is impossible to know for sure how many United Ways announce a campaign goal, you know it is a lot when you Google the phrase “United Way Campaign Goal” and find over 9,000 results.

A campaign goal measures how much money was contributed by donors to United Way, primarily from workplace campaigns. It is equally important to consider what a campaign goal does not measure. A campaign goal does not measure impact, as the amount of money raised has no impact by itself – it can only make a difference once it is invested in programs. A campaign goal measures the financial resources available to United Way for investment in programs and operations. It is similar to the gas gauge in your car, it measures the gas available for travel, but not where you are traveling.

Is a campaign goal right for your United Way? A campaign goal might be the ideal goal if the purpose of your United Way is to raise as much money as possible to fund local programs and partner agencies. If your purpose is fundraising, then a campaign goal is a simple measure of your success.

Five Reasons a Campaign Goal May Not be Right for Your United Way

First, a campaign goal may not be right if every time someone asks you about your campaign goal, you only want to talk about everything else your United Way does. If the other things your United Way does are more important than your campaign goal, then perhaps a campaign goal is not right for your United Way.

Second, if you have a clear community impact goal, such as improving the high school graduation rate or reducing the number of families living in poverty, then a campaign goal may not be right for your United Way. If the focus of your United Way is changing your community through meaningful impact, then your campaign goal only serves as a distraction from your community impact goal.

Third, if the primary purpose of your United Way is not fundraising but impact, then a campaign goal does not measure your primary purpose. Setting a goal related to community impact allows your United Way to gauge success achieving your primary purpose.

Fourth, our research has found that very few United Way donors (less than one in five) really care about the campaign goal. A campaign goal does NOT motivate a donor to give to United Way nor does it motivate a donor to increase their contribution to United Way.

Fifth, if the only reason you can think of for having a campaign goal is because you have always had a campaign goal, then now may be the time to let it go.

Your Goal

Goals are important, in fact, they are essential to an efficient and effective organization. The next time you sit down to discuss a campaign goal, think about why you have a campaign goal. If your campaign goal has no value to your donors, then make it an internal goal for your United Way and spend time talking to donors about something much more important – like what issues you are addressing, what actions you are taking, and what results you are achieving with their contributions.