Transcript United Way of America Brand Identity Presentation

What Is Community Impact?
Topics
Why United Way needs a new approach to
improving lives
The elements of “community impact”
Changing community conditions to improve lives
Final thoughts
What is Community Impact?
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Topics
Why United Way needs a new approach to
improving lives
The elements of “community impact”
Changing community conditions to improve lives
Final thoughts
What is Community Impact?
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Mission of the United Way System
To improve lives by mobilizing
the caring power of communities
What is Community Impact?
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United Way’s Traditional Approach
to Improving Lives
Mobilizing
communities
support services
that
to
for individuals
 and families 
financial resources of
businesses and
employees
What is Community Impact?
improve lives
of program clients
DIRECT IMPACT
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Many Problems in Our Communities
are Getting Worse
 Rent affordability
 Children with a single parent
 Low-birthweight babies
 Hard drug use in high school
 Cigarette use by adults
 Trust in others
 Community giving
 Voter turnout
Source: United Way State of Caring Index, 2004
What is Community Impact?
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Many Factors Contribute to
Pressing Community Issues
Economic
conditions
Public
attitudes
Historical
trends
Media
messages
Public sector
practices
Health care
system practices
Private sector
practices
Neighborhood
conditions
Educational
system practices
System
relationships
Family
Personal
choices characteristics
What is Community Impact?
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Most Direct-service Programs Address
Only One or Two Factors
Family
Personal
choices characteristics
What is Community Impact?
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Addressing Those Pressing Issues Requires
New Approaches and Additional Partners
Economic
conditions
Public
attitudes
Historical
trends
Media
messages
Public sector
practices
Health care
system practices
Private sector
practices
Neighborhood
conditions
Educational
system practices
System
relationships
Family
Personal
choices characteristics
What is Community Impact?
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New Model for Improving Lives
Uses Two Approaches
COMMUNITY IMPACT
people, time, talent,
relationships, expertise,
technology, money, etc.
Mobilizing
communities
create lasting
changes in
community
conditions
to
financial resources of
businesses and
employees
of community
populations
that
support services
for individuals
and families
improve lives
of program clients
DIRECT IMPACT
What is Community Impact?
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Topics
Why United Way needs a new approach to
improving lives
The elements of “community impact”
Changing community conditions to improve lives
Final thoughts
What is Community Impact?
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Community Impact is . . .
Mobilizing
communities
What is Community Impact?
to

create lasting
changes in
community
conditions
that

improve lives
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Mobilizing
communities
. . . to identify pressing community issues,
agree on priorities, create partnerships,
develop change strategies, activate
needed resources
For example:
• Meeting with neighborhood residents to identify their concerns and assets
• Working with advocates for homeless families on setting priorities for action
• Partnering with residents and experts to pinpoint root causes of and
promising responses to family violence
• Convening strategic partners to develop a plan to provide transportation for
disabled persons
• Collaborating with opinion leaders to raise awareness of isolated seniors
• Engaging the 2-1-1 service to enlist interested people and organizations in
advocating for quality child care
• Linking investors concerned about health care access with efforts to
address the issue
What is Community Impact?
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Mobilizing
communities
to

create lasting
changes in
community
conditions
For example:
• Four neighborhood banks change lending practices to increase
the supply of quality affordable housing
• Eleven businesses provide regular and varied internship and
apprenticeship opportunities for youth
• Junior League, Kiwanis, and other civic groups provide volunteers
and other resources to early literacy efforts
• Neighborhood associations in three high-crime areas influence
the city council to provide funds for improved street lighting
• State and city governments enact new policies and allocate
added funds for quality early childhood education
• Public attitudes toward child abuse become less tolerant
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Mobilizing
communities
to

create lasting
changes in
community
conditions
that

improve lives
For example:
• Low-income children in pilot school districts reach targeted
developmental benchmarks
• Families of workers without health insurance have preventive health care
• High school juniors and seniors demonstrate commitment to community
involvement
• Homeless families are in quality transitional housing
• Workers laid off in company closings develop needed technical and
educational skills
• Residents of high-crime neighborhoods experience increased safety
• Home-bound seniors in central-city high-rises have nutritional, social, and
medical support
What is Community Impact?
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Community impact is . . .
Mobilizing
communities
What is Community Impact?
to

create lasting
changes in
community
conditions
that

improve lives
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United Way of Chittenden County, Burlington, VT
The Burlington Truancy Project
Mobilizing the caring power of the community...

A Truancy Task Force – non-profit service providers,
school district, police department, school administrators,
juvenile court judges, attorneys, child protection agencies,
and the United Way – convened to address the school
district’s high dropout rates.

Task Force partners developed a coordinated response to
truancy.

United Way provided financial and other resources and
leveraged funds from community stakeholders to support
community dropout-reduction strategies.
What is Community Impact?
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United Way of Chittenden County, Burlington, VT
The Burlington Truancy Project
… to create lasting changes in community conditions ...



