UWSWGA - SOAR Focus Group Transcripts

This transcript was exported on Dec 16, 2021 - view latest version here.

way, I'm from Ohio, stayed in Ohio, so when you mentioned Columbus is like a [inaudible 00:06:06] to the Midwest, but yeah.

Reggie Hammond: That's great. Rachelle K. Scott: Yeah, absolutely. Reggie Hammond: Okay.

Matt Atkins: Yeah. I'm certainly glad to hear Mary say that she feels like we're good stewards because I certainly feel that way as well. I think I may have even mentioned that when I responded to your email request a couple of weeks ago. I think we do that well, that's certainly a top priority for us is making sure that the donors to our organization are receiving the most value they possibly can for every dollar that they give. Some of our donors offer very, very small amounts to the organization, although I'm certain that those amounts are very large to them and their families. And so, we are so grateful for each of those dollars, every single one, and we want to make sure that they're spent wisely and spent according to our donors' wishes. So, that is very key to us. I know that every budget I've been involved in setting, we've had an eye on returning every possible dollar we can into the community to make it stretch as far as we possibly we can. So, that's great to hear, and certainly one of the areas that we place a big importance on. Reggie Hammond: Outstanding. Is there anything that makes United Way unique that you can think of? Anything that makes them unique? Matt Atkins: Well, I think, from my perspective, I think we have a lot of opportunities to be more unique than what we are. We did struggle there in the mid 2010s, I think, at differentiating ourselves. I think in some ways we got complacent, but that is not the case anymore. Shawna has brought a lot of vigor to the organization in how she's come in. Just a tremendous amount of excitement. I think we're unique in that we are well positioned within the community to be the coordinator of resources to meet the greatest needs in the community. We can fundraise, we're doing that well, really, really well the last few years beyond our traditional campaign model. And then beyond that, we're looking to differentiate ourselves even further by becoming a key piece of volunteering in the community, and really expanding out our volunteer opportunities and recruiting volunteers. That's been very important to us over the last couple of years. So, I think we have a lot of opportunity to be more unique than what we are and further differentiate ourselves. Rachelle K. Scott: I agree with you, Matt. I'd also like to add, just leveraging the scale, and the ability to corral multiple, I guess I'll say programs, partner programs, and having the ability with the brand, United Way, which is

UWSWGA - SOAR Focus Group 1 (Completed 11/16/21) Transcript by Rev.com

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