United Way of Summit County, according to President and CEO Bob Kulinski, “advances the common good by creating opportunities for a better life for all individuals and families in Summit County.”
With a focus on education, income stability and health, the organization distributed $10.9 million in funds and utilized 800 volunteers and 25 staffers this past year.
It’s forging ahead with a new way of attacking complex community problems called Collective Impact, while continuing to harness the support of the business community that has been its foundation. With so many people in need of help, however, the organization’s work is far from complete.
Smart Business spoke with Kulinski about the challenges the organization faces and what keeps him up at night.
SB: What is the most prevalent misconception about the organization?
BK: The most prevalent misconception of United Way of Summit County is that we are still like Community Chest on the Monopoly board — we raise small amounts of money from thousands of donors and then ‘dole it out’ to worthy organizations to help needy people.
United Way has grown in most communities to become the focal point for collaboration and collective impact. Our major role is now about focusing community resources — nonprofits, government, corporations, private philanthropists and foundations — to move the needle on significant and highly leveraged community issues.
SB: Your 2013-2014 annual report promotes Collective Impact as “a new way of doing business (that is) sweeping the nonprofit sector.” Why does the nonprofit sector need a new way of doing business and how does Collective Impact improve the way nonprofits traditionally do business?
BK: While the nonprofit sector has, in some ways, kept the community afloat while mounting social issues continue to grow deeper, wider and more complex, we haven’t moved the needle in a positive direction since the Great Society began on critical issues such as homelessness, poverty, health disparity, the achievement gap and other societal problems.
The old ways haven’t worked. At best, they stemmed the bleeding to some extent, but the root causes of our social issues remained intact.
A new wave of doing business has been emerging in recent years. It utilizes broader community involvement and more powerful, measurable results and outcomes. This Collective Impact is achieved through unprecedented levels of structured collaboration. Solving our complex issues requires that many partners work together — nonprofit agencies, government, foundations, corporations, philanthropists and faith-based groups — to move the needle on community issues.
To work effectively, Collective Impact requires a common agenda, shared measurements, activities that reinforce one another, continuous communication and an organization that provides ‘backbone support’ to make it all possible. We see this as United Way’s role.
SB: With so many people involved with United Way of Summit County, how do you keep it all organized and functioning effectively?
BK: Including all the volunteers who help with fundraising, we are assisted by over 800 volunteers and a staff of 25. Each volunteer board, cabinet or committee has a lead volunteer and a key staff person at the head. Recruiting occurs for additional members as needed, and regular meetings with advance agendas and clear objectives are held. We use the principle of subsidiarity a lot. Decisions are made at the point of best and most information and these points are typically furthest down the hierarchy.
SB: Why do you think the United Way of Summit County has such significant support from the business community?
BK: United Way has enjoyed a historic legacy of support from the business community because it was the merchants and business people who recognized how social issues were affecting the lives of families in America during the westward expansion.
United Way was founded in Denver in 1887 in order to deal with a wide variety of problems under a collective fundraising model. After World War II, many employers adopted payroll deduction as a method of raising money for local community chests, and these organizations ultimately developed into United Ways with a national marketing, membership and research arm, and with a pretty clear understanding of the importance of partnering with corporations, government and nonprofit employee groups. United Way of Summit County has been privileged to share this dynamic partnership with business corporations and other employers.
SB: What is it that worries you most in your role?
BK: What worries me most as United Way president is the immense scope of the social problems facing contemporary America: generational poverty, health disparity, single-family parenting, the achievement gap in education, the emergence of a substantial portion of our population that lives in poverty and despair.
The reality is we have millions and millions of people who need help, and when all is said and done we can only help them one person, one family at a time. I don’t know where we can find the resources and time to complete this work.
SB: What is the obstacle that, if cleared, would allow the United Way to be more effective?
BK: The money has always been there; we haven’t always been drilling in the right places or in the right way to free it up.
After 9/11, Summit County raised nearly $2 million to purchase a fire truck and ambulances for New York City; and recently most of us stood spellbound and watched as gracious people happily poured icy water over their heads to raise nearly $100 million for ALS.
The old formulas don’t work anymore — they probably never did work as we thought. People are inherently generous. They just need to be informed about the need, educated about the solutions that work and given an opportunity to support it.
