LIVE UNITED Y’All!

by Gil Betz

“… I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep…” Robert Frost, Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Promises are very important statements. A promise is a commitment by someone to do or not do something. Promises come in many forms-  affirmations, vows, oaths and the all too familiar “election promises.”

Reflect in your own life about promises. My kids would “promise” to clean their rooms, or get their homework done or wash their hair. And I have promised many times to take out the garbage. Some promises I made years ago, I have kept. Some promises I have not kept. There is great satisfaction when I know I have kept my promise.

I subscribe to the Agitator. The Agitator is a daily blog discussing funding strategies and trends for nonprofit organizations. What follows is an article from the May 12^th 2010 edition of the Agitator. The article is about the importance and value nonprofits can accrue by making “promises” and keeping them.

Go ahead, make a commitment!

That’s the advice of David Kravinchuk at the FLA Group, a Canadian fundraising consultancy.

David argues that few donors these days give out of a sense of duty or obligation or blind trust, as older generations did.

Today’s donors want to see results. If you want their contributions, your nonprofit must promise — then deliver — some kind of results.

And so that leads to David’s advice:

1. When you solicit a gift, promise a specific return on the donor’s investment.
2. When you thank the donor for the gift, re-commit to delivering on the promise.
3. Finally, show the ROI being delivered in as many ways as you can. In your newsletters. On your web site. With email messages. In your next appeal (before you ask again).

He adds: “Promises that are kept build trust, just as they do in your own friend and family relationships. Trust is the first step to loyalty. And in today’s charitable economy, loyalty is the key to your charity’s financial ROI.”

That’s pretty sound advice.

Sure, you can’t promise to cure cancer or end global warming in 90 days. But what can you promise that would represent progress? That you can deliver upon. That signals your willingness to be held accountable for how effectively you will use your donor’s contribution.

What promise is your nonprofit able and willing to make?

So what promise is Metro United Way able and willing to make and keep?

Here are some promises that one of our staff members provided when asked that question:

• We promise to use your donation effectively and efficiently.
• We promise to make your investment go further than any other non-profit can by bringing in over $50 million in resources to our community, investing in 50 programs and services that touch 300,000 people in our community, connecting 60,000 individuals to find the help they need through 2-1-1, feeding 150,000 hungry people, engaging 10,000 volunteers, and advocating for public policies that have a positive impact in providing a better life for all.
• We promise, by 2018, to make sure that all the children in our community arrive in kindergarten ready to succeed AND to improve our community’s high school graduation rate from 73% to 87%.

Now it is your turn. Please respond to this post by suggesting promises you believe Metro United Way should make and keep.

Education, General, Giving Agencies, Children, Community, making a difference, promises

By Judy Schroeder

I’ve seen the research that says that impoverished children can be expected to accomplish as much as 3 times more when the place they call their neighborhood is a mixed income community. Why? No big mystery: communities can supply stability and security for each other where family resources are thin. That “mix” doesn’t even have to be very broad to be the safety net that lifts more children to higher expectations.

What does that mean in a place like Louisville where anyone who has been here even a short time understands that East, West, and South have their own unspoken, separate realities of wealth and family income?

Well, where I live in West Louisville, in a place that averages less than $18,000 annual household income, it means that families on my block – renters and owners – are part of a support system: every time they are walking a neighbor’s child to the bus stop, sharing a ride to the grocery, or passing around the news about better place to shop. Not too different than any other neighborhood, right? You all probably see something like that, especially where there are children.

That’s what I thought when we moved here. It just turns out that it’s even more crucial in a neighborhood like mine.

The time a couple of middle-school girls were helping me with some yard work was a real eye-opener. When I overheard one say to the other, “My Mom says I should eat all of the bread I want between meals when the check runs out,” that was more than just passing information! That was survival training. …I got my reputation for always having fresh fruit in the house that summer.

