May 15, 2008
United Way of America Outlines 10-Year Plan
By Elizabeth Schwinn
The United Way of America today announced a 10-year effort that focuses on three goals: improving the health, education and finances of working families across the country.
At a conference in Baltimore attended by officials from 500 local United Ways and other organizations, the national association announced the following goals it hopes to reach by 2018:
- Cut in half high-school dropout rates across the United States.
- Cut in half the number of families with working parents who don’t earn enough to cover the family’s basic expenses.
- Increase by one-third the number of Americans who are healthy and avoid risky behaviors.
“These targets are building blocks for a good life,” said Brian A. Gallagher, United Way of America’s president. “You need a quality education that leads to a stable job, enough income to support a family, and good health.” The United Way will provide an update every two years on its progress toward meeting the three goals, he said.
A report released today by the United Way finds that one in four working parents do not earn enough to support their families, and one in four teens will not graduate high school on time.
Only one in three adults can be considered healthy, once risk factors such as obesity are taken into account, according to data compiled by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Atlanta, the report noted.
Broad Effort
The United Way’s new focus seeks to bring the country together to work on the goals, Mr. Gallagher said. Charities can’t do it alone.
“We’re not going to social-service our way out of this,” he said. The United Way and 17 other large national charities, including the YMCA and Boys and Girls Clubs of America, have agreed to coordinate their work more closely in local areas.
The United Way also must attract more volunteers and redouble its efforts to advocate for government dollars to support its priorities, he added.
In recent years, “we got out of the public-policy business and the volunteerism business,” Mr. Gallagher said. “This new agenda calls for us to get much more deeply involved again.”
He said that United Way of America would continue to press federal officials to increase funds for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which state lawmakers have said is inadequately supported, and the amount of the earned income tax credit by which low-income families can claim deductions.
The effort, under which local United Ways would insist that the charities they support set and achieve measurable progress toward the three goals, represents substantial change for the nation’s 1,293 local United Ways.
‘Community Impact’
Previous experience suggests that redirecting the behemoth organization will be difficult. In 2002, the national organization encouraged local United Ways to try a new approach, which the charity dubbed “community impact.” It called on them to focus on specific, locally identified problems, and to work with nonprofit groups to reach measurable goals.
The effort signaled a shift from the more traditional approach in which United Ways acted as fund-raising conduits that passed money to a wide range of nonprofit groups. In the years since the change in focus, more than 85 percent of the local groups have said they are making progress toward the new approach but only 30 percent have fully completed the transition.
The new 10-year plan is a continuation of that work, and United Way officials said they hoped the goals would spur more United Ways to adopt the community-impact approach.
Mr. Gallagher said he expects only about 20 percent of local organizations to immediately adopt the new goals, and that another 15 to 20 percent may never do so. For the rest, he said, change will take time.
$300 Savings
In the report released today, “Goals for the Common Good,” the United Way identifies several indicators that it says charities can use to show they are making progress toward the larger goals. For example, in order for more working families to achieve financial stability, they will need to build savings of $300, get out of debt, and increase their incomes, all outcomes a charity can measure.
Although the goals appear far narrower than traditional United Way efforts, Mr. Gallagher said he expects that most existing recipients of United Way funds will be able to qualify for continued aid under one of them. For example, a group that helps the elderly can focus on those who are working but in financial straits. However, he said, many charities will have to change their approach.
“I’m not trying to sugarcoat the change this is going to mean for our partners,” he said. “Activity is not going to be enough anymore, saying we served 200,000 seniors last year. The question is, what are we doing to increase the financial stability of seniors?”
The United Way, which is based in Alexandria, Va., has created a new Web site to help coordinate its work toward the goals. A copy of the new report is available on the Web site.
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While this is similar to the Washington Post article, the Chronicle states that the UW of America ED -“expects 15 to 20 percent of local organizations to immediately adopt the new goals, and that another 15 to 20 percent will never do so. For the rest, he said, change will take time.”
— john ansbro May 15, 01:09 PM #
This hub-bub about change will amount to a repackaging job by local charity recipients to win funding. That’s about all. This sounds like another “sizzle, no steak” idea from UW of America. It’s hard to take them seriously.
— phil May 15, 04:11 PM #
The point is not to take United Way of America more seriously. The point is to get doubly serious at policy and local community levels about the issues United Way of America staked out. Maybe the goals are not audacious enough. If they are, and the goals ignite or intensify social movements supporting them, then I applaud United Way America for its vision.
— Stephen May 17, 07:48 AM #
The point is not that these aren’t laudable goals for society. The point is do we really need another advocate for public policy? And why would anyone consider the United Way as an appropriate vehicle for this purpose. This is just another example of why the United Way needs to be uncoupled from employee workplace fund drives. It’s not a charity anymore. It’s a lobbying firm masquerading as a charity.
— The Untied Way May 20, 02:40 PM #
A lobbying firm masquerading as a charity? You have got to be blind or stupid (or both!). While UW of America does have 4 paid lobbyists or so on staff (form 900 or congressional lobbying reports tell you that much), why not pull up a seat at the table when Congress is the single most funder when it comes to heath and human service needs? Why not, under one umbrella for all 1300 United Ways, advocate on behalf of the programs they fund. WHY? United Ways raise roughtly 6% of what the government funds. Whether or not government should be funding these programs is not the issue. The issue is that they are so really, I don’t get why United Way is now a “K Street” type firm…
— StakeHolder May 22, 02:43 PM #
the most obvious unhealthy habits in U.S.A. R overeating and smoking what steps R U suggesting that we as a local group can take to effect these habits????
— myles a frank May 22, 05:55 PM #
7. Even though a needs assessment done last year for my local United Way supports the view that substance abuse is the root cause of most social ills in my area, the local United Way is one of those that doesn’t follow United Way of America’s suggestions for how to use local money. So no funding goes to help treat and prevent substance abuse. When will United Way of America put some oomph behind their directives? I direct an agency that could desperately use that funding to work with addicts in recovery and yet the same grouping of agencies get all the funding, year after year. No new funding applications are accepted by our United Way. Why the closed society?
— Lisa Dibble May 24, 07:50 AM #
While I continue to applaud UW for all of their efforts I still find it interesting that they continues to use the “health related” buzz words and yet in many states they refuse to work with organizations like Community Health Charities whose only focus is the health issues. When will UW realize that they can not be all things to all communities and embrace the fact that other federation models can compliment their efforts not hinder them. Instead of recreating themselves yet again maybe federations like UW and CHC should sit down together and find out how we can all improve the lives of the people we serve. No one can do this alone.
— joan May 24, 10:35 AM #
When a local area has a strong Volunteer Center and a strong I & R/211 program, why should the local UW try to duplicate these services supposedly because UWA says they have to?
— Joe Valentine May 24, 01:40 PM #
Most local United Ways have virtually no expertise or internal resources to seriously impact the new focus dictates of United Way of America. This appears to be a “justify my big paycheck” effort to promote a National organization that has seriously lost its way. LIVE UNITED ?? What the heck does that mean ??
— pete May 28, 09:41 AM #
Fact: Most everyone in non-profit America knows the UW lost its way a long, long time ago. This is yet another step toward irrelevancy. BG move to fund what Govt already funds smacks in the face of most donors and most americans who feels Govt has taken enough $. Too bad.
— ed Jun 1, 12:31 PM #