A follow up to the question posed by Andrea on Tactical Philanthropy:
“Does moving to a model that emphasizes community impact increase funding?”
The answer at United Way of America is YES!
United Way of America has been leading a charge for the roughly 1300 United Ways in the US to move from a community chest business model to a community impact model. Instead of taking corporate workplace campaign money and directing it to good organizations, United Way is now in the business of trying to identify the problem, create a theory of change and strategies around a solution, and measure impact.
Not all 1300 United Ways are shifting their business models, and so we have data on organizations that have chosen to implement a community impact model, and those who have not. Those who have chosen community impact now raise 10-20 percent more than those who have not when compared to common starting points.
I hope this provides evidence that moving to an impact model is supplying the product (impact) that the market (donors) want, adds value, and so increases revenue.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: impact, nonprofit donors, philanthropy, United Way of America, Yale School of Management
