UNITED WAY PARTNERSHIPS

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1 United Way s bold goals in education, income and health are designed as a rallying cry to the nation to join together and work collectively on real, lasting solutions that would fundamentally put people on a path to prosperity. Each United Way has an important role to play in mobilizing communities to achieve these goals, but in an increasingly interconnected world, we also know that these challenges cannot be met one person or one community at a time. It will take coordinated action at local, state and national levels and unified efforts across geographies to affect significant change and make an enduring difference. In June 2011, the U.S. Task Force on United Way s Economic Model & Growth called for a new way to work together with an eye toward accelerating impact, growing resources and improving our efficiency and effectiveness. The challenges facing our nation and the changing expectations of supporters and partners dictate that we must find ways to work beyond the confines of our borders. The idea is to better leverage the vast resources of the United Way network and create an economic and operating model that ensures shared decision making, accountability and commitment and drives progress in our communities on our goals and relationships. The limited, yet important, exchange of dues for service has delivered on a common focus and numerable tools, but it alone does not provided a platform of interdependence, alignment and leadership. Our belief is that we can do so much more if we work differently. Today, you are invited to join in partnership to lead the future work of United Way. Your expertise, perspective and investment of time and resources combined with those of other partners will change the landscape of how United Way moves forward together. This is an historic move for the United Way network. By joining a Partnership, you will lay the groundwork for a new way of leveraging the strengths and resources of our network for the future. The three initial Partnerships are: 1) the Graduation Initiative Partnership, 2) the Corporate Engagement Partnership and, 3) the Talent Management Partnership, focused on strengthening United Way s professional and volunteer talent management strategies. Involvement in these Partnerships will directly benefit your United Way and your community. Included in this Partnership Application Package are specific instructions on the process for joining the Partnerships as well as tools to talk to your Board and staff about this important decision. For more information, contact Sean Garrett at sean.garrett@unitedway.org. Please consider taking the step to lead the network, the nation and the future of United Way. Partnership requirements include: Participation of your United Way s CEO and key staff in a program of coaching and facilitation to prepare you with the necessary skills to ensure the Partnership s success. Proven and pledged organizational capacity to contribute time and talent to a Partnership. An initial fee of $30,000 to cover the costs of the Partnering Program, facilitation and coaching support. Other commitments and investments to be decided on by the members of the Partnerships. Please review the information that follows and consider the role you wish to play. Thank you. GIVE. ADVOCATE. VOLUNTEER. UnitedWay.org/ourfuture 2012 United Way Worldwide OOP-0112

2 THE PARTNERSHIPS AND VALUE Graduation Initiative Partnership United Way has put a stake in the ground around high school graduation, setting out a national challenge to cut by half the number of young people who drop out of high school. To make progress on this goal, the Graduation Initiative Partnership will build and lead coalitions, establish early warning systems and track key metrics, advance key public policy issues and engage individual and corporations as strategic partners. Only together can we achieve greater impact with sustainable and scalable change. Corporate Engagement Partnership Our corporate partners have spoken clearly. They want a new approach to corporate engagement that better aligns with their interests, has more consistent services and includes improved metrics and reporting across their multiple geographies. In order to respond, the Corporate Engagement Partnership will work across the corporate footprint in order to expand engagement across the corporate engagement platform, strengthen donor stewardship, develop and sell impact products, grow donor segments and bring new companies into the United Way family. They want to work with United Way, but they need the network to work in new and innovative ways. Talent Management Partnership Communities are searching for leaders. United Ways need to fill this void and ensure the necessary operational and leadership capacities are in place to achieve our local and national goals. The Talent Management Partnership will work on key issues like diversifying United Way s leadership; growing and retaining key players, knowledge and skills; identifying and engaging high-performing employees; and using new ways to recruit top talent. By working together, we will be able to advance these issues and implement the network-wide talent management strategy. Included in this Partnership Application Package are specific instructions on the process for joining the Partnerships as well as tools to talk to your Board and staff about this important decision. For more information, contact Sean Garrett at sean.garrett@unitedway.org. BENEFITS AND VALUE OF JOINING A PARTNERSHIP LEADERSHIP POSITION WITHIN THE UNITED WAY U.S.A. NETWORK. NETWORK-WIDE INFLUENCE. INCREASED ACCESS TO SUPPORT, TOOLS, PARTNERS AND INVESTORS BY EXCHANGING ASSETS WITH OTHERS IN THE PARTNERSHIP. INCREASED CAPACITY AND SKILLS GAINED. MORE INNOVATION AND SHORTER TIMELINES TO BRING NEW IDEAS TO SCALE. STRONGER CORPORATE RELATIONSHIPS GENERATING GREATER RESOURCES. NEW CORPORATE RELATIONSHIPS GENERATING NEW RESOURCES. ACCESS TO A TALENT PIPELINE TO FILL KEY POSITIONS AND STRATEGIES TO RETAIN HIGH PERFORMERS. LIFT TO LOCAL IMPACT GOALS THROUGH NATIONAL INITIATIVES. STRONG PUBLIC PROFILE LOCALLY AND NATIONALLY. AND A VOICE IN THE DECISIONS THAT GET US TO THESE RESULTS.

