The Power of a Network

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Stan Holt

It has been awhile since my last blog post on February 13, 2013. A lot has happened in that time. One of the best things was a recent trip to Indianapolis, IN. The United Way Worldwide Staff Leaders Conference was held there on April 17-19, 2013. After eight years of being here at United Way, this was my first big conference. I had gone to a couple of other smaller events sponsored by United Way of America, but this was the first big one. I walked away with a whole bunch of new resources and am incredibly motivated to continue doing the work that I do, which focuses on our Financial Stability Partnership here at United Way of the Greater Triangle.

Having worked professionally in nonprofit organizations for the last 23 years, I appreciate being a part of a larger network of organizations that are trying to do good work throughout the country. I use the word network very deliberately, as that is a focus of how the United Way of America is wanting to move their agenda for the common good forward. There is an overwhelming commitment within the United Way system to acknowledge and use this network for the purposes of improving people’s lives. With a national organization, statewide associations, and local affiliates all over the country, the power of this network was apparent to me as I attended the many breakout sessions and keynote addresses.

First and foremost, a network like this can share knowledge and experience. I don’t believe that there are too many “new ideas.” Someone, somewhere, in some other part of the country has probably tried something similar to what I want to try and accomplish here in the Triangle. That is a great advantage, because I don’t have to waste my time and energy on the start-up strategies. I can replicate a strategy and then spend time modifying and improving it so that it fits here locally.

Another thing that the network does, is that it helps create a common language across the country, particularly when it comes to measuring our performance and effectiveness. As more agencies within the network identify indicators and performance metrics, it helps each of our communities define what is important and measureable. This then sets the stage for ensuring that all of us are doing the right things and doing them well.

Finally, I appreciate the fact that a network helps others within the network. In some ways it goes back to the old cliché that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The emphasis to encourage organizational development and improvement is a key to the success of the entire system. By ensuring that all parts of the network are strong, we ensure that we really can improve lives.

Image courtesy of relenet.com

I am your neighbor…

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Jennifer Bosk

Meet Josh Fountaine, one of our United Way summer marketing interns. He shares his thoughts on who people in need really are!

My name is Josh Fountaine and I am one of two marketing interns at United Way of the Greater Triangle. Before I get into my main thought, I want to tell you a little bit about myself. To start with, I will be graduating from North Carolina State University within a few short weeks with my undergraduate degree in sport management.

During the spring semester starting in January, I took on a very taxing internship in arena management that was concurrent with an eighteen credit hour semester at NC State. During that same time frame, I took on an additional job and received additional responsibility at my other job. Between moving to a new apartment, schoolwork, two jobs, and an unpaid internship, I was getting worn down. Burning the candle at both ends was exhausting and had me questioning whether I wanted to complete my degree requirements despite being mere credit hours away from my bachelor’s degree.

My weekday routine consisted of waking up at 6:45 a.m., driving to class at NC State, walking two miles from the parking lot to class, eating lunch in the car on the way to my internship, arriving at the arena and changing into business attire, working my allotted hours for the internship, leaving the arena, changing into my work attire, driving for an hour one-way to work in Wakefield, working until 8 p.m., arriving at home at 9 p.m., working on any school assignments, and finally going to bed around 12 a.m.

While that overview of my daily routine was probably the longest sentence you’ve ever seen in your life, it was only a snapshot of what I had going on. I felt emotionally drained, physically taxed, mentally strained and just plain stressed.

Amidst the flurry of daily activity, I had a revelation one day during my spring semester: I am not the only person in Raleigh, North Carolina with a difficult routine. I stopped and thought for a minute, then realized there were people wondering where their next meal was coming from. According to Feeding America, a non-profit organization dedicated to eradicating hunger in the United States, nearly one out of six Americans don’t know if they will have food to eat today.

Also, people around the United States will not be able to be at ease due to the threat of abuse. A government study indicates that about one out of four women and nearly one out of nine men will suffer from domestic violence in their lives.

Plus, individuals living in the “Land of Opportunity” will be living with daily uncertainty in the face of outright poverty. Almost 37 million Americans live in poverty and are challenged with meeting simple needs that nearly 87% of Americans take for granted.

That’s stress.

This is the take home message: these statistics aren’t just numbers on a computer screen or on a piece of paper- they are your neighbors. These numbers are your child’s friends at school or your spouse’s gym buddy. These numbers include the barista you talk to regularly at Starbucks for your daily cup of coffee or even the person in the cubicle next to you at work.

