UWTC Final Project

United Way of Thurston County
Karleigh M. Shannon
Central Washington University
Non-Profit Management Final Project
December 4, 2014

Karleigh Shannon December 4, 2014
COM312 Final Project Page #2
Table of Contents
Title Page Number
Executive Summary...……………………………………………………………………………..3
History…………………………………………………………………………………………….4
SWOT Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………...6
SWOT Description………………………………………………………………………………..8
Prominent Issues and Solutions……………………………………………………………….....11
Appendix A……………………………………………………………………………………....14
Appendix B……………………………………………………………………………………....18
Appendix C……………………………………………………………………………………....20
References………………………………………………………………………………………..21

Executive Summary
United Way of Thurston County is a non-profit organization located in Olympia,
Washington. In 1936, a group of citizens in the community recognized a difference needed to be
made and created the United Way chapter for this area. Three areas are focused on heavily in
this county and those are: education, health and income (Live United 2014).
Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats were determined about this organization
through the use of a SWOT analysis. Due to United Way being the number one largest
organization in the world, this chapter was at a great advantage in many ways (Hart). However,
negativity affects everyone and everything, including United Way of Thurston County.
A few great things about this organization were the easy access to the mission and vision
statements on the website as well as having a strategic plan available through 2016 (Live United
2014). Great opportunities that face United Way in the future include new forms of social
media, more staff for better efficiency and effectiveness, along with stronger relationships with
their donors.
There are a couple issues facing the organization that could be solved and create a greater
benefit overall. In 2012, the revenue of United Way of Thurston County was negative over
$20,000. This is a big problem in any organization, for-profit or not and something that must be
solved as soon as possible. Another issue within the organization is their use, or lack of, social
media. Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are utilized but rarely updated (Live United 2014).
These could be great platforms to reach multiple audiences, donors and the community as a
whole.
United Way of Thurston County is an organization dedicated to continuous hard work
towards their mission through being “partners in change” everyday (Live United 2014).

History
Over 100 years ago in 1887 in Denver, Colorado, the city was in need of assistance for
their welfare system. A group of religious leaders created an organization to raise and collect
funds, earning over $20,000 that year (Live United 2014). Thus began the existence of United
Way.
By 1948, United Way had become part of over 1,000 communities, establishing in
Thurston County in 1936. One of the largest partnerships of a non-profit organization was
United Way with the NFL. It was started in 1973 and this was created to “increase public
awareness of social service issues facing the country” (Live United 2014).
In 1974, United Way raised over $1 billion, the first in history. Again in 1981, the
organization raised over $1.5 billion, increasing by about 10 percent from previous years. But in
October of 1996, it became crucial in narrowing down focus areas for the upcoming strategic
plan, “healthy children, healthy families and healthy communities” (Live United 2014).
As the year’s progress and the need for the organization become greater, in such cases as
Hurricane Katrina, United Way will continue to be there for the community in every way
possible.
The Thurston County United Way is one of 1,300 organizations. In 1936, a group of
citizens in the community recognized a difference needed to be made. However, the funds that
are built in the county, stay within the community (Live United 2014).
Today, United Way of Thurston County focuses on and believes in three pillars:
education, income and health. Thurston County programs are supported by funds raised through
the annual campaign and this helps “children and youth learn and succeed, promoted financial
stability for families and individuals and improve people’s health” (Live United 2014). The

community level approach from this organization allows for mobilization and the creation of
lasting changes that will improve the lives of everyone (Live United 2014).
The purpose of United Way of Thurston County is to not be just a fundraising
organization. They are “partners in change” (Live United 2014) who are working to fix a variety
of issues within the community, focusing on education, income and health with 21 funded
agencies and 31 funded programs (Live United 2014). Their mission is “to strengthen our
community by mobilizing people and resources to meet identified human needs” (Live United
2014). The vision they have is “through creativity, leadership, collaboration, philanthropy and
service, we employ innovative strategies to meet community needs” (Live United 2014).
The organization of the United Way of Thurston County is pretty small, only consisting
of 12 staff members. However, the board of directors is very diverse and quite large with 21
members and officers (Live United 2014).
United Way continues to be number one in the world as far as non-profit organizations
are concerned. The Thurston County organization pays dues to the national United Way and
funds many local organizations within the community. As time goes on, United Way of
Thurston County hopes to continue fulfilling their mission and working with the people of the
community through education, income and health (Hart).

