CHALLENGE:

Through extensive Ipsos Reid research, it became apparent that United Way had great name recognition, but was completely miss understood, if understood at all. Everyone knows United Way, but few know what good they really do in their own community. One in three Victorians benefit from United Way, but no one knows their stories. The United Way is a true leader in the community, the challenge was, and is, to project that leadership to the community itself.

IDEA:

The solution to raising the awareness in the community had to come on several levels. Internally, the organization had to fundamentally change the way it thought and behaved. If you want to be a leader you must embody the qualities and characteristics of a leader. Be brave. Be bold. Be passionate. You won’t be perceived as a leader if you don’t act like one. The process can’t happen overnight. Becoming a leader and showing leadership is cumulative and earned on trust.

The solution was to bring the community face-to-face with the human side of United Way. Put the stories of the people who benefit back out into the community. The breadth of the United Way in Victoria is vast; some put the statistics at 1 in 3 being helped in the community. Creating a series of emotive campaign pieces and working altering the behavior of the agency itself were all part of 2 year plan to elevate United Way to its true place at the head of charitable organizations in the Capitol Region.

RESULT:

In the first year since rolling out the implementation of community stories, revamped web presence, targeted social media and solid creative, the United Way of Greater Victoria was one of only a handful of locations that were able to meet, and exceed their campaign goals. As a result, there has been the huge gain in a true sense of direction and emotional core of the organization.