Established Strategic Focus:

• Understand, prioritize, and respond to community issues
• Foster strong stakeholder understanding of, and commitment to our value and impact.

Putting Together the Plan

• In April, 2018, we worked with an external consultant with expertise/best practices experience with the nonprofit strategic planning process
• In 4th Quarter 2018, we conducted eleven community listening sessions in Vanderburgh, Warrick and Spencer Counties receiving input from over 200 stakeholders.
• We also conducted 1 on 1 meetings with community leaders and influencers.

Based on what we heard at these community listening sessions and 1 on 1 meetings, we put together the following strategic plan objectives:

• We will take a backbone and/or lead role on a single community-wide issue.
• We will address priority issues, including vital services, within all communities we serve.
• We will implement a volunteer mobilization program aligned with our priorities.
• We will inspire advocates who promote the value, focus, and need to support United Way SWI priorities.
• We will consistently engage priority stakeholders and increase their knowledge and support of United Way SWI.

What we’ve done so far:
In the summer of 2019, we conducted another series of seven (7) community conversations across Vanderburgh, Warrick and Spencer Counties.  These listening sessions, facilitated by certified Harwood Institute Coaches, provided community leaders, and residents, donors, agency representatives and volunteers the opportunity to share their aspirations, concerns and ideas on how to strengthen our community. 
Click here to see an overview of the identifiable issues that were gleaned from these community conversations.

Next Steps:

• Continued exploration of Harwood results from  Community Conversations conducted in Summer, 2019.
• Conduct additional Community Conversations with targeted groups to add missing information and to specifically address selected topics in 1st Quarter 2020.
• Review local data associated with issues identified
• Identify other resources/groups currently doing this work
• Identify best practices
• Determine community readiness to move on these issues
• Create asset map-service gap analysis