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- Form - Final
- A Letter to United Way Supporters
- 2013 LIVE UNITED T-Shirt Day
- Welcome to Our New Website!
- Watch Roger Staubach's first United Way commercial and others from the last 40 years here
- USA WEEKEND Magazine sponsors Make A Difference Day
- See who sported their t's for 2013 LIVE UNITED Tshirt Day
- Black Friday. Cyber Monday. Giving Tuesday. LIVE UNITED Today!
- Announcing...Our 2014 United Way 35 Under 35 Women's Leadership Program Participants
- United Way's new approach is intended to give donors a better picture of their return on investment
- It's not about CHARITY. It's about CHANGE.
- United Way teams up with Target to Share-A-Tree with families in need
- Blog Rss Feed
- 1 more step toward quality child care: North Dakota launches Bright & Early North Dakota statewide
- Now Accepting Nominations for the 2013 Fredrick W. Donath Campaign Award
- We have achieved and exceeded our 2013 Campaign Goal of $5.2 million!
- It's tax time! What you need to know about preparing your tax return with your gift to United Way
- Congratulations to our 2013 BE THE ONE Award Winners!
- The Power of Community Involvement
- United Way Celebrates National Volunteer Week
- Individualism or the Common Good? We need both.
- May 10 is the National Letter Carriers' Food Drive and YOU can help!
- Education That Works: Educational Leaders, the Economic Development Corporation, and United Way
- United Way Celebrates May Day by Celebrating Education
- Launching "Education that Works" for students, teachers and our future workforce
- United Way announces 2015-2016 investments in Community Partners providing Basic Needs
- $ 5 lunch on Thursday at all Hornbacher's locations! Gobble It Up for United Way
- A letter from our 2014 Board Chair, Mark Jensen-Thanks from the United Way
- 16th Annual School Supply Drive kicks off today-donation and volunteer info!
- REGISTER TO VOLUNTEER FOR SCHOOL SUPPLY DRIVE HERE
- You are invited to the 2014 United Way Kick Off Event on September 9 featuring Hugh Weber
- YOUNG PEOPLE, UNITE! The NEW Emerging Leaders in Giving Program has launched
- Applications for the 2015 35 Under 35 Women's Leadership Program are now available
- UNITED for Jefferson Neighborhood
- 35 Under 35 Alumni come together for Women’s Build for Habitat for Humanity
- Want to Stay Active and Improve Your Health as You Grow Older? Volunteer!
- Want to Stay Active and Improve Your Health as You Grow Older? Volunteer!
- Want to see what lasting change looks like?
- Monte’s Downtown launches DINE UNITED in partnership with United Way
- West Acres - BOOtiful Night: Trick or Treating
- Watch videos of the 2014 Kick Off Event
- United Way of Cass-Clay collaborates to lead first-ever regional workforce study
- 2014 LIVE UNITED T-Shirt Day
- Giving THANKS to our Volunteers!
- Essentia employee gets a VIP limo ride to work as part of United Way Campaign
- Proudly announcing the 2015 participants of the United Way 35 Under 35 Women's Leadership Program
- United Way of Cass-Clay has officially reached the $3.5 million mark on our way to the 2014 campaign
- United Way Partners with Target to spread holiday cheer
- 5 Reasons to Celebrate Volunteer Mentors
- Now Accepting Nominations for the 2014 Frederick W. Donath Campaign Award
- The 2014 Annual Report to the Community has been officially released!
- United Way welcomes new board members in 2015
- May 1st Brings 4th Annual May Day Baskets of Books!
- Local Organizations Receive National Recognition from United Way
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- Regional Workforce Study Results Announced-United Way to Take Action to Address Workforce Challenges
- Millennials Move Mountains
- 2015 School Supply Drive - How to Donate & Receive Supplies
- 2015 School Supply Drive Equips 5,260 Students for the School Year
- YOUR IRA CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION WILL HELP IMPROVE LIVES IN OUR COMMUNITY.
