CBJ's 2019 Giving Guide

Community engagement
a priority for United Way
of East Central Iowa
Over two days in October, employees
at Collins Aerospace
prepared 22,258 meal packs
for children and 1,600 hygiene
kits for use at local shelters.
In addition to providing weekend
meals for those children and meeting the
needs of area homeless shelters, it was
the kind of community-engagement effort
the United Way of East Central Iowa
has made a priority in recent years.
“Donors today want to see direct links
between what they’re giving and what
they feel is worthy of their time,” said Tim
Stiles, UWECI’s president and CEO. “That
gets them more likely to support with
their dollars as well as with their time.”
The Collins project was part of
UWECI’s 63,886 volunteer hours last
year performed by 3,247 people – more
than $1.5 million worth, in addition to
cash donations.
“Everybody has more limited dollars,
so they want to see what they’re giving
to is making the biggest difference,” said
Shannon Hanson, UWECI vice president
for marketing and communications.
So, United Way, which funded 24
partner agencies on a $10.6 million budget
in fiscal 2018, compiles data into a
series of reports on community needs.
Drawing on information UWECI has
collected for years, the reports guide
what programs the organization invests
in based on how local agencies are working
to meet those needs.
“We’re trying to show where the
needs are, based on research and data
within the community, and then filling
those gaps,” Ms. Hanson said. “We’ve
created this library in different areas to
show that this expertise is in our community.
We have a full community building
team that’s dedicated to that research
and data, and the follow-up with our
nonprofits that are funded.”
Available on UWECI’s website, the reports
also help partner agencies identify
unaddressed needs and design programs
to efficiently meet them.
“Agencies come to the table saying,
‘We’re providing this service but we’re also
seeing people who need this (additional
service),’” Mr. Stiles said. “So, they look for
an organization that can fill the need, and
from there it just kind of grows.”
Changing donor expectations have
also altered UWECI’s approach to prospective
donors.
“In the last two to three years, we’ve
talked to donors or Joe and Jane CEO
and the response is, ‘We give to a lot of
organizations and a lot of causes, we
want to make sure there’s not duplication
of services. Are they working together
collaboratively?’” Mr. Stiles said.
“That’s what they want to see, that collaborative
approach. Non-duplication
and coordination is very important.”
The emphasis on appealing to younger
donors’ interest has also led to “micro-volunteering”
efforts such as Volunteers on
Tap, in which volunteers gather for a few
hours after work to address a partner
agency’s specific need. Such events are
staged by UWECI’s Young Leaders Society,
a leadership giving society for donors
under 40 who’ve given at least $250.
“They do these small but quick volunteering
opportunities. The last one
we did had 50 people,” said Ms. Hanson.
“The one before that, there was maybe
25 or 30. So we’re seeing that grow.”
Baby boomers aren’t overlooked, either.
“They not only have the expertise,
but now they have the time,” Mr. Stiles
said. “People in our generation are
leaving the workplace for retirement.
We want to tap into that.”
Serving Linn, Benton, Cedar, Iowa,
and Jones counties, UWECI is “starting
to get out more to the rural communities
as well,” Mr. Stiles said. “People live and
work in those communities and don’t always
realize the services United Way agencies
are providing are helping them, too.
It’s an education curve. We let them know
more about services in their community
and, in turn, they learn more about us.”
United Way’s traditional strength in
networking, whether among donors or
member agencies, positions it well to
continue to meet community needs.
“It would be hard to find a nonprofit
that doesn’t work with other ones,” Ms.
Hanson said.
“One thing that hasn’t changed is the
importance of our partners,” Mr. Stiles
said. “They’re the ones doing the work,
and it’s their willingness to not only collaborate
but to work in unison. The services
they deliver have adapted to meet
the needs in the community. So, the
agency partners are really crucial and the
partners we have do a really good job of
leveraging resources.” n
10 CBJ Giving Guide 2019