Shifting Awareness to Understanding
People love the thermometers. We have seven of them. Seven thermometers.
You remember – the giant thermometers that measure United Way of Charlotte County’s (UWCC) progress toward our annual campaign goal. When we displayed the thermometers across the county, the question was periodically, “How close is United Way to reaching their goal?” The answer to that was clear as soon as you saw one of the thermometers.
I mentioned that we had seven, didn’t I?
No, we didn’t have to answer that question very often. The question that was frequently asked of us, however, was, “What does United Way do?” And if we expect our community to support us with their time, talent and treasure, it is imperative that we make the answer to that question as clear as the red indicator on the (seven) thermometers.
At last week’s United Way of Florida Statewide Leaders Conference, I presented a case study on how we have been able to shift our community from an awareness of United Way of Charlotte County to a more in-depth understanding of who we are, what our mission is, and yes, what we do.
While our communication strategy to shift from awareness to understanding is multi-faceted, our team feels immense gratitude for the opportunity we have had with The Daily Sun in having a space to share our voice with the Charlotte County community. This was the basis for our case study.
It was two years ago this month that The Daily Sun published our first weekly column. We weren’t initially sure we would have enough topics to write 52 columns each year, but here we are, two years later, and we’ve never missed a beat.
These columns provide a glimpse into the work we do behind the scenes at UWCC.
As we continue to share the various aspects of how United Way of Charlotte County is making an impact in partnership with our community, we are seeing a shift in the questions we are asked. Fewer people ask us what we do.
In preparation for the presentation at the United Way of Florida conference, we asked Glen Nickerson, publisher of The Daily Sun, for feedback. He graciously responded, "I read the columns every week and find myself learning something new about what UWCC does and supports with its annual campaigns. I think it also helps the community understand that UWCC is an excellent steward of the donations received."
I was able to explain at the conference the incredible impact the weekly columns in The Daily Sun have had in shifting awareness to understanding for our local United Way. We give tremendous thanks to Glen Nickerson and team for their partnership over the past two years.
It is because of their faith in us that we have begun hearing a different question.
“How can I help?”
The story that the thermometers could never tell is about the incredible community we have right here in Charlotte County. These are neighbors helping neighbors. What we do at UWCC is mobilize the power of our community to break the cycle of poverty.
If you have a question about how you can help, please call our office at 941-627-3539. We know that we are better together, and there are a multitude of ways your time, talent and treasure can make a direct impact on the individuals and families that call Charlotte County home. While we no longer showcase our thermometers across the community, rest assured we are still accepting donations year round at unitedwayccfl.org – each dollar helps us help this community we all love.
For more information about United Way of Charlotte County’s mission: Mobilizing the power of our community to break the cycle of poverty, please contact Angie Matthiessen, Executive Director. She can be reached at director@unitedwayccfl.org.