3 FACT SHEET HOW PARTNERSHIP WORKS Each Partnership will be made up of a series of compacts - small groups of United Ways working together to solve a specific, performance-based challenge that crosses geographic and service boarders and requires shared action, accountability and performance. (See Appendix 1). Each Partnership will have a Partnership Leadership Group, comprised of chairs of each compact, will support the exchange of information between compacts, address cross-compact issues and provide oversight for the Partnership s collective body of work. Additionally, each Partnership will have a Cross-Partnership Leadership Group to address issues across Partnerships and guide network-wide decision making on operations and execution against mission. Decision making guidelines will be determined by each compact and Partnership but a simple majority is suggested. THE PARTNERING PROGRAM While United Ways are old hands at local partnerships, partnering with each other requires new skills and new discipline. The Partnering Program has been built into the first 14 months of each Partnership to increase the likelihood of success by providing coaching and facilitation by Doug Smith, and expert in the partnership field. Doug, a former partner at McKinsey, has extensive experience in corporate and nonprofit partnerships and has successfully facilitated similar programs for other organizations over the last decade. Five in-person meetings and ongoing facilitation and coaching for the individual Partnerships and compacts are included as part of the program. (See Appendix 2). INVESTMENT OF TIME Partner United Ways will need to invest the organizational capacity that reflects the importance of the specific performance challenge that they are working on within each compact. This will include full participation in the Partnering Program and related work on the compact performance challenge by the CEO, lead volunteer and lead staff person. (See Appendix 3 for more details). FINANCIAL INVESTMENT To cover the costs of the Partnering Program, coaching and facilitation, Partnership United Ways will pay an initial fee of $30,000. Any additional investments or joint fundraising to support the local and national work of the Partnership and compacts will be decided by the partners themselves. Joining a Partnership is a commitment to a new way of working together and not a limited, time bound engagement. That said, partners will be given the opportunity to evaluate their participation after an initial three-year commitment. (See Appendix 4). JOINING A PARTNERSHIP TIMEFRAME All United Ways are asked to complete a formal application consisting of three key parts: written description of organizational commitment to the partnering process, specific assets and interests by Partnership and an interview with organizational leaders. Each of the three Partnerships will officially launch in the spring of All interested United Ways will need to indicate interest by the end of 2012 and complete an application and interview by February 1, Final Partnership composition will be announced in early March (See Appendix 5).

4 APPENDIX 1 OVERVIEW OF HOW A PARTNERSHIP WORKS, INDIVIDUAL PARTNERSHIPS AND COMPACTS While the partners will ultimately co-create the specifics for each Partnership, a working vision, scope, initial compacts and potential metrics have been created. Graduation Initiative Partnership Vision: Achieve sustainable and scalable change in high school graduation rates by joining together with one voice, in common action and with unrelenting focus on one common goal. By working together, United Way can harness our many regional, state and national assets to have large-scale, systemic and sustainable impact in our communities. Scope: To make sustainable and scalable change on high school graduation rates. Partners must be primarily focused on middle grades and high school success or are ready to use the Partnership as a means to expand their cradle-to-career continuum into the middle grades and high school years. Initial Compacts (Final compacts will be determined by the partners) 1. Building and Leading Coalitions in Urban and Rural Communities Test approaches to leading and participating in coalitions to develop population-level education strategies and mobilize communities to act (using approaches like STRIVE, Promise Neighborhoods, Communities in Schools or Ready by 21). Concentrate efforts in big city and rural community United Ways. 2. Establishing Early Warning Systems and Tracking Data Nationally Increase student attendance, good behavior, and math and English course performance in the nation s lowestperforming middle and high schools by implementing shared strategies and measuring shared local and national metrics. 3. Protecting and Advancing Local, State and National Public Policy as a Network Create systems and processes for the United Way network to protect and advance local, state and national public policy priorities focused on improving middle grade success and transition, high school graduation and college completion. 4. Developing and Testing a Shared Community/Individual Engagement Strategy Develop and test common approaches for the United Way network at the local, state and national level to engage the public in give, advocate and volunteer activities focused on increasing high school graduation rates. 5. Establishing Corporate Strategic Alliances around United Way s Education Priorities Establish corporate strategic alliances focused on achieving measurable outcomes for the United Way roadmap strategies for middle grade success and high school graduation. 6. Determining a Pathway from the Early Grades into Middle and High School Identify and establish the critical pathway for a United Way to successfully expand its education focus from the early grade years into the middle and high school grades through identifying key partners, capacity building resources and the critical organizational competencies and human capital required.