These numbers tell a story and the reality is that you are closer to these people than you initially imagined. Will you help or will we numb ourselves to the point of perceived comfort that these statistics are only numbers on a page and not your best friend from high school?

They are our neighbors.

Greek Life Skills Translate to United Way Internship

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Jennifer Bosk

Meet Catherine Weiser, one of our United Way summer marketing interns. She shares her thoughts on skill development throughout life and how it leads to making things happen – like internships!

Bows, pearls, socials and Lilly Pulitzer. This is the image most people have when they think of someone involved in college Greek life. While some of that is true, there is so much more Greek life has to offer. Through the process of obtaining an internship I’ve realized just how much Greek life has given to me.

Hi, my name is Catherine Weiser and I’m one of two marketing interns here at the United Way of the Greater Triangle. I grew up in Chapel Hill but now attend Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla. I’m a rising senior majoring in Communication Studies with a concentration in Public Relations, and I’m very involved with my sorority at school, Kappa Delta. I’m so excited to be writing my very first blog!

This past spring I was searching for a summer internship and sent out dozens of copies of my resume hoping to get a response from at least a few of the companies. I was fortunate enough to interview with United Way of the Greater Triangle, an organization I’d heard of but didn’t know a lot about. I soon realized that UWGT holds very similar ideals and values to those of my sorority. They believe in impacting the community around them and inspiring people to make a difference.

It really hit me during my interview, when I talked about my leadership experience, just how much I have gained from being in Greek life and how much I can relate to what United Way of the Greater Triangle does. Being Vice President of Member Education in my sorority has taught me tha,t no matter how much you may plan, things don’t always go your way and that you have to look at the big picture; you have to keep things in perspective. I learned how to be a better leader and a better listener through teaching the new members and educating the rest of my chapter. The biggest lesson I learned is that I don’t have to do everything myself and that it’s okay to ask for help sometimes.

When you volunteer it may be easy to just think about yourself, and the time you are giving up. However, maybe thinking about the big picture and having some perspective of the people you are helping can change your attitude and inspire you to do more. Maybe your positive experience the first time you volunteer will encourage you to take on a bigger role the next time you volunteer. And just maybe you will notice that it’s okay to ask other people to help you, ask them to be a part of the team and ask them to help make a difference. This semester I learned these lessons are not just for my time in college, I can use these lessons in my internship here at UWGT. I can even apply these lessons to volunteering and giving back.

Since becoming involved with my sorority during my freshman year of college, I’ve always encouraged people to get involved. Now that I’ve seen how United Way of the Greater Triangle impacts the community, I encourage all of you to get involved. So join a new organization you have an interest in, or come be a volunteer for United Way’s Day of Action on June 21 (http://unitedwaytriangle.galaxydigital.com/), grab a group of friends and make a difference. Volunteer wherever you can and don’t be afraid to step up to a leadership role. You just may learn a thing or two about yourself in the process. I sure did.

Let me tell you what you’re worth…

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Jennifer Bosk

You’re worth a lot! Especially if you are a volunteer. According to “Independent Sector” someone who volunteers in North Carolina is actually worth $19.90 an hour! Wow!

So for the 2,000 volunteers who joined us on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday in January for our annual Day of Service and worked for four hours that day…that is a value of $159,200 in volunteer time!

Goldie is one of many who helped during National Volunteer Week.

For the 50 that joined our National Volunteer Week and worked on one of our many projects to help the homeless and low income, your time value is approximately $3,980. That’s incredible!

On June 21, it will be our annual Day of Action. This year we will be at either a Boys & Girls Club or a YMCA in your county hosting field days for all the kids at summer camp. We expect to reach 530 children from pre-school through middle school. We need a total of 235 volunteers. If ever there was a time to get together your office group, your friends, your church group – this is it!

Imagine a Friday afternoon spent with kids tossing water balloons and doing relay races and just basking in the attention of adults! Life couldn’t be any better. What an easy assignment.

Convinced? Then let’s get you and your group signed up. Simply go to www.unitedwaytriangle.org and click on the big blue VOLUNTEER button. Our handy dandy volunteer software will pop up and let you choose which June 21 Day of Action location you’d like to help.

And if you think that is a mega-cool event, just wait until you see what we have planned for this fall!

Millennials + Boomers = Great Team? Yes!

