United Way of Greater Cincinnati (UWGC) is dedicated to helping families flourish. Guided by community voices and data-driven strategies, UWGC unites diverse stakeholders comprised of individuals and organizations to address issues holistically.

Their approach is multifaceted, encompassing proactive interventions, advocacy, and investment across three key pillars: educational advancement, financial resilience, and housing stability.

For decades, workplace or employee giving brought in more than 90 percent of UWGC’s annual revenue. However, post-Covid years saw a steep decline in funding, exposing a need for diversified revenue streams and greater donation opportunities.

Additionally, UWGC was looking to strengthen its relationship with Workplace Corporate Partners (large business entities whose employees are the workplace donors), but was unsure where to begin.

Their challenges prompted them to connect with CauseMic, seeking answers to questions like:

• How can we diversify our revenue streams?
• How do we develop a more unified message that can be leveraged across our fundraising campaigns?
• How can we inspire and build trust with our existing donor base to increase their investment through annual and monthly giving
• How can we improve ties with our Workplace Corporate Partners?
  
  

Our Solution

To answer UWGC’s questions and address their challenges:

• We analyzed UWGC’s existing donor base—specifically donation frequency, level of giving, and affiliation parameters—to identify fundraising audiences for annual and monthly giving outside of workplace donors.
• We conducted interviews with numerous UWGC philanthropic partners to determine opportunity gaps and any friction hindering more fruitful engagement. We found a notable lack of understanding regarding the exact nature of UWGC’s work, highlighting a need to clearly convey their efforts. Information materials were required to effectively communicate UWGC campaigns to employees and others.
• We worked with UWGC to clearly define their unique value proposition to help clarify and distinguish their work for current and prospective supporters. This centered on their holistic approach toward addressing financial, educational, and housing issues to help families within the Greater Cincinnati area thrive.
• For a more cohesive donor experience, we developed a comprehensive content planner and strategy calendar across UWGC’s campaigns. Content themes were rooted in UWGC’s newly defined value proposition and addressed their three core pillars.
• To expand fundraising beyond workplace giving, we determined opportunities for donors to give directly to UWGC by creating easy-to-understand appeals and plain-speak messaging.
  
  

The Results

• United Way of Greater Cincinnati now had a clearly actionable plan to diversify their revenue streams for workplace giving and beyond, including new strategies to build out their annual and monthly giving programs.
• Along with insights from CauseMic-conducted partner interviews, UWGC utilized our research and analysis to cultivate solid relationships with existing and future Workplace Corporate Partners.