Drive impact by leading shared efforts that engage diverse people, ideas and resources.

Powerful words. But what do they mean?

Today we’re kicking off a three-part series that takes a close look at our mission statement and how it influences our community work.

‘Drive Impact’
Pro Football Hall of Famer (and Michigan native) Tony Dungy once said, “You’ve got to define yourself by who you are, and who you impact, and how you impact people.” Dungy saw the crucial interplay between integrity, performance and results.

Drive impact lies at the heart of that view—and it’s why the phrase leads off our mission statement. At United Way, we know that our donors, our partners, our volunteers and our community gauge our value by what we do, how we do it, and how we transform lives.

Today’s charitable giver—of time, talent or resources—cares about making a difference. Their gift is an investment in meaningful, sustainable change. They want to make sure their support feeds a person for a day while helping them feed themselves for a lifetime.

When our United Way create the mission statement, we also developed 10- and 15-year strategic goals in Health, Education and Financial Stability, along with our ongoing commitment to assuring a safety net of Basic Needs. As we saw it, the old model of throwing money at chronic problems without a long-term plan for solving them wasn’t working.

To drive impact, our United Way tackles today’s needs and pursues tomorrow’s solutions. We also measure our effectiveness, along with our partner agencies. There’s immense value in that approach—watching our shared progress, making changes where necessary, strengthening the case for collective impact.

Drive impact is our fundamental reason for being. It underscores our leadership role in tackling the toughest issues in our community.

Read part 2: Leading shared efforts