Nearly every United Way struggles to attract donors, recruit volunteers, and explain what they do in one sentence. Do you want the secret formula for doing it in one sentence? Here it is!

Since 1989, we have surveyed hundreds of thousands of donors from large and small United Ways, from major cities to rural counties, from north to south and east to west. Amazingly, the secrets we have learned from donors are . . .

There are lots of numbers you can use to measure the performance of your United Way such as how much money you raise, how much you invest in programs, etc. No matter what numbers you use, I would strongly recommend you add two more numbers to your list . . .

Does your United Way hold a special event? If so, is your United Way promoting a specific issue tied to this event?

Over the years, I have seen a lot of vision statements from United Ways, and most probably meet these definitions. However, just because a vision statement meets the definition does not make it useful or beneficial. This begs the question “Why would a United Way want a vision statement?”

Are you thanking your donors and encouraging them to give this holiday season?