United Way of Escambia County

June 2010 - Thanks to the leadership of Board Chair Buzz Ritchie, Chair-Elect Doris Young, Board member Ted Kirchharr, and others who have loaned their time and strategic thinking, United Way of Escambia County has a bold vision for our future and a plan for how we will strengthen our organization to get there. There is an often-quoted saying in strategic planning: If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will do. United Way does not believe in taking just any road.

A three-year strategic plan adopted by the Board of Directors Spring 2010 underscores our confidence that we know who we are and how we plan to grow in strength and effectiveness. That growth will move our community closer to the vision that we are “a healthy community where all have the inspiration and opportunity to succeed.”
We began the planning process by evaluating where we have been as guided by a three-year strategic plan that just ended. Two highlights of the 2006-2009 Plan:

• Goal: To be a leader in developing a shared community impact agenda that provides measurable, sustained solutions that improve people’s lives. Outcome: United Way was a lead partner in establishing the grassroots Unite Escambia four years ago. Today, nearly 100 partner organizations and hundreds of volunteers are working on Unite Escambia solutions teams in education, environment, health, housing and poverty. Read more on page 15 of our Annual Report.
• Goal: To be the investor’s first choice in giving to health and human services. Outcome: The 2009-10 fundraising campaign was up 4% over the previous year. Beyond traditional fundraising strategies, United Way leveraged partnerships like the J.H. Baroco Foundation/Chip in $10 program and Volunteers
  in Service to America (VISTA) members working to reduce poverty for additional direct and indirect community impact valued in the hundreds of thousands. One of our signature programs, the Financial Stability Coalition, increased its economic impact to $1.7 million, up 18 percent over last year. Read about these programs on pages 13-15 of our Annual Report.

According to Jim Collins, author of Built to Last and Good to Great, an effective vision requires a Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal (BHAG) that may take 10 to 30 years to complete. It is not a sure bet, but we must believe that we can reach the goal. It is the mountain to climb and a powerful way to stimulate progress. The BHAG adopted by United Way of Escambia County this year: To be a recognized leader in mobilizing the community to achieve bold goals in Education, Financial Stability and Health.

This BHAG is our focal point. We are in the midst of aligning all of our resources – financial, in-kind, advocacy, volunteerism, and staff time – around it. In addition, we adopted a corporate goal to be achieved by 2013: To increase resources by 20% by 2013 to achieve the goals in Education, Financial Stability and Health.

Based on the accomplishments of this year outlined in this report, we are well on our way to achieving this three-year goal. Click here to read the complete strategic plan.

Just imagine what our community will look like and feel like as these goals are achieved.

 

Jean Norman
President/CEO