Through Metro United Way we all contribute to programs at Neighborhood House and the Presbyterian Community Center, or the Boys & Girls Clubs and YMCA, that help sustain that slim support system, stability and security, when families need that extra help. It was a blessing to be able to introduce my girls’ moms to the Kids’ Café, which served nearly 11,500 meals at Neighborhood House last year, and Dare to Care Food Banks which provided an additional 12,000 people with healthy emergency food.

Communities where people care for each other provide children with Hope for Tomorrow. Our network of services are in place, providing both Help for Today and Hope for Tomorrow.

Income Agencies, food security, Kidz Club, Louisville neighborhoods, neighborhood work, Participating Agencies

By John Nevitt

We’ve all faced difficult circumstances in our lives at one time or another for ourselves or our loved ones – perhaps it was the loss of a close friend or family member, facing a severe financial hardship, dealing with chemical dependency, living with an illness or disability, or countless other types of circumstances. Though the details are as different as each one of us, there are many common thoughts and emotions that frequently surface such as – what am I going to do, who can I turn to for help, how will I keep everything together? In difficult times, we all need someone we can count on.

I always know who my true friends are when such situations arise because they are the ones who stand beside me and offer support. Good friends transcend the circumstances of everyday life. However, when experts are needed, it’s good to know that there are caring professionals just a phone call away – Metro United Way’s network of health and human service organizations.

Though I had been a donor to Metro United Way for many years, I hadn’t thought I would be a part of the two-in-three people in our regional community who access Metro United Way supported services in my lifetime.

However, in recent years, I have been the beneficiary of these compassionate agencies and programs on several occasions, with each interaction bringing home their value in no uncertain terms.

Several years ago, when my mom began showing signs of progressive dementia, I turned to GuardiaCare Services for guidance. Not only did I get a list of personal care and housing options to consider, I also had the support of an empathetic professional who, through her exceptional listening skills, understood what I was thinking, how I was feeling, and what I needed, in addition to the pertinent and timely information that was given to me. In short, I felt like I was treated as a whole person, not just as someone who had a specific need to be fulfilled.

Each year, MUW funds over 80 organizations and 150 programs, like Guardia Care Services, which provides a variety of services for fragile seniors and others. When times get tough, it’s good to know that we have a vital network of Metro United Way participating agencies that give us the guidance we need while tending to us as whole persons. I salute the staff of our participating agencies and programs who so capably represent the caring power of our community.<

Giving, Health Agencies, donor, human needs, making a difference

By John Sands

It’s the weekend and you may be thinking it is time to get your “party” on.  There are so many options to choose from in our great city and certainly many that will provide you with great entertainment.  But what better way to party, than to party with a purpose? 

Tomorrow night the Louisville Urban League will host it’s annual Diversity Soirêe in the Galt House East Ballroom at 6pm.  In addition to honoring two men who have dedicated their lives and careers to community involvement and impact, they are also honoring E.-ON U.S.  for it’s commitment to diversity and inclusion in all aspects of it’s operations. 

The event is being sponsored by Fifth Third Bank.   I don’t know if you caught this, but we have one of Metro United Way’s largest contributors sponsoring an event by a member agency (LUL) and honoring another outstanding contributor to Metro United Way (E.ON U.S.).  How exciting is that? 

The League has an exciting evening planned with an ecclectic mix of entertainment that ranges from Irish/Celtic and Flemenco dancing to Salsa and Gospel music.  Too fun!  And where could you find all of this in one evening? 

You’ll dance the night away with great music and other fine entertainment.  All the while knowing your ticket contributions will go toward helping the Louisville Urban League continue it’s work of building strong, economically stable families and successful school-aged children.

For more information on this great event and how you may purchase tickets, check out the League’s website at www.lul.org

So go ahead and get your “Soirêe” on!

Events, General Agencies, Live United, making a difference

By Jan Sherrell

So what happens after I make a gift to Metro United Way’s Community Action Fund?

I like to think of the Community Action Fund as an “investment in our community.” For example: the money that comes out of my paycheck for retirement gets invested by experts, people that know the market and do that work for a living. Donations to the Community Action Fund are the same - those dollars are invested by staff and volunteers who study community needs, agencies that provide help for people and the work that those agencies do.