SWOT Analysis
Strengths
 Lots of press releases available with
photos
 Social media interaction
 Vast diversity of occupations within
board members
 Odd number of members on board
 Mix of genders associated within board
and staff
 Income is easily accessible on website
 Thanks to donors are personal
 Mission/vision of organization easy to
find on website
 Strategic plan is available through 2016
 Location in downtown Olympia
 Website is organized and understandable
 No long term liabilities
 Budget for future created around past
performance
 Large number of board members
Weaknesses
 Few social media presences
 Boring website look and feel
 Small office
 Few number of staff
 Almost no fundraising staff
 Current liabilities are majority pledges
not fulfilled
 Loss of funding from big donors in 2013
 Not many community connections
 Lack of updates to social media/website
 Loss of revenue in 2013
 No pictures of staff, only board members
on the website
 Budget created around past performance
 Large number of board members
 Staff has multiple job descriptions/duties

Opportunities
 Promote other forms of social media
 Market/Campaign mission, purpose,
vision to inform public
 Connect with community using
technology
 Update website more often
 Newer office
 A location closer to the organization(s)
they fund
 Relationships with donors
 Involvement through major partnerships
 More non-profits allow for more
resources
 Hire more staff to be more effective and
efficient
Threats
 Overhead gets too much income
 Not enough money fundraised, only
grants
 Not many individuals of the public know
what they do
 Many community members don’t know
who they are
 Surrounded by local SafePlace, YWCA
and The Other Bank
 Poor national reputation
 Relevance to the community and
organizations
 Diluted brand in Thurston County
 Middle man work isn’t enough to be a
non-profit
 No recognition within the community

SWOT Description
United Way of Thurston County has a lot of great strengths within their organization.
One advantage of United Way being the number one organization in the world (Hart) is that they
have a lot of experience with being interactive with the community through technology. The
website for this United Way chapter is wonderful! There was easy access to the vision and
mission statements; very organized and understandable for all ages. It has multiple press
releases available with photos as well as the strategic plan available through 2016. Twitter and
Facebook are used as social media outlets to reach out to the community and keep updates
current (Live United 2014).
The board of directors of the Thurston County United Way is also a great aspect of their
chapter. The 21 board members come from various occupations within the community and are a
good mix of both males and females. Some members come from a professional background in
finance, while others have more experience in health (Live United 2014).
Although there may be a lot of strengths that stem from United Way being such a large
organization, there are weaknesses that come along with this as well and face the Thurston
County chapter. The staff may be a good mix of genders, but there are very few of them (Live
United 2014). This leads to more duties and increased job descriptions for the current employees
and almost no fundraising staff (Hart).
The website is very organized and fits with the theme of every other United Way in the
nation, but it’s boring. There is not anything that pops out at you or makes you want to stay on
there any longer than is necessary other than to fulfill your duty. Along with that, there are no
pictures or information of the staff except their contact information (Live United 2014). It feels
more personal when you can read and see why the staff dedicates their life to this.

In 2013, United Way of Thurston County had a loss of revenue of over $20,000 (Live
United 2014) due to major decreases in giving from two of their largest donors (Hart). This is a
huge weakness within any organization to lose money because it proves there is something very
unsuccessful happening, internally or externally. This could very well be considered a threat,
however, because it is money that was not earned, I considered it be an internal issue, classifying
it as a weakness.
Opportunities arise out of everything we do, right and wrong. As for United Way of
Thurston County, a lot of the opportunities in their future come from the threats and weaknesses
currently facing their organization. Due to the increase in technology these days, updating the
website and creating more platforms of social media would engage the community in a greater
way. Through this they could market and campaign their mission, purpose and vision in a better
way to inform the public of their services as well as alert the individuals unaware of their
existence.
To alleviate some of the major weaknesses and threats within this organization, hiring
more staff would be a great opportunity for them to take on. This would allow for more
effectiveness and efficiency, as well as allowing for the fundraising staff to do their job and not
having the development department in charge of that. Another important opportunity for United
Way of Thurston County is to have better relationships with donors. To have a personal
relationship, especially with large donors is very important in the non-profit sector and this could
have foreshadowed the major loss of donations in 2012.
Threats come as an external, negative issue to the organization. Many people have a
negative view of United Way as a whole because they believe overhead gets too much income
and they don’t fundraise any of the money themselves, it’s just grants. These are considered

