1. business and industrial

 Getting the Most Out Of Your Performance Improvement Tools
The Business Performance Overview is a well-rounded tool for tracking and benchmarking your United Way’s
progress on our network’s performance metrics – impact, revenue, supporters, and trust – and the behaviors
that drive those metrics. As it concretely frames a United Way’s work, this tool can be used to efficiently guide
Board and staff members in the goal setting and monitoring activities of the strategic planning process. Find a
guide to all of these resources: online.unitedway.org/performance.
New Scorecard Tool
This year, we’ve added an accompanying tool – a scorecard template – to help you illustrate your United Way’s
trends within impact, revenue, supporters and trust. It’s important to note it’s an aspirational template and an
optional tool, and something many boards and CEOs have been requesting. This is a way to revitalize the basic
foundation of tracking metrics and setting goals, and spark the right conversations around the strategies needed
to drive our performance. Here are some easy steps for using the tool:
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Tips for Using Your Business Performance Overview in Strategic Planning
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What Gets Measured, Gets Done—United Ways that have set goals around impact, revenue,
supporters, and trust are more likely to see positive movement in metrics. Setting goals ensures that
these driving indicators are being measured annually and that plans are drawn up to move them. For more
on establishing priorities and setting goals for your United Way, visit the Build Your Strategic Framework
page (online.unitedway.org/bysf).
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Check the Index—The 23 behaviors of the Business Performance Index (online.unitedway.org/bpi)
directly support the achievement of dashboard results. By targeting index items and implementing new
practices, your United Way can improve its BPI score and drive performance simultaneously.
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Set the Stage—Board alignment is critical to a successful strategic planning process. The Board Walk
page (online.unitedway.org/boardwalk) highlights resources to help Board and staff members measure
performance on strategic priorities. Your Business Performance Overview is a great starting point to stoke
this conversation about aligning against common goals with your Board. Also, check out the Building Our
Bridge to the Future learning map (online.unitedway.org/bbf), an interactive exercise that has been used
by dozens of United Ways with their Boards.
Organize the metrics you currently track and set longer-term goals around each metric
Customize the scorecard for your individual United Way
Choose 1-2 metrics you aren’t currently tracking, and put a plan in place to start tracking
Share with your Board and engage them in the goal-setting process. Don’t forget to frame the behaviors on
the Business Performance Index (turning outward, publicly declaring goals, talent management, etc.) as
the strategies for driving these metrics
Download at: online.unitedway.org/performance
Arm Yourself for Success—Visit the Strategic Planning Resource Center (online.unitedway.org/sprc) for
a host of tools, guides and best practices to make your strategic planning journey even more fruitful!
Share Your Experience—Post on United Way Online to share with your peers how your United Way uses
the Business Performance Overview as a strategic planning tool!
More Tools and Resources for Business Performance
See the reverse side for a selection of tools and resources. These tools and others are available at:
online.unitedway.org/bptools.
United Way Online is your portal to tools and resources that support key business practices within United Way’s
Business model. A sampling of premier resources is listed below. To access these and other performance tools,
visit: online.unitedway.org/bptools. Business Performance
Practice Area
Tools & Resources
Align Your Staff Toolkit: A guide for aligning your staff, volunteers, and Board members around a
Community Impact agenda.
Show Leadership
Diversity and Inclusion Toolkit: This toolkit was developed to outline the business rationale for
utilizing diversity and inclusion; to provide a framework for analyzing existing diversity and
inclusion strategies; and to share and stimulate effective practices both within and outside the
United Way system. It is intended for United Way staff and volunteer leaders.
Talent Management Portfolio of Resources: Overview of United Way's network-wide talent
strategy for individual employees, organizations, and Board leadership.
How to Talk About United Way: A free, 20-minute virtual trainer that teaches you how to talk
about United Way with tested, proven language that resonates with different audiences.
Harwood Community Conversation Workbook: A complete guide to setting up, recruiting for,
hosting, facilitating, and documenting community conversations.
Donor Retention Tools: A curated collection of tools to help you recruit and retain donors.
Tocqueville & Leadership Giving Society Toolkits: Templates, tools, and samples of materials to
start and sustain donor giving societies.
Planned Giving Toolkit: Resources for building your Endowment & Planned Giving (EPG) program.
Diversify and Grow
Revenue
WLC Communications Toolkit & Young Leaders Toolkit: These toolkits include guidelines, clear
messaging, and handouts to help you build and grow your Women's Leadership Council and Young
Leaders Program.
United Way Social Media Strategy Framework Outline: A framework for developing your United
Way's social media strategy.
Volunteer Project Ideas and Examples: A list of example volunteer project ideas in the areas of
Education, Income, and Health, with tips for planning.
Public Policy and Advocacy Toolkit: Tools and resources to help guide your United Way's new or
existing public policy agenda.
Charting a Course for Change: Advancing Education, Income and Health through Collective
Impact: Tools to Help You Navigate: Tools and best practices to help United Ways moving
towards Collective Impact.
Develop and Implement
Impact Strategies That Considerations in Deciding to Commit to an Issue: A helpful checklist to use when a United Way
is contemplating committing to a Community Impact issue.
Get Results
Where the Money Goes Infographic: The adaptable “Where the Money Goes” infographic can
help you make the case for United Way to donors, partners and the public.
Other Organizational
Tools
Membership Requirement Resources: Resources with reference to United Way's Membership
Requirements.
CFO Deskbook: Resources to assist members in understanding and implementing finance-related
standards, guidelines and best practices. In this area you will find the most recent version of
documents issued by the United Way Financial Issues Committee and other related groups.