Tuesday, February 23, 2010

"Not Your Mama & Daddy's United Way"

How does today’s United Way differ from “your Mama and Daddy’s United Way?”

United Way of the Piedmont, like many other local United Ways, has evolved from a transactional organization which focused primarily on raising money and distributing money to agencies. During the “transactional” years, United Way’s success in any given community was likely to be measured by a large thermometer in the town square that tracked the progress of the massive fundraising effort. Twenty years ago, there were a limited number of nonprofit organizations serving our community, and United Way provided a significant portion of these organizations’ annual budgets. As time has passed, the number of agencies has increased and we have come to realize that the issues affecting our community are complex and intertwined. Because United Way of the Piedmont cannot provide all the funding needed by each organization, we have adopted a relationship-based approach which moves the focus from transactional to year-round engagement—-with our partner agencies as well as corporate partners.

Our tagline is “Give. Advocate. Volunteer.” “Giving” is still a major part of United Way’s work—-we could not provide funding to 132 programs in 75 agencies across Spartanburg, Cherokee and Union Counties without the generosity of our donors. But it’s about so much more than an annual fundraising campaign…

Advocacy plays a major role in community improvement. When people are informed about the issues facing their community, not only are they more likely to share the information with others, but they are more likely to ACT. United Way of the Piedmont partnered with The Spartanburg County Foundation, University of South Carolina Upstate and Spartanburg County Government to convene hundreds of citizens to examine the issues that face Spartanburg County and develop strategies to bring significant change through Strategic Spartanburg: Community Indicators VI. Goal reports are published periodically to update our citizens on the status of these issues, which impact quality of life for all people living in our community. The Spartanburg Community Indicators Project is seen as a “best practice” across the nation, and representatives from communities across the country have traveled to Spartanburg to learn about the project.

Volunteerism is at the very heart of United Way of the Piedmont’s work. Whether it is through a person’s investment of money or of his time, the spirit of volunteerism moves that person to support his community. By promoting volunteerism, UWP connects a precious resource to agencies that are often short on hands, in addition to being short on funds. Because nonprofit agencies have limited budgets, they look to volunteers to assist in program support, special projects and day-to-day activities. United Way’s Volunteer Connections program matches individuals and corporate groups to agencies that are in need of volunteers. Last year, United Way of the Piedmont coordinated over 69,000 volunteer hours, which amounts to a value of nearly $1,000,000!

In August 2009, an exciting opportunity was presented to UWP for the benefit of our region. A major retailer opened a return center in Spartanburg County, and United Way of the Piedmont was asked to establish a Gifts in Kind Center to distribute products to community agencies. When products arrive at the return center, they are sorted and handled based on supplier instruction. Items are either returned to the supplier, or are donated to the local community for use in nonprofit organizations. On a daily basis, deliveries from the return center arrive at the Gifts in Kind Center operated by United Way of the Piedmont. Member agencies schedule appointments to shop for products to be used within their organizations and to serve clients. This new endeavor has been an exciting addition to our work at United Way of the Piedmont, and we continue to hear wonderful stories from member agencies about how the donated products have been put to use. Through the establishment of the Gifts in Kind Center, member agencies not only have access to products that can be used to serve their clients, but many have realized savings where funds that were being used for budget items are now available for use in other ways. It is estimated that UWP’s Gifts in Kind Center will receive $12,000,000 in returned product this year!

There are so many great things going on at your United Way and in your community. As we often say, “This isn’t your Mama and Daddy’s United Way,” and hopefully you can see why!

To learn about the many different initiatives and programs supported by United Way of the Piedmont, please visit our website. From our site you can sign up to receive our e-newsletter and find us on Facebook and Twitter!

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