In my last post I shared a look behind the scenes at what is keeping the resource development staff busy this time of year. As promised, this week I’ll tell you about goal setting…
Where to begin? Well, when we look at planning our goals for the new campaign year the first thing we consider is what we did last year. In 2008, our campaign cabinet set a goal of $26,250,000 which was a modest 5% increase over 2007 (United Way of Central Iowa’s history of campaign increases has historically trended between 8-12%). That was determined in June, 2008 at a time when prospective donors were concerned about high gas and increasing food prices. We all know what happened in the economy last fall and as a result we did not achieve our campaign goal. We did, however, raise more money than in 2007 and set a new campaign record of $25,012,000 which speaks volumes about the generosity of people in Central Iowa.
Getting back to the present and the goal for 2009: the short story for now is that we have not yet finalized a goal. I, along with my colleagues, am going through our entire campaign company by company (and in some cases, donor by donor) to paint a picture of where we see possible gains and losses. Thankfully, the picture is reflecting more opportunity for gains than losses. To get our heads around it we’re analyzing every company’s five-year giving history, trends in participation rates and leadership giving, downsizing events and hiring increases, as well as changes in leadership which may impact the visibility of the United Way campaign in a given company. I can’t say for sure when a goal will be finalized and made public but if you’re reading this blog or following us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or YouTube you’ll likely be amongst the first to know.
This whole goal setting process is all fine and well and since my job is to raise money for United Way it is obviously an important part of my existence. But beyond the confines of my spreadsheets and this cubicle I sit in, the campaign goal is really insignificant by comparison to the goals set by our community impact department. In 2009 you are going to see United Way of Central Iowa put its neck out (figuratively speaking, of course) in a way you haven’t seen before. We will be unveiling goals for 2020 that will detail exactly what progress we intend to see in central Iowa relating to our work in education, income, and health. Of course, achieving those goals will rely on the continued generosity of current and new donors but the community’s success achieving these goals will depend as much on the good work of our community partners, engagement in advocacy and countless volunteer hours.
I encourage you to stay tuned for information about all of United Way of Central Iowa’s goals and then sign up to do your part to achieve said goals.
Where to begin? Well, when we look at planning our goals for the new campaign year the first thing we consider is what we did last year. In 2008, our campaign cabinet set a goal of $26,250,000 which was a modest 5% increase over 2007 (United Way of Central Iowa’s history of campaign increases has historically trended between 8-12%). That was determined in June, 2008 at a time when prospective donors were concerned about high gas and increasing food prices. We all know what happened in the economy last fall and as a result we did not achieve our campaign goal. We did, however, raise more money than in 2007 and set a new campaign record of $25,012,000 which speaks volumes about the generosity of people in Central Iowa.
Getting back to the present and the goal for 2009: the short story for now is that we have not yet finalized a goal. I, along with my colleagues, am going through our entire campaign company by company (and in some cases, donor by donor) to paint a picture of where we see possible gains and losses. Thankfully, the picture is reflecting more opportunity for gains than losses. To get our heads around it we’re analyzing every company’s five-year giving history, trends in participation rates and leadership giving, downsizing events and hiring increases, as well as changes in leadership which may impact the visibility of the United Way campaign in a given company. I can’t say for sure when a goal will be finalized and made public but if you’re reading this blog or following us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or YouTube you’ll likely be amongst the first to know.
This whole goal setting process is all fine and well and since my job is to raise money for United Way it is obviously an important part of my existence. But beyond the confines of my spreadsheets and this cubicle I sit in, the campaign goal is really insignificant by comparison to the goals set by our community impact department. In 2009 you are going to see United Way of Central Iowa put its neck out (figuratively speaking, of course) in a way you haven’t seen before. We will be unveiling goals for 2020 that will detail exactly what progress we intend to see in central Iowa relating to our work in education, income, and health. Of course, achieving those goals will rely on the continued generosity of current and new donors but the community’s success achieving these goals will depend as much on the good work of our community partners, engagement in advocacy and countless volunteer hours.
I encourage you to stay tuned for information about all of United Way of Central Iowa’s goals and then sign up to do your part to achieve said goals.
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