Key Requirements for Transforming to Community Impact

Lessons from the Impact Transformation Partnership (ITP) – October 2005

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 2

3 Key Requirements for Transforming to Community Impact

1. Focus: Identify limited number of community impact priorities for action, establish investment strategies to pursue these priorities

2. Align Activities & Resources: Focus organizational activities and resources (staff, money, board, skills, plans, functional areas, and external relationships) to support community impact priorities

3. Transform the Organization: Develop and implement a comprehensive plan to guide & coordinate the changes in content, processes and people needed to transform the organization.

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 3

3 Key Requirements for Transforming to Community Impact

1. Focus

2. Align Activities & Resources

3. Transform the Organization

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 4

What Does “Focus” Mean?

Select a limited number of issues and strategies in which to invest time, relationships, technology,

expertise, money, and other resources to improve people’s lives

Focus is essential for delivering meaningful results with limited resources

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 5

Investments of time, relationships, technology, expertise, money, other resources

Focus Area

Next level; more specific

Next level; still more specific

Next level; evenmore specific

What Does “Focus” Mean?

Specific direct-service and/or community change strategies

for improving lives

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 6

Steps to Focusing

• Identify how, when and who to engage in identifying community and organizational issues/priorities for action and what that process will look like.

• Identify a limited number (3-4) of high-priority issues (such as preparing children for school)

• Establish specific vision, targeted issues, objectives, and investment strategies for each priority issue to guide hard choices and focus resources (not just money) to achieve significant results.

• Identify metrics for demonstrating progress and results.

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 7

3 Key Requirements for Transforming to Community Impact

1. Focus

2. Align Activities & Resources

3. Transform the Organization

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 8

What does “Align Activities & Resources” Mean?

• All staff understand how their function supports the community impact strategies

• Staff have specialized skills, yet work together to support the organization’s community impact strategies

• Functions and resources support the organization’s community impact strategies

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 9

What does “Align Activities & Resources” Mean?

• Everyone* shares responsibility for achieving community impact

• Everyone* shares responsibility for mobilizing resources

• Everyone* shares responsibility for creating the brand experience

* “Everyone” includes both staff and volunteers -- especially board members

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 10

Aligning Activities & Resources to Achieve Community Impact

Targeted community outcomes

United Way’s roles in community change efforts

Aligned organizational resources

Volunt

eers

Finance

Agency relationsC

omm

unity

rese

arch P

ublic policy

Gov

erna

nce R

esource

development

Mar

ketin

g &

com

mun

icat

ions

Inve

stor

rel

atio

ns

Com

munity investm

ent

Staff

Hum

an resources

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 11

Initial Steps in Aligning Activities & Resources

• Get focused (see #1 above)

• Help staff and volunteers understand how their work contributes to achieving community impact goals.

• Create individual, departmental and organizational accountability for achieving goals and making progress on identified priorities.

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 12

Initial steps in Aligning Relationships with Important Stakeholders – Community Partners

• Develop a well-thought-out plan for how, what and when to communicate with and involve community partners (including funded agencies) about UW’s change.

• Integrate partnerships, initiatives, funding and other current “impact” work into priorities OR develop an exit strategy for them.

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 13

Initial Steps in Aligning Relationships with Important Stakeholders – The Board of Directors

• Engage and involve the board to become partners and champions for the community impact business model.

• Define the appropriate composition, functions, roles, responsibilities of a transformed UW board.

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 14

Initial Steps in Aligning Relationships with Important Stakeholders - Major Donors

• Develop communication plans and deliver key messages to specific audiences to engage them in community impact, garner support and deepen involvement.

• Build and maintain year-round investor relationships with Active Community Investors and other key investors focusing on the community impact agenda.

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 15

3 Key Requirements for Transforming to Community Impact

1. Focus

2. Align Activities & Resources

3. Transform the Organization

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 16

What is Transformational Change?

Three Types of Change

1. Developmental Change

– Getting better at what you already do

– E.g., Getting better at allocating funds to agencies

2. Transitional Change

– A significant but clearly defined change in what you do

– E.g., Changing from agency funding to program funding

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 17

What is Transformational Change?

Three Types of Change

3. Transformational Change

– A fundamental change in the very essence of the business

– E.g., changing from a focus on raising and distributing funds to a focus on changing community conditions

– Requires changes in mindset and culture

“The future state is so radically different than the current state that a shift of mindset is required to invent it, let alone implement and sustain it.” - Dean Anderson & Linda Ackerman Anderson

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 18

Transformational Change: Mindset

• Mindset is the beliefs, assumptions, values, thought patterns, mental models that guide us to do what we do.

• Mindset is critical because how we think creates what we produce…what people believe and assume dictates their behavior.

• If we are not conscious of our mindset, we will recreate that which we are trying to change.

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 19

Transformational Change: Organizational Culture

• Organizational culture is the pattern of widely shared beliefs, values, and work practices that play out over time in an organization, and shape its personality and business effectiveness.

• An organization’s culture is seen in its:

- Norms- Values (shared)- Assumptions- Morale- Behavior- Heroes, heroines

- Leadership style - Rewards, punishments- Decision-making styles- Handling of mistakes- Shared delusions - Openness to learning

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 20

Three Aspects of Transformational Change

The Content of the Change

• The type or nature of the change (structure, strategy, business process, culture, product or service)

The People in Change

• The emotional reactions, degree of involvement, acceptance, commitment & cultural dynamics that affect the change

The Process of Change

• The way in which a change is planned, designed & implemented

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 21

• Each United Way has unique strengths and weaknesses, and thus may require different prioritization and sequencing of these challenges.

• Addressing all three requirements is necessary for the transformation to Community Impact.

• While necessary, these three requirements are not sufficient by themselves.

General Observations about these Key Requirements for Transforming to Community Impact

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 22

Related Resources on United Way Online

• What Is Community Impact? (keyword: WhatIsCI)

• Ogre Story (keyword: Ogre)

• The Road to Community Impact: Changing Direction (keyword: ChangingDirection)

• Getting Focused to Make Tough Choices (keyword: GetFocused)

• The Community Investment Triangle (keyword: CITriangle)

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 23

• Redefining Agency Relationships for Community Impact (keyword: RedefineAgency)

• Aligning for Impact (keyword: Alignment)

• Hometown Literacy Partnership Experience (keyword: Hometown)

Related Resources on United Way Online (continued)

Requirements for Transformation: Lessons from ITP - 10/21/05 24