Providing children and youth with stimulating activities keeps them engaged and focused, helps them improve grades and social skills, and can help shrink the achievement gaps between different groups of students.
Greater Twin Cities United Way (GTCUW), a 2012 Social Innovation Fund (SIF) grantee, recognizes that while schools share accountability for children’s education, every child needs broader community support as well. Working together with Generation Next through the local STRIVE Alliance collective impact initiative, GTCUW is aligning strategies and resources around five “cradle to career” goals that promote equal opportunities for all students in the Minneapolis and Saint Paul areas.
In contrast to stand-alone programs working independently to close achievement gaps, the SIF-funded effort brings education and community leaders together to identify and adopt successful programs that are proven to work.
“We wanted to support the collective impact model and also put some ‘boots on the ground’ by selecting very promising programs that are in alignment with Generation Next,” said Naomi Zuk-Fisher, GTCUW’s SIF Program Manager. “We invited programs that had preliminary evidence and that were looking to strengthen that level in the area of closing the achievement gap.”
To carry out this work, GTCUW selected six organizations to be its SIF subgrantees:
- Achieve MPLS
- College Possible College Program
- ServeMinnesota
- Saint Paul Public Schools Foundation
- Way to Grow
- Amherst H. Wilder Foundation
Because nearly all six were already operating some form of their program, participation in the SIF presented an opportunity to scale and build evidence. Preliminary evaluation data suggest that each organization is making good progress toward goals, particularly in relation to scaling. In total, 2000 additional children have been served since GTCUW became a SIF grantee.
One subgrantee scaling rapidly is the Saint Paul Public Schools Foundation (SPPSF). SPPSF is using SIF funds to enhance the quality of tutoring programs seeking to boost reading and math proficiency for students in Saint Paul. Through a consortium of four “best in class” tutoring partners SPPSF is serving an additional 150 students in Saint Paul with the possibility of growing their work to more schools and expanding geographically into Minneapolis.
As one of the largest United Ways in North America, GTCUW raises between $90 and $100 million in donations each year. Even with its highly developed systems and skilled staff, the organization’s practices have been influenced by the SIF. Meghan Barp, GTCUW’s Senior Vice President for Community Impact explained, “The SIF really allowed us to be disciplined around a lot of things we had not previously done. The SIF helped us take things to the next level and set the stage for us to take on additional federal funds without fear.”
When advising other United Ways considering participation in the SIF, GTCUW’s Zuk-Fisher notes that it is important to be clear about organizational goals and motivations for being part of this program.
“A lot of nonprofits say they are doing great work and think so based on some indicators,” she said, “but they don’t really have the evidence to prove it. What I love about the SIF is that it is giving us the opportunity and resources to really dig deep, look in the mirror, see the warts and beauty, and be reflective about the work.”
Additional information about GTCUW’s SIF project can be found on the SIF website.