A minimal amount of these dollars help fund special initiatives in the counties we serve (the majority of funding for these projects comes from other sources). Every county has a committee of local volunteers who help determine the right focus for their community. Some examples are dental screenings, developmental asset surveys, or financial stability education.

The great majority of Community Action Fund dollars go to agencies to help meet a broad range of needs in our regional community. Before dollars are routed to agencies, their performance and general health are reviewed.

A group of volunteers called the Program Review Team makes funding recommendations. The Program Review Team is recruited for their skills and knowledge about a range of community issues such as education, mental health, measuring outcomes and passion for the community. They review written reports that agencies submit, called Investment Proposals. These 10-40 page documents (!!!) detail an agency’s challenges, successes, learnings and the work they do. Volunteers learn even more by visiting the agencies, meeting clients and board members.

Here is a sampling of the information collected in agency Investment Proposals:

• Financial stability
• Efforts to identify, maximize and leverage resources
• Collaborations
• Results - changes in the clients’ lives
• Clients served and client conditions
• What an agency has learned from the past year
• Diversity and Inclusion

It is wonderful when something volunteers learned from one agency can be shared with another agency. There have been many such occasions. Agency A had luck garnering a grant so we made the connection for them to share their experience with agency B, or data that agency C collected proved valuable to agency D doing similar work.

Metro United Way funds outcomes – which is the change in a person’s life. Funding may go to increase a youth’s school attendance through a mentoring program, or to better inform a father on how to deal with his son’s addiction. These changes are tracked and reported for our review.

These comments from Jefferson Alcohol & Drug Abuse Center director, Diane Hague, really explain outcomes best.

When we first started attending Metro United Way  trainings about outcomes, my first reaction was “More hoops to jump through for Metro United Way.” After looking at what we would need to do in order to conform to the new requirements about outcomes, the light bulb came on. I understood. Why would anyone want to pay for something if they didn’t know what the outcomes were? We began looking at what we wanted for outcomes and what the best way was to gather that info. Then another light bulb- why not do this for all of our programs? So we have Metro United Way to thank for jump starting us into thinking about what it was we were looking for in terms of outcomes in all of our programs.

How do we know we are truly making a change in the clients’ lives?  We continue to make needed changes as a result of the survey responses.”

Keep an eye out for future blog posts where we’ll talk more about how we fund Metro United Way’s own initiatives such as Success By 6 and 2-1-1!

What other funding questions to you have?

Giving, Volunteering Agencies, agency funding, Community Action Fund, investments, Program Review Team

By Jan Sherrell

Trying to name one volunteer to blog about during April, Metro United Way Volunteer Month, is like asking me to name my favorite kid. It is even harder because I have two kids, making that a 50/50 choice, and I have about 45 volunteers, making it a real tough choice.

When I first started at Metro United Way, I viewed volunteers as just one more task to take care of on my list. I would make reminder phone calls, make sure all their materials were prepped, and perhaps cater to them by having their favorite diet Big Red on hand for meetings.

Now after nine years of watching the dynamics of volunteers, I recognize they are catering to US at Metro United Way. They are bringing their valuable resources of time and experience to serve the community through Metro Untied Way by participating in the agency review process I help facilitate. These generous volunteers read 20 page reports, drive across town and find parking, all to engage in sometimes difficult conversations.

Volunteers bring such insight, life experience and topical knowledge to these conversations and decisions. I really enjoy getting to know my volunteers. They become more than a means to an end; they become friends.

I won’t use the word favorite, because that might hurt the feelings of my other 44 volunteers, but Judy Lyons is one of my “strongest” volunteers. She is a retired agency director, and that gives her unique insight to agency reviews. She is also a sweet soul; she can find the volunteers in the room feeling less confident and sure and buddy right up to them and mentor them along. When in committee, she brings the conversation back around to where it needs to be and is generous in helping us understand all the challenges faced by agencies and their clients. She seems to really enjoy volunteering and intentionally makes time for it in her busy retired life.

