United Way Examples

leads two initiatives to increase equity and support new partners across the region. Following civic unrest in 2016, United Way and other community partners raised funds for Unite Charlotte to provide community grants to increase access to smaller grassroots organizations. An entire grant cycle was devoted to capacity building to increase opportunities for longer-term funding as one step in recognition of the time it takes to nurture and foster strong relationships. United Way also began working to transform and revitalize neighborhoods through United Neighborhoods while using real-time feedback from community members to inform initiatives, with the aspirational goal of being 100% resident-led. They have had conversations with their traditional partners about race and equity which strengthened their business ties. These two new strategies have created more access for local grassroots organizations, capacity building, and racial equity trainings to organizations.

merged two programs in 2018, focused on supporting diverse nonprofit board leadership. Project Diversity Pride Leadership is a training program with an intense six-month curriculum to prepare racial/ethnic minorities and people in the LGBTQ+ community to be effective nonprofit board members. A survey conducted by United Way of Central Ohio in 2019 confirmed central Ohio nonprofit boards are not diverse in comparison to county demographics. As a result, a goal has been set for nonprofit boards to reflect county demographics by 2025. Research has confirmed the best decisions are made when everyone has a seat at the table and can contribute diverse perspectives. Project Diversity Pride Leadership has more than 700 graduates with over 65 percent having served or currently serving on nonprofit boards. Local companies are actively involved by identifying associates to participate and represent the organization through its corporate social responsibility. United Way of Central Ohio’s Neighborhood Leadership Center also invests in the capability of its residents to lead the change in their communities. ecosystem, resulting in increased revenue and relationships. Lastly, through a partnership with Leadership Triangle, a premier leadership development organization, leaders have the opportunities to build the personal leadership abilities all leaders need to be successful.

is exploring how to support communities that are largely served by grassroots organizations. These organizations, with tremendous historical and community knowledge, lacked access to the philanthropic sector due to structural barriers such as audited financials, insurance, or basic marketing. By partnering with the University of North Texas at Dallas and the State Fair of Texas, UWMD convened a 6-month, 40-hour course that culminated in a Pitch Day for capacity-building grants. 90% of the organizations were minority-led, 90% of the organizations were women-led, and funding allowed agencies to invest in financial audits and marketing materials. This capacity-building work is making a difference in ensuring equitable opportunity and access to grassroots organizations, many of which are women and minority-owned and operated. The current and anticipated results are inclusive of putting organizations in a position where they can effectively apply for and secure funding from larger entities to expand their organizational scope and impact capacity. We learned that executive directors of small nonprofits generally don’t have the time or capacity to attend trainings, and this opportunity provided them with space and time to think strategically about their work. Through the utilization of resources such as collective partnership impact, organizational capacity building, and leveraging relationships, United Way Metropolitan Dallas was reminded of the importance that creating equitable spaces for grassroots organizations in ensuring an inclusive landscape within the nonprofit sector.

knows how crucial it is to have equitable practices and understanding in a system. The death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO became a symbol for the racial strife and inequality that exists throughout the United States. Missouri’s Governor asked a group of regional leaders — The Ferguson Commission — to study the situation and prove a path toward change. UWGSL has worked closely with The Ferguson Commission to help inform their own priorities and build their internal capacity. UWGSL recently received a grant to develop a ‘racial equity indicator dashboard’ in response to The Ferguson Commission's call for a racial equity benchmarking process. The Equity Indicators Dashboard will be regionally launched with key partners and will serve as a road map for "the work" toward an equitable region, highlighting continued racial disparities and facilitating accountability in alignment with the Ferguson Commission's regional calls to action. UWGSL will use this dashboard as a guide for their Impact agenda. Additionally, grant funding supported the execution of intentional learning opportunities for the UWGSL’s core management team as identified in their Path to Racial Equity Framework adopted in November 2017.

is building the capacity of local nonprofits to develop their own DEI agenda and elevating community conversations about DEI. 30+ local nonprofits participated in a series of DEI workshops UWWC funded and co-developed on how to develop an agency specific equity lens in governance and operational practices with Nonprofit Enterprise at Work (NEW), a local management support organization. Funding the development and implementation by NEW of The Leaders of Color Fellowship an intensive 6-month cohort-based program that seeks to change the face of leadership in Washtenaw County by investing in local leaders of color from the nonprofit, public, private and municipal sectors.

In order to intentionally increase the diversity of volunteer groups, Community Impact Staff engaged masters' level social work interns in crafting a "pre-post" survey to evaluate any group of volunteers (board, CI Impact Teams, Loaned executives, community volunteers, etc.) in terms of: 1) setting a baseline for current diversity, across many spectra, and 2) recruiting to the "gaps" and then re-evaluating the new additions and combining those findings with the "pre" survey participants to arrive at an objective means of assessing an increase in diversity with these core groups. By the end of 2021, United Way of Madison County will have a much more diverse group of volunteers to head into allocation work in early 2022. That will allow it to take its determinations of partners to a new level.

The Board of Directors have developed a Statement on Equity and Inclusion, participated in relevant EDI training and will be using the Global Diversity Equity and Inclusion Benchmarks (GDEIB) to assess the current level of organizational achievement toward best practice specific to the foundational elements that drive strategy: 1: Vision, Strategy, and Business Impact, and 2: Leadership and Accountability. Results of this assessment will inform the next action plan to advance the organization. GDEIB will be utilized to engage all staff teams in assessing our current state related to Attracting and Retaining People, Aligning and Connecting Work, and Listening to & Serving Society. These results will inform action plans for the coming years, to advance the organization toward best practice.

launched the 10-month Equity Learning Community in February 2021. The Equity Learning Community's goal is to build the cultural competence of northern Nevada nonprofit organizations and guide them in creating equity action plans to address existing disparities in hiring, promotions, retention, operations, and programming. Sessions were organized into three groups. The first group of sessions (February – April) focused on building individual capacity for equity work. The topics covered during this group were defining key concepts (i.e., equity, equality, racism, inclusion, accessibility). The second group of sessions (May-June) focused on an organization's relationship with the larger community and the population(s) it serves. These two sessions focused on understanding an organization's history, being aware of trauma dynamics, equitable engagement, and change management as a relationship-building tool. The final group of sessions (July – November) focused on creating equity within the organization. These sessions focused on building the equity capacity of the organization, building an equity committee, establishing shared language, and understanding dominant culture. UWNNS met one-on-one with organizations between August and October 2021 to check-in and provide additional support. During the meetings, representatives indicated the value of the Equity Learning Community, the opportunity to build community with fellow nonprofits, and the structure and resources provided that help guide their internal work at their organization.