The Burlington School District instituted new truancy
policies and procedures. It now tracks student absences
closely and follows up with every student who drops out
to offer alternative educational opportunities.
The Juvenile Court, cooperating with the State’s Attorney,
now reserves monthly court time to hear truancy cases.
Vermont state agencies, such as the Department of Social
and Rehabilitative Services, now provide all truant students
with services that remove barriers to school attendance.
What is Community Impact?
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United Way of Chittenden County, Burlington, VT
The Burlington Truancy Project
…and improve lives.

The Burlington School District dropout rate has fallen by
two thirds, from 10% in 1999 to 3.5% in 2004.
12.0%
Dropout Rate for Burlington School District Students
10.0%
10.0%
8.0%
6.4%
6.0%
5.0%
4.2%
4.0%
3.5%
2.0%
0.0%
1999
What is Community Impact?
2001
2002
2003
2004
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Topics
Why United Way needs a new approach to improving
lives
The elements of “community impact”
Changing community conditions to improve lives
Final thoughts
What is Community Impact?
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Community
Systems
Individuals
& families
What is Community Impact?
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Program
clients
What is Community Impact?
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Individuals
& families
What is Community Impact?
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Community
Systems
Individuals
& families
What is Community Impact?
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Changes in Personal Networks -- Examples
• Parents and other caregivers use everyday
moments to encourage early learning
• Friends and family members know to call 2-1-1
for information about local resources
• Parents, teachers and friends know signs of
serious depression in teens and how to offer help
• Neighbors routinely clear snow and ice from
steps and walks of elderly residents
• Friends don’t let friends drive drunk
What is Community Impact?
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Changes in Neighborhoods -- Examples
• Vacant lots are cleaned up and outfitted with
safe and sturdy playground equipment
• Neighborhood-based businesses are flourishing
• Housing is safe and complies with local codes
• Decent-paying jobs are available in the
neighborhood
• Residents take action if they see suspicious or
illegal activity
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Changes in Organizations -- Examples
• Businesses make time and space available for
financial literacy seminars
• Service providers have staff and materials
appropriate to clients’ language and culture
• Faith groups provide vans to transport low-income
citizens to prenatal and immunization services
• Pizza parlors serve as drop-off sites for ongoing
books-for-children program
• Civic groups work with 2-1-1 to develop year-long
volunteer projects related to a pressing community
issue
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Changes in Systems -- Examples
• The human services system engages all service
providers in connecting low-income families with
services and supports to grow family assets
• Public, private, and nonprofit sectors join to develop
a coordinated community crisis response system
• The juvenile court system helps prevent drop-outs
by treating truancy as a serious offense
• The school board and dental association collaborate
to operate dental clinics in schools
• A State senate committee votes to broaden access
to rehabilitative services for persons with disabilities
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Two Notes
 We would not pursue these or other community changes
because they seemed like “a good idea.”
We would pursue them because careful analysis shows
that they will be effective approaches to improving lives.
 The choice is not either direct services or community
changes.
Both may be included in comprehensive strategies to
improve lives.
What is Community Impact?
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Partnering to Achieve Community Impact
Targeted
community
outcomes
Needed changes in community conditions
Coordinated community change plan
Community assets/partners/investors
Institutions
Associations
Corporations
Networks Individuals
What is Community Impact?
Neighborhoods
United Way
Faith community
Agencies
Labor groups
Foundations
Academia
etc.
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Topics
Why United Way needs a new approach to
improving lives
The elements of “community impact”
Changing community conditions to improve lives
Final thoughts
What is Community Impact?
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Community Impact ...
 Is not just about improving lives of clients of
United Way-funded programs
 Is about improving lives of people affected by
pressing community issues
 Is not just about influencing the health and
human services sector
 Is about influencing whatever sectors, systems,
networks, groups, or environments can play a
role in improving lives in our communities
 Is not just the job of certain United Way functions
(e.g., fund distribution, community building)
 Is the business of the entire organization
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United Way:
Aligned to Achieve Community Impact
Targeted
community
outcomes
United Way’s roles in community-change efforts
Aligned organizational resources
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Related Resources on United Way Online
• Aligning for Impact (keyword: Alignment)
• Community Initiatives: Tracking Progress and Results (keyword:
CITracking)
• Community Investment Triangle: A Tool for Transformation
(keyword: CITriangle)
• Connecting Program Outcome Measurement to Community Impact
(keyword: POM-CI)
• Hometown Literacy Partnership Experience (keyword: Hometown)
• Ogre Story (keyword: Ogre)
• Redefining Agency Relationships for Community Impact (keyword:
RedefineAgency)
• The Road to Community Impact: Changing Direction (keyword:
ChangingDirection)
• Six That Got Results and How They Did It (keyword:
SixThatGotResults)
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