This first week of September we welcomed a very special guest into the club, presented this month by Super Suppers and Tropical Fever at Nona Commons with a presentation from Bob Brown, the president and CEO of Heart of Florida United Way to share details about their new “Community Impact Business Model.”

Despite millions of dollars raised and invested in support of the community, United Way has noticed that the same problems continue to grow and hinder the Central Florida area. Because of this they’ve decided to restructure the way they do business, moving upstream to find the root of the causes. “I’d like to stress that the mission of the United Way hasn’t changed, we’re simply changing our strategy to accomplish that mission,” Brown says. He went on to say that many indicators of community success are (graduation rates, hunger and homelessness, etc.) are growing and becoming more complex.

To see everything he had to say, click here!

The problems identified today are the same as they were ten years ago, only on a larger scale, he says. While they’ve been supporting “outstanding programs”, they’ve realized that to move the needle they must focus their limited resources to achieve maximum impact while securing the help of additional partners. They still focus on helping the community, but have partnered to make an impact on issues that the community feels strongly for. Top concerns are financial issues, education and the treatment of older or sick members of the population. Because of this they’ve decided to focus on four key areas moving forward: developing healthy families, building safe communities, financial stability and eliminating hunger and homelessness.

The announcement of the new policies has been well received by corporate partners, media and a majority of their own agencies. An important lesson for small business can be learned from this. Not only is the community impact model the right thing to do, but it is also beneficial from a fiscal standpoint, enabling your business to be more accessible to potential partners, clients and media outlets.

The United Way’s new goal of prevention was highlighted by this example from Brown: “Instead of buying ambulances to transport people who fell off the cliff, our new goal is to scale the cliff and build fences around the edges to prevent them from falling.” For every dollar spent on prevention, experts estimate that seven dollars is saved on intervention.

Brown went on to say more about the United Way’s new plan and how it can benefit their business and yours by adopting the right principles. We give Brown a genuine three cups out of five for his Coffee Club Business Model of speech.

To see everything he had to say, click here!