5 Potential Metrics: Final metrics will be determined by the partners themselves but potential metrics include: Progress on the 2018 Goal for the Common Good in education. Increase in the number of feeder school patterns identified. Increase attendance, behavior, and core course performance in low-performing middle and high schools. Number of strategic partnerships formed with corporations and foundations. Number of individuals engaged as volunteer readers, tutors and mentors. Corporate Engagement Partnership Vision: United Way is the strategic partner of choice for corporate citizens with an interest in creating social and economic opportunity locally, nationally and worldwide. To create these strategic alliances, members of the Corporate Engagement Partnership, will work together to drive progress on issues of mutual corporate and United Way interest and provide seamless experiences, which span geographies, for corporate and individual donors. Scope: The Corporate Engagement Partnership will work with any large company public or private whose interests align with United Ways. Additionally, partner companies should have footprints that span more than one community and have an interest in a more consistent, aligned experience across that footprint. Initial Compacts (Final compacts will be determined by the partners) 1. Expanding Across the Corporate Engagement Platform Grow relationships and revenue with existing companies by expanding engagement from a traditional workplace campaign to a more robust partnership that touches at least two parts of the corporate engagement platform (Corporate Social Responsibility, employee engagement, stakeholder engagement and donor stewardship) throughout the company footprint. 2. Building Enhanced Workforce Campaigns Transition the incredible asset of the workforce campaign, with access to more than 50 million individuals and companies, into a consistent and compelling year round communication and engagement experience that meets corporate objectives, individuals interest in education, income and health and drives organizational change. 3. Developing, Selling and Deploying Impact Products Grow revenue and engagement from both new and existing companies by partnering around a specific impact product the Graduation Initiative throughout the company footprint. 4. Strengthening Donor Stewardship Secure relationships with current companies by strengthening donor stewardship (pricing, pledge processing, reporting, etc.) throughout the company footprint. 5. Growing Donor Segments Better leverage donor segments in the workplace campaign by providing consistent, meaningful, donor centric experiences for individual donors across the company footprint. 6. Engaging New Companies Bring new companies from new industries into the United Way family.

6 Potential Metrics: Final metrics will be determined by the partners themselves but potential metrics include: Progress on 2018 Goals for the Common Good. Number of companies engaged in two or more areas of the corporate engagement platform. Number of new companies partnering with United Way. Increase in dollars raised. Increase in resources under management. Talent Management Partnership Vision: United Way will attract and retain the diverse talent and leadership necessary to improve people s lives and advance the common good for all. To make this vision a reality, partners will work together to implement the network-wide talent management strategy that positions United Way as the Mission of Choice for both employees and volunteers looking to make a difference in their community and the nation. Scope: Network-wide talent management strategy provides direction for strategic management of talent within United Way network and is fully aligned with the United Way business model. By adopting talent strategies and competencies, and by using available resources and learning opportunities, United Ways can better prioritize their talent needs, improve planning and investment of resources to better recruit, develop and retain the right staff and leadership, and will align performance of all staff with the organizational strategic goals. Initial Compacts (Final compacts will be determined by the partners) 1. Diversifying United Way s Leadership Increase diversity of Latino, African-American and Young employees in leadership roles by recruiting, developing and retaining qualified professionals to feed a pipeline of high-quality diverse employees. 2. Transforming Boards for Collective Impact Institute improved Board engagement and development practices to drive collective impact locally and nationally. 3. Scaling Results and Knowledge Create strategies for gathering and retaining institutional knowledge at the local United Way and institute processes for scaling results across the network. 4. Keeping and Growing Key Players in the Organization Create an initiative that will provide robust opportunities for growing and retaining professionals in critical roles across resource development and community impact functions. 5. Strategic Management of Top Performing Talent: Get Grow Keep Define and establish common processes for identifying and engaging high-performing employees to ensure improved organizational performance and competitiveness in the market among other nonprofits and businesses competing for the same talent. 6. Stepping into the 21st Century: Social Recruiting Develop solutions for streamlining talent acquisition by using online systems in order to improve United Way s employer branding, optimize the network to promote jobs, broaden the search for qualified candidates and use opportunity to work for United Way as a powerful way to engage individuals to give, advocate and volunteer.