So now instead of feeling like I’m catering to a volunteer when I make sure they have hot fresh coffee, or resend them documents they’ve misplaced, I totally recognize they are catering to me by being a strong important part of Metro United Way work.

Does your work involve volunteers? Do you have a favorite? Or perhaps you are the volunteer – do you have a favorite staff?

General, Volunteering Agencies, appreciation, community service, making a difference, Metro United Way

By Jan Sherrell

In my role at Metro United Way, reviewing the agencies we invest in – I’m seeing an openness to change in the agencies like never before. Times are tough, budgets are down and needs are up. I’m seeing agencies building a board of savvy business-minded professionals that bring their business acumen to nonprofits. Nonprofit boards and directors are working to run the agency like a business to guarantee its survival in these tough economic times. I’m also seeing them embrace technology as a better way to meet their needs and needs of their clients. Goodwill Bridgepointe Services in Southern Indiana is pursuing both of the above changes.

Goodwill operates Children’s Academy, an early childhood center; Career Services, a job training and placement for adults with disabilities and several other programs vital to the community. Their budget is 86% funded by sales at their thrift stores. Goodwill has recognized that some items of value are being sold dirt cheap in their stores and that the internet could help put those items in front of a broader audience. Hence the creation of ShopGoodwill.com. The site works like eBay and items can be sorted by category, store or ending bid date. Everything you purchase is coming from a Goodwill store to support their services. Don’t worry- there are still plenty of deals waiting for you in the stores also!

Beth Hammond, a college student, is in charge of ShopGoodwill in Southern Indiana. She operates out of the Clarksville Goodwill store, and communicates with all eleven Southern Indiana Goodwill stores. ShopGoodwill encourages Goodwill stores to send them donations that are of higher caliber than your typical Goodwill fare- jewelry, artwork, instruments, designer clothing. They are looking for items that could sell for a lot more than five or ten dollar items on the sales floor.

ShopGoodwill associates then do their research. Beth spends hours every day scouring Google and eBay for information regarding the things she gets sent. Beth said,

I actually find that the most enjoyable part of the job- I always feel like Indiana Jones when I discover something really interesting. For example, last week one store sent me up a couple of tiny red bottles. They were carved and had Chinese characters on the bottom. After an extensive search, it turns out these were Cinnabar snuff bottles, detailed in ancient Chinese, that were popular back in Imperial China. So you never know what you are going to find.

After researching, the associate will list the item. They take pictures, measure it, and clean it; anything that needs to be done to make sure the item is presentable. They list it on the site with appropriate information, and sit back and watch! “I always love the day that items come down. Around here, we call it the bid-war. Especially with the more popular items, every time you refresh the page, the bid has gone up! It’s a lot of fun to watch” Beth shared.

ShopGoodwill buyers are encouraged to contact the sellers before purchasing anything to ask questions. Beth spends time conversing with different customers, describing each item in minute detail, sending additional pictures, or just taking care of problems. With the goal of making sure each customer is satisfied, not only with the product, but also with the information given them about it.

Besides increased revenue, the stores are rewarded with a prize ribbon. It’s a simple thing, really, but the stores love competing with each other to send in the most expensive item or make the most money for the month. Last month Southern Indiana Goodwill’s highest item was a Tenor Saxophone that sold for over five hundred dollars. I’m sure the buyer was thrilled with the purchase and Goodwill had more funds to better serve the community and their clients. So again, change is what keeps us alive, so in addition to eBay – check out ShopGoodwill.com next time you go online for a little “retail therapy.”

General Agencies, eBay, Goodwill, shopping, shopping online

By Jan Sherrell

photo by David Reece - click for link

It feels like Metro United Way is in the midst of big changes and changes are unsettling. Wednesday I had a flash of a moment that encouraged me – that change is positive … in due time.

