The NonProfit Times - December 15, 2007 - (Page 16)

Focus On Community Impact Has United Ways Changing Packaging programs gives donors more incentives By Marla E. Nobles T he United Way of Dane County has seen a steady increase in fundraising revenue during the past several years, but you won’t hear much talk of that by United Way officials.What you will hear is how after nearly a decade of commitment to systems change, Dane County eliminated the racial achievement gap for 3rd grade reading, an issue that pervaded Madison, Wisc., and the surrounding communities for decades. The United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg in Virginia pushed through a similar strategy for systems change nearly five years ago.The branch now boasts an increase in the number of area children who pass the kindergarten readiness test, an enhanced rate of literacy among local 3rd-graders, and a measurable improvement in the system of care in place to support Richmond’s elderly. United Ways across the nation officially launched the Community Impact (CI) initiative during 2002. No longer basing success on financial accumulation during short stints, the United Way’s business model for decades, the local units now measure success in terms of change, and across much broader time frames.Benchmarking became the name of the game. “Eyes glaze over when you start talking about systems change,” said United Way of America President and CEO Brian Gallagher of why it’s taken half a decade to see any measurable results from the CI transformation.“I think it’s fair to say that when we started in the beginning of ’02 at the national level, this was an aspiration. And I would say today, that there are very concrete results now that are beginning to show, including fundraising.” According to Gallagher, a small group of local United Ways led the way, such as Dane County, which kicked off its own initiative years prior to the official launch, and United Way of Central Ohio, in Columbus, headed by Gallagher from 1996-2001. “We were working in our communities to identify the four or five most critical human issues (and create) development strategies to address (the issues),” all 1,300 local United Ways committed to this CI mission,” he said. Today, nearly half (46 percent) of those committed to the CI mission have “operationalized.”A study comparing the three stages of the movement showed a 12-percent increase in campaign fundraising associated with being at a higher stage of CI development. (The study applies to a typical Metro 4 local United Ways that raise at least $1 million.) But it’s the measurable differences in the community that United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg CEO Sherrie Brach wants to talk about.And “Eyes glaze over when you start talking about systems change.” — Brian Gallagher said Gallagher.The goal was to “turn those strategies into investment products that donors could invest in, or people could volunteer for, or they could advocate public policy reform around,” he explained. When Gallagher assumed his position at national in January 2002, the United Way system was split between branches that “saw themselves in that mission” and those that were primarily fundraisers.“We sold this, if selling is the right word, and within a 12month period of time we had almost 90 percent of “There is going to be large leadership transition,” Bauer said.“We want to work together to make that transition as smooth as possible.” Bauer sees hope on the horizon, although he cautions that preparation will be crucial in the sector. “Studies show that younger people want leadership positions but don’t want leadership roles as currently defined,” Bauer said. In other words, they don’t want to spend 60 hours a week on the job; they want to have a life outside work. They value their out-of-office time. finally, she can. “One of the biggest challenges is that this is a long-term change,” said Brach.“This is not just something that you can do in one year and you see the difference. It took us five years to start to see some movement.” Richmond began its transition to an impact model nearly seven years ago, first employing an outcomes model.Then in 2001, just prior to UWA’s nationwide launch of CI, the Richmond branch officially moved toward impact. Of the days prior to CI, said Brach,“we were talking at the agency level. And now, with community impact, we’re able to apply the same types of things by looking at community measures and community change indicators. And now we’re moving the needle at the program level.” Richmond has also seen a steady 5 percent bump in fundraising revenue each of the past several years, due in large part to CI, said Brach. The United Way of Dane County launched the impact initiative Schools of Hope in 1996. The objective with Schools of Hope, said Erika Monroe-Kane, director, communications and community engagement, was to address the racial achievement gap in 3rd grade reading in Madison,Wisc., where prior to CI, 25-30 percent of minority students were not meeting the state standards. After seven years, Dane County was able to get that number down to less than 5 percent, said Gallagher, while “the fundraising line and the resource line went directly up the other way.” Added Gallagher,“It’s about funding, but it’s also about so much more than funding.” Gallagher explained that Dane County convened school administrators, school board members, parents, teachers union, nonprofit agencies, even the local media -“keeping visibility on the change,” he said -- and together they designed a set of strategies to close that gap. “The fact is,” explained Gallagher,“education, like child protection, like healthcare, these are big bureaucratic, entrenched systems with lots of players that have been doing things the same way or at least a certain way for a long period of time.” According to Brach, donations were declining prior to the start of the transformation.“I think it United Way, page 18 Help Wanted Continued from page 15 of organizations, also the difficulty of working with boards and volunteers,” Eagan said. “Also, as financial pressures grow, it’s knowing how the economy could be anticipated. Volunteers are increasingly pressed in the amount of time they can devote. That will create even more pressure. There is difficulty down the line, not just filling positions but retaining people.” “Succession, that’s a big topic I hear about now,” said Lewis Brindle, director of the George H. Heyman Jr. Center of Philanthropy and Fundraising at New York University. “Nonprofits themselves and boards of nonprofits and administrators are at a certain age, and there’s the fear – I don’t know if it will be true or not -- that maybe the mission of the organization might not be in touch with the reality now. That might be a reason why people are not chomping at the bit to take over. I haven’t heard a good reason why. “Another issue related to that regards the founder in the organization. How do you comfortably move the organization forward while the founder is still around?” Brindle said there is also a new breed of nonprofit board member, for example people with hedge fund experience, who expect nonprofits to take on new ideas. “Organizations might have to take it up a notch and get in sync with donors,” he said. “Otherwise they’ll be unhappy and they’ll move on.” The Initiative for the Nonprofit Sector is hoping to help address the deficit by addressing transition. 16 Edward Retta, managing partner with Cross Culture Communications, leads cultural diversity training at a Blueprint for Leadership session presented by the Center for Nonprofit Management in Dallas. “It is not that they’re less committed, definitely not. But the younger generation has ways of doing things that look a little different but are no less strong. Before, people were defined by the options available to them, but people now are defined by things like mobility, lifestyle and what technology has made possible,” he said. “Leaders now are more hierarchical, but younger people are more co-worker based. Decision making will be a little different, and organizations are going to have to face that,” said Bauer. NPT THE NONPROFIT TIMES DECEMBER 15, 2007 www.nptimes.com http://www.nptimes.com

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The NonProfit Times - December 15, 2007 Say Hello To 2008, Kissin’ Cousin of 2007 Scandal Ensnares Red Cross CEO Contents Nonprofits Getting A Second Lease On Life Hot Nonprofit Auctions Is It $10, $25 or $100? The World’s Best Fundraisers Turbo-Charged Web Use Help Wanted: 640,000 Open Positions Focus On Community Impact Has United Ways Changing Donor Migration - North Putting That Spark In Your Script NPT Jobs Resource Directory

The NonProfit Times - December 15, 2007

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