- Introducing the nominees of the NEW “LIVE UNITED Catalyst of the Year” Award
- United Way names Kristi Huber as President
- Now accepting nominations for the 2016 LIVE UNITED Leader of the Year Award
- United Way makes new investment to help West Fargo students access mental health services
- You won't want to miss our Kick Off Event on Sept 14
- Applications for 2018 United Way 35 Under 35 Women's Leadership Program available on September 1
- A Day in the Life: A Perspective on Poverty
- 8th Annual Roers/Keller Williams Chili Feed is Happening on Oct 3rd!
- Collaborative Investments Are Helping Rural Students Access Mental Health Services
- Generosity Is the Strength of Our Community
- LIVE UNITED T-Shirt Day & United Acts of Kindness on November 10th
- United Way Focuses on Investing to Help People Be Independent
- 800 Women UNITE to Help Give Kids the Very Best Start
- A Sign Is Worth A Thousand Words
- 2018 35 Under 35 Women's Leadership Class Announced!
- Get Informed and then Advocate...Learn More About Poverty in Our Community
- Emerging Leaders Turn Inspiration Into Action
- News & Events
- Here's What You Need to Know About Claiming Your United Way Donation This tax season
- And The Nominees Are.....
- How You Can be an Advocate for Student Mental Health in Your Community!
- Check out the 2017 United Way Annual Report to the Community!
- JUST ANNOUNCED: 2018 United Way Top 50 Most Generous Workplaces
- Congratulations to the LIVE UNITED Award Winners!
- How VITA is helping hard working tax payers receive more on their tax returns
- Register for the 2018 35 Under 35 Celebration Ceremony on June 7
- Employee Campaign Coordinators - Join us for ECC Engage on May 10 or 21
- A Lesson In Leadership
- United Way's 35 Under 35 Women's Leadership Program Celebrates 10 Years
- 7th Annual Women UNITED May Day Baskets of Books Event
- UNITED for Child Care Training Event Materials
- Gobble It Up Pre-Orders OPEN!
- Story Squad: Kid's Storytime with United Way
- Eggs & Issues: The State of Local Child Care & Its Impact on Workforce Development
- 20th Annual United Way School Supply Drive - ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW!
- Join us for the 2018 United Way Kick Off Event!
- 2019 35 Under 35 Women's Leadership Program Applications Now Available!
- 2018 Women UNITED Luncheon & Silent Auction
- 35 Women With One Thing In Common, A Desire to Make A Difference: United Way's 35 Under 35 Program
- Are You Up for the (Social Media) Challenge!?
- 2018 LIVE UNITED T-shirt & UNITED Acts of Kindness Day
- 2018 Campaign Video: I Wish My Teacher Knew
- A Song to Say Thank You
- Women UNITED Luncheon & Silent Auction Raffle WINNERS
- UNITED for Student Mental Health - Mental Health Services Expanded to 6 Rural Schools in ND
- Here’s What You Need to Know About Claiming Your United Way Donation This tax season
- Nominate YOUR Organization for LIVE UNITED Leader of the Year!
- Join us to Recognize Generosity in Our Community!
- And The Nominees Are...
- United Way of Cass-Clay: James' Story
- Congratulations to the LIVE UNITED Awards Winners!
- JUST ANNOUNCED: 2019 United Way Top 50 Most Generous Workplaces
- Community Collaborations: United Way Receives Presidents' Award for Community Partner
- Inviting all ECC's to attend ECC Engage The Power of Community on May 7 & 8
- Women UNITE to Share a Love of Learning
- Help Encourage Kids to Succeed on Their First Day of School
- The Route to Removing Barriers for Employment - United Way Helps Expand Transportation Services
- Pre Order Info for Hornbacher's Gobble It Up for United Way $5 Lunch
- A Backpacks Impact: The United Way School Supply Drive
- Will You Accept the Women UNITED Challenge?!
- Register now for the 2019 Kick Off Event on September 18
- Home For Good: Give Now to Help Welcome Families Home - For Good.