threats and not weaknesses because they are thoughts and views of individuals outside of the
organization. They are not true facts that stand within United Way or the Thurston County
chapter; this is just a poor reputation that has been given to the organization.
In Thurston County, the United Way brand has become diluted. People have become to
think of it as the middle-man since they are just an organization funding other organizations for
the sake of health, education and income (Hart). This has caused the thought of United Way to
not be a non-profit, just a resource to the other local non-profits such as SafePlace, YWCA and
The Other Bank.
United Way of Thurston County is just like any other non-profit organization. Its name
and brand that has been built for over 100 years (Hart), doesn’t make it perfect. There are lots of
great qualities that took time and effort to learn and reconstruct, but there are still areas that need
work as the world continues to change around us, every second of every day. Many challenges
face United Way and will continue to as year’s progress. One thing that hasn’t stopped United
Way nationally or in Thurston County is the ability to overcome those trials. Allow threats to
become opportunities and weaknesses to become strengths.

Prominent Issues and Solutions
One of the biggest issues facing United Way of Thurston County is the loss of revenue in
2013 of over $20,000 (Live United 2014). When doing strategic planning each year, this chapter
“budgeted around past years performance” (Hart). In the years following, Intel and State Farm
had been two of the biggest donors to the Thurston County United Way (Hart).
This year in particular was a rough year for many non-profit organizations in the area.
Not long after Boeing’s big move to Chicago was the economy in this community hit hard. “It
was a complete fluke,” Patricia Hart, Director of Development at United Way of Thurston
County said, “we did not foresee this at all.”
Intel at the time was the number one donor to the Thurston County organization. The
donation they gave in 2012 was $100,000 less than previous years. State Farm Insurance was the
number two donor at the time and they went from a $42,000 donation to $350 (Hart).
When an organization faces negative revenue, it makes it clear that something is
definitely going wrong. United Way of Thurston County may not have been able to see such a
drastic decrease in donations from these donors (Hart), but a better relationship with them could
have been a warning of a decrease in donation altogether.
In non-profit organizations, donations are a huge part of how things run and stay running.
Grants come and go making them very unreliable. Donors are the ones you can count on and
rely on every year for a specific amount and/or time donated to your cause. For this reason,
having a relationship with them is very important. If they feel that you don’t need them, you
don’t care about their time and/or money or they simply don’t feel appreciated, they will go find
someone or somewhere else who will.

If United Way of Thurston County would have had a better relationship with Intel and
State Farm, they may have been able to determine that there was trouble arising within their
companies and donations were going to be cut back this year. Or they may have simply just
shown their appreciation and kept the donation the same as in the past. Since not much is known
about why Intel and State Farm withheld so much from their donations, it is only the public
relations side of me to say, build a relationship, a better one at that, and figure it out so that in
2016, or any other point in the future, there isn’t a reoccurrence of major donors decreasing their
gifts.
Another issue I see facing United Way of Thurston County is their use of technology.
The website is great. It has a lot of information and it’s very organized as well as easy to
navigate. However, the last updated article is from the beginning of October and they are only
utilizing Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as their social platforms (Live United 2014).
Facebook is the one platform that is kept up with on a regular basis, almost daily (United
Way of Thurston County 2014). Twitter was last updated in late October and they have almost
500 followers (United Way Thurston 2014)! YouTube had a video uploaded last in 2012
(TheUWTC 2012). Over 2 years ago! Creating a LinkedIn and an Instagram would be two other
great ways to connect with the community, professionally and creatively.
Through adding social media platforms, a different population of the community can be
reached. Not only that, but individuals can be kept up to date at their fingertips. A woman may
not even be thinking of United Way but scrolling through her Instagram on lunch break. She
then sees a post on the upcoming “Giving Tuesday” event (United Way of Thurston County
2014). She likes the post and is able to go back in a week, find the link and pledge $25 to
something wonderful this holiday season.

Social media is always changing and it is very important to stay up to date with it.
Constant posting on all platforms should be happening to engage your audience, community and
donors. United Way of Thurston County is not as huge as the national organization, but it is still
a very large non-profit in the community. There is no excuse to why twitter hasn’t been updated
in over a month (United Way Thurston 2014) and why YouTube has not a single new video in
over two years (TheUWTC 2012). Brochures and stamped mail will always work to some
extent, but we are in the days of technology and it is a wonderful thing. I hope to see it used as
an advantage in the future of this United Way, not some type of burden.

