United Way to make changes
BUTLER TWP — The United Way of Butler County has hired a Michigan consulting firm as it begins a sweeping change about how it frames its work in the community, seeks donors and distributes money to partner agencies.
The change will be a shift from the current, fundraising-based model to an issue-focused campaign that highlights a single, longer term goal and focuses financial resources on that one issue.
However, it will not affect the way the organization does business.
“We are literally at the very, very beginning of a process that could take anywhere from 18 months to three years,” said Kierston Hobaugh, the executive director of the United Way.
To help with the transition, the United Way has hired Perspectives Consulting that deals exclusively with United Way chapters looking to make the kind of change board members of Butler County’s chapter approved Thursday.
Hobaugh said the contract with Perspectives will cost $24,450 and will likely last until late this year when the organization expects to have identified the single issue it wants to highlight and have a plan developed for the transition. Hobaugh said she will seek grants to try and defray some of the cost of the contract, but that process is in the early stages.
The transition is expected to include contacting partner agencies, donor businesses and the public, Hobaugh said. She called the change an opportunity for the United Way to refine its message and to appeal better to younger donors and volunteers.
“We know there are so many needs. There are always going to be so many needs,” Hobaugh said. “But where do we want to start and focus the greatest amount of time and financial support, and where can we make the greatest difference for the community for the longest term?”
Hobaugh said she believes a full transition to the new model could take up to two years, and the United Way’s fundraising campaigns and grant award processes would remain the same during that time.
However, ultimately, the focus of the fundraising campaigns, which currently highlight an annual dollar benchmark, would shift to how the donations are used and track annual progress made on whatever initiative the United Way decides to address.
For the 2014-15 annual campaign, United Way met its goal of $1.425 million. That money was used to fund in part 26 programs at 20 partner agencies in the county. The agency also distributed about $550,000 in donor-designated funds to specific agencies.
For its 2015-16 campaign, the United Way has a goal of $1.43 million. The deadline to raise that money is June 30.
Hobaugh said the shift is in line with what the organization is seeing and hearing from donors, who are more and more interested in donating to specific causes. The shift won’t change how the United Way goes about fundraising, she said.
Hobaugh also said she doesn’t foresee staffing changes soon, but she added in three to five years the organization might need to consider hiring an additional staff member to oversee program outcomes.
It’s not clear what the shift could ultimately mean for the agencies and organizations currently partnered with and receiving funding from the United Way. Hobaugh said it would be up to the board to decide how or if agencies’ missions intersect with whatever issue the organization selects as its focus.
“I don’t necessarily see it being a drastic change in who we’re working with,” she said.
The organization’s decision mirrors shifts made by United Way chapters in counties like Mercer, where the chapter decided to focus on eliminating poverty and brought in Perspectives to help with a similar shift in its annual fundraising and donation operations.
Gary Goscenski, a consultant with Perspectives who met with Butler board members in February, said consultants will meet with board members at least twice more in person and spend the next several months talking with donors and partner agencies about the issues facing the county.
“It’s really a 360 degree look at how the United Way can best meet the needs of Butler County ... and have the most impact,” he said of the report Perspectives would prepare.
Goscenski stressed the move isn’t financially motivated.
“Sometimes United Ways come to us in crisis ... that is not the case in the case of the United Way of Butler County,” he said. “This is a board and a staff that are thinking about ... ‘How can we most effectively do what we’re doing?’”