- Location Unveiled for the Future Home of United Way of Cass-Clay
- Watch the Community Kickoff Event
- Roers Chili Feed – Get your Cup of Chili Sept 15-29
- Taking Action to Help Families in Need - How the Coronavirus Response Fund is Helping
- United Way moving Dec. 18
- Our New Location: What You Need to Know
- Reaching Out: A space to serve our region for generations.
December 16, 2013
United Way’s new approach is intended to give donors a better picture of their return on investment
What's new at United Way of Cass-Clay? A lot. The Forum talked about what's new at United Way in yesterday's paper:
"Our new approach, with a greater emphasis on measuring programs’ results, is intended to give donors a better picture of their return on investment.”
Read the full article here.
Published in The Forum
Decmeber 16, 2013
FARGO – United Way of Cass-Clay is in the midst of a major shift in its approach to strengthening four community “building blocks”: education, income stability, health and basic needs.
The new method, begun in 2011, will reach an important stage next May, when United Way uses social change measurements to guide its decisions in awarding grants.
That could mean some programs that have enjoyed longstanding support from United Way could lose funding, although the charitable umbrella organization has been working to try to avoid that, leaders told The Forum Editorial Board last week.
“If they’re not measuring, we would defund them,” said Sherri Thomsen, United Way of Cass-Clay’s president.
The group first would try to improve results, she said.
“We’re trying to give them plenty of notice,” Thomsen added. “The intention is not to cut anybody off at the knees.”
The shift means United Way is more directly involved in measuring problems and searching for solutions in collaboration with partners.
“In a nutshell, we really are concerned with bringing about social changes in our community,” Thomsen said.
Education, employment
Although the metro area ranks well nationally in high school graduation rates, education attainment gaps have proved to be a stubborn problem.
United Way and its partners have met with school officials and business representatives to try to design programs to ensure academic success from pre-kindergarten through college.
“This is our future workforce,” Thomsen said.
Disparities in education achievement, with disadvantaged children commonly lagging behind their peers, actually are greater in many areas elsewhere.
“We think the schools are doing a great job,” Thomsen said.
Yet, one in four students in the North Dakota University System requires remedial courses that do not apply to graduation credits. Addressing that problem at its earliest stages means, among other programs, collaborating with public health nurses who work with at-risk mothers so they make appropriate choices that place their children on the right path, Thomsen said.
At Jefferson Elementary School in Fargo, United Way has invested in a social worker whose focus is to keep kids in school. A third of students in the school are in and out of school during the year, an impediment to learning.
Residents in the Jefferson school neighborhood were surveyed to gauge their perceptions.
The Jefferson initiative has reduced absentee rates 75 percent, said Thomas Hill, a community impact director at United Way.
Because Fargo-Moorhead has a very low unemployment rate, many are startled to learn that one in eight residents lives in poverty.
“We are really a community of ‘haves’ and ‘have nots,’ ” Thomsen said. “That’s growing, and we don’t really see that.”
Solving that problem involves many components, including affordable housing and day care, and finding solutions to underemployment.
The best solutions are those that go to root causes, Thomsen said.
“No one wants to build another emergency shelter,” she said. “Nobody wants to build another food pantry.”
Team approach
Under United Way’s new approach, information is shared with all partner organizations, a team approach to identifying and directing investment to solve problems.
“That’s a new way of working and investing in the community,” Thomsen said.
The new approach, with a greater emphasis on measuring programs’ results, is intended to give donors a better picture of their “return on investment,” said Mark Cullen, a community impact director for United Way.
“How do we prove that the dollars are making a difference?” he asked. Historically, nonprofits relied heavily on more subjective “gut” measures of success, Cullen said.
By conducting more of its own research, United Way is in a better position to tailor solutions to problems, sometimes drawing upon successes found elsewhere.
Also, it’s sometimes easier for United Way to be objective about assessing a program’s results than the organization delivering services, Thomsen said.
Funding contracts are for three years, with ongoing monitoring of results and “tweaks” along the way, he said.
Read more about how we're investing in Education, Income Stability, Health and Basic Needs.

