Q: Why are you doing this?
A: It’s important that United Way of York County is mindful of the changing needs of our community. We took a deep dive into understanding what other programs and services are provided by organizations in our community. We also want to know how we can make the biggest impact in our community. Changing donor-giving preference and the changing corporate landscape requires United Way of York County to evolve to remain relevant to a new generation of donors. The research indicated a single focus would make for a stronger One York Community.
Q: Why are donors more likely to support this?
A: In today’s giving landscape, there are more non-profits and more access to giving than ever before. Studies have consistently found that donors support specific issues rather than broad goals and are looking to see direct impact from their giving. Becoming issue focused will allow us to better do both those things.
Q: What happens to currently funded programs that don’t fit the new focus?
A: United Way of York County has already started working to identify which programs and partner agencies might need to find new revenue sources because of this change. We know that can take some time, which is why the transition to our new focus area will be gradual over the next several years. United Way of York County will meet with development directors at those non-profits to support finding new funding sources.
Q: Have other United Way organizations gone through this process?
A: Since the 1980s, United Way organizations across the U.S. have had to change their focus area depending on the needs of the community — and many of them have adopted a single focus. Perspectives Consulting Group, which has worked alongside United Way of York County this year, has partnered with hundreds of United Ways in its 30 years of experience. United Way of Erie is an example of a Pennsylvania United Way that has been on this journey successfully for a decade.
Q: How will you continue to communicate the transition plan?
A: We will communicate regularly with our partner agencies, donors, stakeholders, and the community as the transition plan is further developed. We know that transparency is an important factor of this process, and it is a top priority for us to keep communication lines open.
Q. How will you track outcomes?
A. We will choose outcomes and indicators to measure our success. We will continue to have an annual allocation process that involves the community and requires programs to submit the same measurements of success across to board so we can ensure that we maintain the high-quality outcomes people associate with United Way programs.
Q. Last year you served 58,000 why are you only serving 8,000 now?
A. There are two reasons to the number change. Historically, we’ve counted individuals served rather than households. Going forward, we will serve households that could have more than one person in them. We will also be setting a higher bar for who we count. Rather than counting everyone that received service hours from our partners, we will be aiming to lift 8,000 households to a sustainable budget meaning they are no longer at risk of falling into poverty.
Q. What will happen to the gifts to this year’s campaign?
A. The dollars raised during the 2022 campaign will be given out to our 34 partner agencies to fund the same 63 programs that we’ve supported in the past. Funding will be based on the results of the 2022 Campaign.
Q. What will you do if the transition does not go well?
A. Our first and deepest commitment is to improving the lives of all people in our One York Community. If it becomes clear that we are not able to serve our community with this model, we will make the changes necessary to do so.