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Jennifer Bosk

We saw this article on 99u.com by Nathanial Koloc with the title “Why Baby Boomers and Millennials Make Great Teams” and thought…oh yeah….we have to blog about this. So Ashley, a Millennial, who is our Community Impact Director and Jennifer, a Boomer, who is Vice President of Marketing and Communications decided to share their thoughts together in this post! Note that in spite of their age difference, the two share a love of pop culture and reality TV!

Basically the article said that each generation, while seemingly opposite, had great traits to bring to the table: Millennials are tech-savvy and idealistic while Boomers have skills, knowledge and wisdom. Millennials have potential, Boomers have experience.

Here’s how we see it:

Ashley:

Things that I have learned from the Baby Boomer generation:

1. Experience is everything. – As a Millennial, I definitely don’t know everything, especially when it comes to the workplace. Though sometimes you will catch me professing that I do! However, when paried with someone from the Baby Boomer generation, I know that they have been where I am and probably where I want to be. Baby Boomers are great for building mentoring realtionships as well as a listening post when my views of the “real world” haven’t gone quite the way I planned. This group brings so many life experiences to the table when having key discussions taht everyone around the table listens.

2. It’s okay to be dedicated to a job/cause/etc. – So yes, my generation has a tiny tendency to be flaky with jobs. In a report done by Future Workplace “Multiple Generations at Work” survey in 2012, 91% of Millennials are said to remain on a job for less than three years. This means by the time I am retirement age, I will have had, in theory, 20 jobs!!!! Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing as I will gain experience from all the jobs and have the freedom that I want to “spread my wings”. The downside is that with this freedome that I so desperately want, it will not help me gain financial security as my generation is the worst in this area more than any other generation in the past 50 years. Also, jumping ship does not teach mea bout having longevity and understanding true workplace dynamics.

3. Working hard always pays off. – Work ethic is critical to any job, no matter age, genration, etc. People of the Baby Boomer generation have showed us “young people” that sacrifice is needed when trying to accomplish a goal. Though being consumed with work can sometimes be daunting, there is always a means to an end. With a sense of independence, which my generation seems to forget from time to time, Baby Boomers are confident and self-reliant and are not afraid to challenge the status quo. Because of their hard work, Baby Boomers are more ready to give their opinions to situations at hand.

Jennifer:

So, here are the things I don’t get about Millennials:

1) Failure is okay. Huh? People tell me they grew up as the generation who, although on a losing team, still received a trophy. In my day it was black or white; one winner, all the rest were losers.

2) Their job isn’t their top priority. Huh? My son told me one time that if he needed to leave work early to pick up his child from day care then he’d get up and walk out of a meeting because his daughter came first. Well my kids came first too but leaving work early to get ‘my kid’ as my excuse never sat well with the boss.

3) They want to know what’s-in-it-for-them when it comes to their job. Huh? It’s called a paycheck – what more do you think you should get? What’s this personal growth and development stuff?

So, here’s what I’ve learned from Millennials:

1) Failure is okay. Sigh…what a relief! Millennials have shown me I can try and fail and try again without punishment or repercussions – just so I keep trying to achieve!

2) Their job isn’t their top priority. And mine shouldn’t be either – because there is so much more to a balanced life. Millennials have shown me through their priorities of work and play and varied interests and learning opportunities, they can easily recharge themselves and bring in fresh ideas, more creativity and a positive attitude to the office. Beats the old days of trying to recover from burnout!

3) They want to know what’s-in-it-for-them…and now I do, too! Because while a paycheck and benefits are vital…so are things like an opportunity to be a part of an organization with a great mission or great corporate social responsibility I can get behind; chances to attend classes, seminars and conferences to expand my knowledge and branch out into new arenas; and the time to become a part of a work team that collaborates in an atmosphere of trust and who all want to move their company to a new level.

Here at United Way of the Triangle it is a new day and rather than work in side-by-side departments, we are now each part of collaborative teams that tackle issues and challenges together…each bringing not only our expertise to the table but also the traits of our age group (Millennials, Gen X, Gen Y, Boomers) to shine a light on multiple ways to approach our work.

That new way of working also helps us with our community collaborations throughout the Triangle and the diverse audiences we engage with every day. When we keep an open mind to all who share, no matter what age or background, we can continue to learn and understand and personally grow.

It’s different, it’s exciting, it’s challenging…but most of all IT’S WORKING!