Over 5 years ago Metro United Way rocked our agency world by implementing new submission requirements – asking for outcomes and indicators of all our programs. We wanted to know what changed in the clients’ lives and how did agencies know that change happened. We were met with much resistance and it was a “change is tough” time.

Wednesday I facilitated a meeting at Jefferson Alcohol & Drug Abuse Center (JADAC) to review their year of service Metro United Way funded. I had such an affirming comment from the director, Diane Hague. JADAC houses a substance abuse treatment center with a $6.5 million budget. Metro United Way funds $27,780 for their Concerned Persons program. This is a program that JADAC feels is imperative for friends and family of the addict. It teaches them what is helpful behavior and what is not supportive behavior when dealing with addicted loved ones.

Diane’s comment was:

When we first started attending the Metro United Way info meetings and trainings about outcomes, indicators, etc, etc, my first reaction was —“More hoops to jump through for Metro United Way.” I even went so far as to think—“Is it worth it for us to have to do all of this for the amount of money we get from Metro United Way?” Finally after the training and looking at what we would need to do for our Metro United Way program in order to conform to the new requirements about outcomes, the light bulb came on. I understood. Why would anyone want to pay for something if they didn’t know what the outcomes were? We began looking at what we wanted for outcomes in our Metro United Way program and what was the best way to gather that info.

We decided the best way to get the info about the outcomes was to ask the participants. We were already doing client satisfaction surveys so we added our outcome indicator questions on those surveys.

Then another light bulb, why not do this for all of our programs? We were giving out client satisfaction surveys in all of our programs, why not ask outcome indicator questions for all programs on these surveys? We started with a few programs and then expanded to all programs and even expanded the number of indicator questions in many programs. We now have a whole report called Outcome Predictor Responses which shows each program and its 2 to 10 indicators and responses by quarter. We review this report every quarter in our Quality Improvement committee and make changes in programming as a result.

So we have Metro United Way to thank for jump starting us into thinking about what was it we were looking for in terms of outcomes in all of our programs. How do we know we are truly making a change in the client’s lives? We continue to make needed changes as a result of the survey responses

So a belated very big thank you to Metro United Way for this initiative!!!!!!

General Agencies, change, outcomes

by Cindy Lehnert

I have a friend whose family seems to be in a constant state of turmoil.  Old wounds run deep and any current disagreement reopens the deepest wounds.  As an outsider looking in, it would seem that the foundation of the family structure is in danger of collapsing and needs to be repaired.

We all have our issues and arguments to be sure.  The key to survival as a family is to not let the tiny repairable cracks turn into foundation-threatening fissures.  Family disagreements hurt not only the parties involved, but other members of the family who feel torn between their loved ones.  When the feud is so bitter that one person stops communication altogether, it is particularly painful because the family members not directly involved lose contact with that person as well.

Soothing the hurt and repairing the damage done takes work and the first step is to make the decision to put forth the effort.  Healing a family requires a commitment.  This is especially true if the issue has not been fully resolved.  You need to find a way to see and understand the other’s point of view.  You don’t have to agree with it, but you do need to try to understand it.  Then find a connection and communicate.

Lack of communication allows cracks to open wider and foundations to begin to crumble.  Listening and hearing are vitally important.  We can talk all we want, but if no one is listening, there is no communication.  If face to face communication is too difficult, try talking on the phone, by email or letter.  Attend family functions and share good news and heartbreaks.  It is important to minimize the cracks and maintain as many good relationships as possible.

The goal is to attain a level of reconciliation, not resolve old wounds.  For this process you will need to have realistic expectations.  Resolution will take time and effort.  You will have small wins, like spending Thanksgiving dinner peacefully or spending an hour or two chatting about nothing in particular.

Learn from your experiences and make sure that things don’t get out of hand again.  If you need help, don’t be afraid to ask.  It is never too late.  Call Metro United Way 2-1-1 and let them know what you need.  They and many other Metro United Way supported agencies are there to help people just like you.

Photo Credit: vtbrak

General, Health 2-1-1, Agencies, Family