7 Potential Metrics: Final metrics will be determined by the partners themselves but potential metrics include: Number of United Ways adopting and using the core competencies. Number of United Ways adopting and implementing the succession plans. Increased diversity in leadership roles among all racial and ethnic groups and gender Improved overall leadership performance (including Boards). Overall improvement across key talent management practices (some examples of improvement are: more United Ways have a talent strategy, staff have more opportunities for development, United Ways proactively recruit by using diverse sources, the retention of staff in critical roles is improved). Increased number of high-performing leaders and staff (engaged via network-wide Central Talent Pool)

8 APPENDIX 2 OVERVIEW OF THE PARTNERING PROGRAM Upon completion of the application process, all United Ways involved will begin a 14-month-long Partnering Program to make progress on the specific performance challenges. This program will bring together participating United Ways for five in-person meetings and will include ongoing facilitation and coaching for the individual Partnerships and compacts. Though the content of each meeting will vary, each session will have four core components: 1. Individual compact working sessions in which compacts work to apply key tools, concepts and frameworks to move the compact forward. 2. Individual Partnership working sessions in which compacts will share updates on partnership specific progress, key issues and challenges, what s working and what s not working, how to tackle issues and opportunities to leverage the learnings and success among compacts. 3. Cross-Partnership progress updates in which each compact will provide a picture of progress, key issues and challenges, what s working and what s not and get concrete recommendations and suggestions from participants and coaches. 4. All-member content sessions in which experts share key tools, frameworks and disciplines needed for the compacts to succeed and opportunities to immediately apply the lessons.

9 APPENDIX 3 OVERVIEW OF INVESTMENT OF TIME Partnership Time and Volunteer Commitment Minimum Time Commitment Expected Organizational Commitment Volunteer Engagement CROSS- PARTNERSHIP LEADERSHIP BODY Two Meetings per year, co-located with NPC, conference calls as needed. Investment of Time: CEO time to participate in calls and meetings as needed. Investment of Capital: No investment beyond the cost of attending meetings. None PARTNERSHIP LEADERSHIP Two Meetings per year, co-located with Partnering Program meetings, conference calls as needed. Investment of Time: CEO/organization s representative time to participate in calls and meetings as needed. Investment of Capital: No investment beyond the cost of attending meetings. None COMPACT MEMBER Lead Local Representative: five meetings per year, co-located with Partnering Program meetings, monthly conference call, significant work time in between calls dictated by the performance challenge. CEO: (If not the local lead): Attend at least part of each of the five Partnering Program meetings (specific time to be set by agenda). Investment of Time: The compact and performance challenge should represent one of the top three performance challenges for the organization so the commitment of organizational capacity should reflect the importance of this challenge. Each United Way should form a core team consisting of a local lead staff, lead volunteer and relevant other staff and volunteers. For the lead staff member, this assignment should represent a significant portion of their overall job description. For additional staff members, this work should represent a material portion of their work plan. Investment of Capital: Each United Way will pay an initial fee of $30,000 to cover the costs of the Partnering Program, facilitation and coaching support. United Ways will be responsible for travel and lodging costs associated with the partnering meetings. Any additional investment will be based on the work of the compacts and Partnerships and the decision made by their members (see Partnership Financial Investment Table for more information). At least one volunteer should strategically be part of the team locally at each United Way. This volunteer should participate in a portion (one day) of the first and last Partnering Program meetings. Volunteers would be welcome at all meetings. Further engagement would be based on the specific performance challenge and the work plan of the compact. Likely engagements though will include advisory and decisionmaking support for the team.

10 APPENDIX 4 OVERVIEW OF FINANCIAL INVESTMENT What types of investments are needed? In order to be successful, partners will need to make certain investments to support the work. While the exact investments needed are not yet known as they will be determined by the partners, the types of investments could include: Shared staff Shared consultants Convening of interested parties Messaging Materials, promotional and recognition materials Volunteer Management Software purchases for human resources, outcomes measurement and CRM Systems Training and leadership development for local staff What are the expected costs? The partnerships will have two types of costs: 1. In order to join the partnership, partners will pay an initial fee of $30,000 to cover the costs of the partnering program, facilitation and coaching support. 2. In years two and beyond, the financial commitment will be determined by the plans and strategies decided by the partners. These financial commitments will likely be in the $15,000 $25,000 range for the first few years and then increase over time as progress is demonstrated and value created for the partnership. Future financial investments could reach $100,000 $200,000 depending on the decisions and success of the partners. How will these costs be covered? During the first years of the partnership, investments will likely come from the individual operating budgets of the partner United Ways, including United Way Worldwide. Part of the expectation, however, is that United Ways in the partnerships will work together to generate resources from foundations and other sources to fuel this work.

11 APPENDIX 5 OVERVIEW OF JOINING A PARTNERSHIP TIMELINE October 15, 3:30 4:30 pm Eastern Time October 24, 4:00 5:00 pm Eastern Time December 31 February 1, 2013 March 1, 2013 Partnership overview webinar Partnership overview webinar Deadline to indicate interest in joining a Partnership and scheduling interviews Partnership application deadline Announcement of Partnership members 2012 United Way Worldwide OOP-0112