Do Well by Doing Good

Strategic Philanthropic Advising

Strategic Philanthropic Advising (SPA) leverages United Way of Central Indiana’s vast network and understanding of the community in a targeted way to provide strategic philanthropic solutions and programming, maximizing corporate investment in Central Indiana.

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Consulting Philantrophy

Planning

Our strategic planning methods translate your company’s ideas and intentions into a community investment plan that provides a clear path to impact. Your company is unique, and we start each engagement with attention to the priorities that matter most to you.

Analysis

As we shape your philanthropic strategy, our staff can provide research and analysis to inform your decisions. We are experts at synthesizing complex, stubborn issues to make them more comprehensible. We consider our primary role to help your company find the best opportunities for your resources.

Advising

As seasoned corporate philanthropists with over 100 years of experience, we understand how to guide group dynamics and create a collaborative, iterative process informed by our findings. No one organization is equipped to research the issues, involve the experts, convene the community, advocate across partisan lines, create an effective strategy, respond in times of crisis, and measure the outcomes like United Way.

Management

The SPA team act as program officers for companies without dedicated staff or in a support position for existing personnel. We can manage individual programs and employee engagement events or act as a grantmaking advisor, developing governance, programmatic and operation strategies, and fiscal due diligence.

No dedicated staff? No problem. Utilize our SPA team to meet your philanthropic needs, saving staff costs and overhead.

Feel connected to their workplace

Employee Engagement improves productivity and business results. Research by Gallup found that teams with high employee engagement have 21 percent higher productivity than their counterparts. Giving employees the ability to choose the charity they benefit, using tools that drive decision making and visual impact (Salesforce Philanthropy Cloud), directly correlates to increased engagement and productivity.

Civic Responsibility

84% of Americans believe businesses have a responsibility to bring social change on critical issues. In a rapidly changing environment, maximize brand image and loyalty with positive social initiatives.

Retention and Attraction

Employees, driven by the influx of millennials in the workplace, are measuring the success of their careers in both advancement and positive impact on the world around them. According to a Deloitte study on volunteering, millennials were “twice as likely to rate their corporate culture as very positive” if their company participated in workplace volunteer activities.

What Can SPA Do For You?

Check out our menu of services to help better serve your team and our community.
  • Employee Engagement
    Assessment
  • Community Investment
    Strategy
  • Onsite Customized
    Volunteer Experiences
  • Offsite Customized
    Volunteer Experiences
  • Empathy
    Awareness

Employee Engagement
Assessment

An engagement survey offers the opportunity to establish two-way communication and involve employees in the philanthropic planning process by giving them a direct voice to leadership. In turn, this allows companies an understanding of employee motivations and values to better lead philanthropic strategies.

Community Investment
Strategy

UWCI will work with key stakeholders and senior leadership to discern insights and investments for your organization's community and philanthropic strategy by utilizing information provided by your organization, landscape analysis, or employee assessments.

Onsite Customized
Volunteer Experiences

An Onsite Kit Build is a meaningful, team-building volunteer opportunity to increase employee engagement and foster teamwork. Employees work together to assemble materials on-site for a local non-profit organization, providing necessary resources to Central Indiana neighbors. Socially distanced and virtual options are available for your team.

Offsite Customized
Volunteer Experiences

We will collaborate with you to design and execute a service project that addresses the interests, values, and goals of your organization while meeting the needs of our community. We can accommodate groups of various sizes for customized volunteer opportunities, via remote or in-person, throughout the year. We will assist you with the planning, logistics, and finding the best opportunity for your volunteer group.

Empathy
Awareness

These experiences foster empathy and better understanding of our neighbors and community needs. Empathy Awareness simulations are powerful, experiential opportunities for people to learn about the challenges that people face when struggling with limited resources. Participants will walk in the shoes of families living on a limited budget and navigate through unforeseen circumstances.

SPA Testimonial

United Way of Central Indiana has been an invaluable partner in our effort to create AxiaTP’s community engagement strategy. The SPA Program was the key to understanding how we can best serve the community in the most meaningful way to our team. UWCI not only helped us identify causes near and dear to our team members’ hearts, but they have gone above and beyond in ensuring we can turn our passion into action through local organizations and volunteer opportunities. I would highly recommend this program to any business who is looking to start or enhance their community engagement strategy to make an impact.

-Amber Knight, Senior Marketing Manager at AxiaTP

SPA Testimonial

The United Way of Central Indiana's Strategic Philanthropic Advising (SPA) program provides technology and tech-enabled companies with the resources and activities they need to get their teams truly engaged in corporate social responsibility. It's like having plug-and-play solutions for teams that want to make an impact first-hand and get involved in their community to create lasting change.

-Lauren Peterson, Senior Director of Relationship Management at TechPoint, and Board of Directors at United Way of Central Indiana

The Data Speaks for Itself

89% of consumers would switch brands to one associated with a worthy cause, given comparable price and quality (Cone Communications CSR Study, 2017)

Contact Us. See What SPA Can Do For You!

Our SPA team is ready when you are! Fill out the form below, or email Ryan Johnson (ryan.johnson@uwci.org) with specific questions.

Email the SPA team