Roadmap for Impact

As a result of the comprehensive nature of the Road Map initiative, the Board of the Burke County United Way has a wealth of statistical and anecdotal evidence on which to set a priority of needs that will be the underpinning of future allocations cycles. The challenge is to sort through all of the material and draw a set of logical conclusions that should direct the organization's future activities. Two basic questions confront the Board at the outset:

1. How many activities/programs can the organization fund and realistically make a significant impact on the needs area to be addressed. 

The 2007 campaign goal for the United Way was $850,000.  The natural inclination is to try to spread it around so that all agencies receive some support for their well-intended efforts. But such an approach runs directly contrary to Community Impact with its emphasis on making a statistically measurable difference in the areas of greatest need.

No doubt, the implementation of Community Impact has the strong potential of disrupting the traditional way in which many United Ways operate.  In fact, that is exactly what Community Impact seeks to achieve.

The Burke County United Way, like all others, functions in the context of local, regional, national and international economies.  Its success from a fund raising standpoint is dependent to no small degree on how well things are going for companies, individuals and families locally. Any downturn can decrease the generation of UW dollars and increase the generation of needs.

The last ten years have been marked by considerable economic turbulence for individuals, companies and communities across North Carolina .  There is a general consensus among experts that future local economies will be less stable than those to which we have been accustomed, and the ability of UW's to provide stable policy-making in such an environment will be difficult at best.  In that respect, any local United Way is susceptible to economic events that play out on a global stage.

That fact emphasizes the critical importance of proving the organization's worth not by word and general deed, but by the application of the strongest possible methodologies to determine needs, allocate funds and measure program effectiveness.

The result could well be one, several or all of the following directions in Burke County :

(a)        Funding somewhat fewer agencies.

(b)        Agencies tailoring their UW applications to UW priorities rather than their   own in order to receive UW funding.

(c)        Funding for some agencies that have been outside of previous United Way efforts.

(d)        Agencies funded one year being asked to provide a greater documentation of making a difference in order to receive subsequent dollars.

2. How can the Burke County United Way distinguish between high priority need areas where it can make an actual difference and those areas where its impact would be barely-- if at all-- perceptible?

For the Burke County United Way Board, there is an immediate and specific case in point. The issue of Unemployment / Underemployment was rated as the second highest high priority need on the written survey.  It was also identified in most of the focus group sessions.  Statistically, Burke has consistently fallen in the highest third of North Carolina 's counties unemployment rates in recent periods.

So... is Unemployment / Underemployment a high priority need?  Absolutely!  But, and this is a big but, how can the Burke County United Way effectively impact it?  Unless that question can be reasonably answered in the affirmative, then the issue's high priority status is essentially irrelevant to United Way deliberations.

From the summaries of the focus group discussions, it is obvious that some participants are convinced that the United Way can positively address the issue.  Scope View questions this conclusion, although it would love to be proven wrong.  Ultimately, this and similar matters must be decided by the United Way Board as an intrinsic part of the Road Map initiative.

Okay Then, What are the Top Five Need Priorities?

Taken into account the two major caveats above, the results of the statistical analysis and the findings of the survey and focus group process converge around these five issues as being the highest priority Burke County issues:

►         Medical Care / Insurance.

►         Child Abuse and Neglect.

►         Underemployment / Unemployment.

►         Alcoholism and Drug Abuse.

►         Mental Health.

It should be emphasized that they are not shown in order of priority.  That degree of precision is not possible with the information available.  It is entirely reasonable to conclude, however, that this cluster of five issues is clearly separated from all other factors examined in this Road Map project.

Scope View is unable to assign a hierarchy of need to the other issues covered in the statistical analysis, surveys and focus groups, as no consensus positions were reached by any of the approaches.