Appendix A
MEMO
TO: Liz Kerns
FROM: Karleigh Shannon
DATE: Friday, November 7, 2014
SUBJECT: United Way of Thurston County Meeting #1
Today I met with Patricia Hart, Director of Development at United Way of Thurston
County. I went in with my SWOT analysis to discuss with her and ask her the opinions she had
as well as anything she’d like to add.
When it came to strengths, Patricia informed me that the Thurston County United Way
collected multiple small gifts throughout the entire year and this allowed for personal thanks at
every level, which is something they’re very proud of.
The weaknesses Patricia brought to my attention were the facts that the organization is
comparatively small to the others around the nation and this doesn’t allow for a large staff. Due
to this, the staff is often overworked because each employee is required to do multiple jobs.
Due to the large population in Thurston County, Patricia see’s listening and learning
through involvement as a huge opportunity for the future of their organization. She hopes that
individuals will use their resources as they continue to offer them.

As we discussed threats to United Way of Thurston County, Patricia was worried as to
how the community is taking their message. The brand has become diluted and unrecognized in
this county with many people not knowing who or what United Way is and does.
Patricia was able to give me great insight into how United Way’s image has evolved from
something that was once very popular and a name in everyone’s household to something that is
now more of the middle-man and barely recognized. United Way is now working as a
connector, especially in Thurston County, and the relevance to the community has become
washed. However, not much happens overnight and Patricia will not give up on United Way or
her community.

MEMO
TO: Liz Kerns
FROM: Karleigh Shannon
DATE: Monday, December 1, 2014
SUBJECT: United Way of Thurston County Meeting #2
Today I spoke with the Director of Development at United Way of Thurston County,
Patricia Hart again over the phone. After learning how to read a 990 form and dissecting the
2012 tax form in class, I decided to discuss some questions regarding my research with her.
My first question was why United Way had zero long term liability. Patricia informed
me that there are no cars owned by them and the building used for the office is rented. My
suspicions were true! Following that, I asked why the current assets were over $1,000,000. In
the way the books are processed for their organization, all pledged not fulfilled are considered
accounts payable. Patricia said this isn’t an issue but the money has to be accounted for
somewhere.
The biggest concern with the 990 I had was the fact of the revenue being negative. I was
informed that in 2012, the two biggest donors decreased immensely in their donations. When
doing strategic planning, United Way budgets around the previous year’s performance. There
was no way to foresee what was going to happen.
Intel, the number one largest donor to United Way of Thurston Count decreased their gift
by $100,000. State Farm Insurance, the number two largest donor went from a $42,000 gift to

$350. The only reasoning that Patricia and her colleagues could think of to back up this surprise
was the economy crash from Boeing being relocated to Chicago. United Way of Thurston
County was not the only non-profit in the area to experience negative revenue during 2012.

Appendix B
*Brochure included in hard copy*

*Chart included in hard copy*

Appendix C
Personal Reflection
Through doing this project I learned a lot about the differences between internal and
external, positive and negative impacts of an organization in regards to a SWOT analysis.
Although I had never heard of a SWOT analysis prior to September, I was aware that within any
organization there are good and bad aspects.
When learning how to conduct a SWOT analysis, I didn’t know that an organization
classified issues that were negative into internal and external, as well as for positive issues. This
took me a couple times of working through example SWOT analyses before I grasped the
concept that threats were external and negative, while weaknesses were an internal negative
aspect. Once I got the hang of how the chart worked and understood the concept, I was able to
create my own chart for United Way of Thurston County.
Overall I learned a lot about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of my
organization, United Way of Thurston County. But I also took away from this how to apply
these to one another to make a situation better, such as taking the threats and weaknesses to
create opportunities. Each part of the analysis works with the other to create a clear layout of
how to further the organization in ways that aren’t being utilized as well as showing what is
working already.
In meeting with Patricia Hart of United Way of Thurston County and having the
knowledge from lectures and the textbook of a SWOT analysis, I was able to learn firsthand and
apply a real-life example.

References
Live United. (2014). Retrieved November 29, 2014, from http://www.unitedway-thurston.org/
P. Hart, personal communication, November 7, 2014
TheUWTC. (2012, October 31). UWTC My Two Hands Music Video [Video file]. Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iysrvF1UXoA
United Way Thurston. (2014, October 27). Retweeted Double the impact: @UWTC launches
dollar-4-dollar match campaign with @cafegive tool. Learn more:
http://govoc.us/AABU13. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/uwtc
United Way of Thurston County. (2014, November 29). #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated
to giving back is just around the corner! On December 2nd, help United Way build a better
future for our children! Puget Sound Energy Foundation will match every dollar up to
$10,000. Every little bit counts. Simply text "UNITED" to 55155 or click the link to
give. http://ow.ly/EXc5P. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/UnitedWayThurston

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