By: Adam Luecking
January 20th, 2023
Social Sector Hero Spotlights tell stories of exemplary social and public sector organizations that are making measurable differences in their communities. The following United Way of Central Iowa spotlight is an excerpt from “Social Sector Hero – How Government and Philanthropy Can Fund for Impact” by Adam Luecking. You can download the book for free here and read all 16 Social Sector Hero Spotlights.
In this Social Sector Hero Spotlight, learn more about how United Way of Central Iowa helped improve high school graduation and achieved other measurable results using RBA, Scorecard, and effective dialogue with partners.
Table of Contents
1. How United Way of Central Iowa Stands Apart
2. Democratizing Data With Results-Based Accountability
3. Measuring Aggregate Impact and Supporting Effective Dialogue with Scorecard
4. Asking The Right Questions to Get to the Bottom of High School Graduation
5. Making Measurable Improvements With Consistent and Effective Dialogue
1. How United Way of Central Iowa Stands Apart
United Way of Central Iowa (UWCI) is part of a special group of United Ways raising $25 million or more annually. UWCI funds over 150 programs per year. The city it calls home — Des Moines, Iowa — is the number one city for per capita United Way giving among employed people. To create impact, UWCI aligns nonprofits, businesses, governments, and community leaders to implement collaborative strategies aimed at improving the five elements of a thriving community (Economic Opportunity, Education Success, Early Childhood Success, Essential Needs, and Health and Well-Being).
In the 1990s, the Annie E. Casey Foundation funded UWCI as a new “Making Connections” site — “a collaboration of local organizations and residents that seeks to improve outcomes for disadvantaged children by strengthening their families, improving their neighborhoods, and raising the quality of local services.”
Numerous Social Sector Heroes have called UWCI home over the years. Some of them include Shannon Cofield (President when RBA was adopted), Elisabeth Buck (former President), and Mary Sellers (current President).
2. Democratizing Data With Results-Based Accountability
Social Sector Heros at UWCI discovered Results-Based Accountability (RBA) shortly after becoming a Making Connections site. They saw the value of RBA because of its ability to “democratize data.” Democratizing data involves gathering complex systems-level data (like low birthweight and high school graduation rates), engaging in a data distillation process, and presenting it in simpler, visual ways like charts, maps, and graphs. Democratization allows program staff and community residents to understand the data and engage in collective discussions with the shared knowledge that neighborhoods, communities, and even individual citizens could play key roles in solving complex community issues.
UWCI could then pivot to the Community Impact framework proposed by United Way Worldwide because of its relationship with the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the RBA framework. Since the early 2000s, UWCI has used RBA as the framework to drive its strategic planning, improve the quality of life for all people in Central Iowa, and improve the performance of funded programs.
Read more Heroes’ Spotlights and become a Social Sector Hero.
Download our free book: Social Sector Hero – How Government and Philanthropy Can Fund for Impact.
3. Measuring Aggregate Impact and Supporting Effective Dialogue with Scorecard
Back in 2010, there was a driving force to measure UWCI’s aggregate impact. Staff chose Clear Impact Scorecard for their funded partners to report performance. I remember visiting Des Moines in January 2010 for our software kickoff meetings. Considering there were three feet of snow when I was there, I think I picked the wrong time to visit. Anyway, I am proud to say that UWCI has built a model performance reporting system throughout our partnership. After the launch, each UWCI grantee had to submit data on a few consistent but flexible Performance Measures. Additionally, grantees got to choose one measure for which to complete a Turn the Curve Plan to support meaningful dialogue. Years later, UWCI discovered an added value of its data system when United Way Worldwide began using it to aggregate data into the Global Results Framework scorecards.
Since then (excluding COVID-19), UWCI staff and volunteer evaluators have met face-to-face with each grantee to ask questions about the stories behind their plans. Three to five volunteers and a few staff members score the plans to evaluate and support past and future investment decisions. They also ensure that staff and volunteers consider staffing challenges and other factors influencing differences in the quality of the writing. They understand that just because one organization doesn’t have the resources for a professional writer, it doesn’t mean they aren’t doing good work. These conversations are helpful because they allow UWCI to look beyond the numbers and surface information not included in grantees’ written narratives.
4. Asking The Right Questions to Get to the Bottom of High School Graduation
Effective dialogue with high schoolers was instrumental when UWCI started creating its Story Behind the Curve for high school graduation. Part of the research involved asking open-ended questions to find out why teens were dropping out or were at risk of dropping out — instead of basing decisions on previous assumptions. As a result, UWCI came to better understand the barriers facing these teens, including the fact that many had to work to support their families. Some of them even had their own children to support. This data led the community to ask, “How do we help kids earn credit if they can’t go to school Monday through Friday, 7:30 am to 3:00 pm?”
This line of questioning led to establishing a flexible credit recovery model, including academic support labs where kids could come in on their own time and earn credit. In 2013, they expanded the program to include under-credited kids who would otherwise struggle to graduate. At the same time, they conducted outreach to teens who were dropping out of school or didn’t show up to try and re-engage them and get them to consider the academic support lab. The result? UWCI and its partners improved their strategies based on the Story Behind the Curve. Des Moines Public School is the largest and most diverse school in central Iowa, serving over 31,000 students PK-12. From 2008 to 2014, Des Moines Public School’s four-year high school graduation rate rose from 65.10 percent to 81.68 percent.
5. Making Measurable Improvements With Consistent and Effective Dialogue
UWCI must be doing something right because 57 percent of all target measures across their grantee portfolio are trending in the right direction as of 2022 — up five percent over the previous two years, despite the pandemic. How many funders do you know who can tell you what percentage of their grantees’ most important measures are trending in the right direction and making improvements annually? UWCI’s 2020 Community Impact report shows that the Central Iowa five-year graduation rate has improved over the past ten years from 83 percent to 94 percent.
Consistent and effective dialogue focused on surfacing unique grantee challenges annually and addressing equity has led to other measurable improvements. UWCI heroes are proud that local businesses have supported the effort for data-based decision-making, given that it’s also how they operate in their decisions to grow, expand, or contract. Using standard processes, methodologies, and language across the entire fellowship has helped streamline performance reporting and evaluation.
What’s their best advice stemming from years of RBA experimentation and implementation? When aggregating across like programs, let your tools do the math. It saves so much time to only have to set something up once.
6. Helpful Links
- Learn more about how to support effective dialogue with your partners.
- Learn more about UWCI’s work on high school graduation in Des Moines.
- Get a custom, private demo of Clear Impact Scorecard.
- Sign up for Scorecard for free.
Leave A Comment