Renewed priorities are ahead for United Way of Greater Cleveland. The nonprofit organization, which is the second largest funder of health and human services in Greater Cleveland (second to the county itself), recently completed a year-long community assessment that is providing deeper insights into local needs and solutions for the county.
United Way President and CEO August A. Napoli says the new study will be a “guiding light” in the agency’s funding directions.
“United Way has never done a study of this extent,” he says. Napoli and his team intend to repeat the assessment every three years. “It will enable us to measure, in a more robust and strategic way, how dollars are being spent.”
Four priority areas of consensus were identified within the extensive research sample: basic needs, education, health and financial stability. Napoli says that poverty is the fundamental and underlying force behind all of these issues.
The research included responses from 1,500 people and organizations in seven counties, including 27 focus groups and interviews with 50 individual stakeholders. The assessment also used data from United Way 2-1-1, its 24-hour helpline that provides confidential assistance with social services. Last year, its referral specialists responded to roughly 300,000 callers.
“United Way 2-1-1 provides us with tons of data,” says Napoli. “This helps us anticipate emerging needs — we learn a lot in real time.”
In addition to the new directions for fund distribution, Napoli says the charity is exploring new ways of raising money as well. While its workplace-based campaigns will remain the foundation of dollars coming in, he says to watch for United Way in new platforms like social media and advertising.
“We will take a more ‘donor centric’ approach and reflect the corporate cultures of individual companies,” says Napoli.
This year’s workplace campaign at First Energy Corp. is one good example of these new approaches. The company is dedicating all the money raised in-house to one single cause — the opioid crisis and addiction treatment. This is a change from the more traditional model where United Way volunteer committees decide how to distribute these funds. This is still an option, but now employees will have more choices on how their donations are spent.
“This cause means something to them (First Energy employees),” says Napoli. “We heard what they have to say, and we are in service to them and their communities. We want to be responsive to them, not intrusive.”
He points out that while roughly 300,000 people contribute generously through their workplaces, there are more than 1.25 million people in the three-county United Way area — leaving lots of untapped potential. A fundraising pilot program on Facebook is one way they are trying to engage new donors.
Napoli, a 40-year veteran in the nonprofit arena, often spreads his passion for giving — an act he calls “a joyous thing.”
“A small contribution really does impact someone to be able to pay rent or put food on the table — this is very powerful,” he says.