Case Study — Greater Twin Cities United Way
Overview
Co-Creating an Equity-Centered Ecosystem
Across the nonprofit landscape, leaders who reflect their communities typically receive only a fraction of funding for their nonprofit organizations, despite better outcomes and superior social capital in the communities they serve. For staff at Greater Twin Cities United Way (GTCUW), naming this disparity is the first step to advance racial equity and uncover solutions to large systemic problems. “Many foundations are built by organizations or white men who got their generational wealth or family wealth by slavery,” says one GTCUW team member. “If we’re trying to make a difference and solve [racial] disparities, we have to be radical and transparent about that. [We have to] be bold and say it.” Imagine Deliver and Greater Twin Cities United Way (GTCUW) teamed up to transform philanthropy by supporting BIPOC-led community leaders in the Twin Cities region through an endeavor called the Equity Accelerator – a grantee-centric cohort experience promoting anti-racism and driving workforce systems change. Together, they set out to empower community initiatives, foster trust, and encourage collaborative innovation among the cohort.
OBJECTIVE
Activate Connections for Resilient Social Systems
In this project, we aimed to deepen the understanding of people experiencing hunger by building connections between users, partners, and volunteers for a more resilient and just food system. Using our User as Designer™ model, we set out to uncover how affordable grocery shoppers and food shelf users made value-based decisions, and how non-traditional emerging farmers would innovate the agricultural production system.
STRATEGY
Redefine Technical Assistance and Capacity Building
In this project, we sought to challenge the conventional practices of technical assistance and capacity building. Instead of applying the standard top-down approach common in cohort experiences, we placed the grantees in the driver’s seat, reimagining their roles by shaping and influencing the programs and resources designed to assist them.
By honoring the grantees’ deep knowledge of their communities and unique challenges, we acknowledged their experiential expertise and worked to integrate it into co-creating impactful solutions. We aimed to disrupt the often passive role of grantees, emboldening them to actively contribute to a process that reflects their distinctive contexts and needs. In doing so, we aimed to cultivate more personalized, sustainable, collaborative, and equitable outcomes that genuinely benefitted each grantee organization.
IMPACT
Collaborative Power and Equity in Grantmaking
The impact of our work extended far beyond the confines of the accelerator program. As a result of our collaborative process, we observed increased collaboration among the grantees, with these nonprofits sharing resources, learning from each other, and working together to challenge systemic barriers. Moreover, we found that grantees developed a deeper understanding of the true cost of their work and the need for a more equitable approach to funding and support. At the year-one anniversary of their program completion in 2020, 85% of graduates remained actively engaged in serving their users, with 57% experiencing significant growth in their business life cycle. One organization successfully defined a program model and diversified its funding base, while other organizations in the cohort refined processes and used technology to stabilize and scale their efforts to build staffing capacity. By employing a collaborative and insightful equity-centered design approach, we provided valuable guidance to ensure these organizations achieve maximum impact and staying power as they launched their new initiatives beyond funding.
The White Paper
One of the tangible outputs of our co-creation process was a white paper developed in collaboration with the grantees. This paper captured the learnings and insights gleaned from the Equity Accelerator experience, serving as both a reflection of our work and a guide for future efforts. The process of co-creating this white paper underscored our commitment to fostering authentic, empowering relationships with our community partners.
Our community-driven approach fostered positive and collaborative feedback loops, where grantees tapped into each other’s strengths. Multiple organizations in the cohort identified that community partnerships with others doing similar work were crucial in successfully executing workforce programming and maturing their businesses. For one grantee, this was crucial for the success of their endeavor. “Let’s take the strength of one [organization] and combine it with the strength of another, and then make it a service,” they remarked. “If a funder insists on nonprofits partnering with other organizations, they will start to look at the strength of that.”
Inspiring a New Philanthropic Paradigm
The success of the Equity Accelerator program has sparked interest and inspiration far beyond our client. Other philanthropic organizations are exploring similar approaches, inspired by the outcomes and lessons captured in our co-authored white paper. We see this as a ripple effect of our work, signaling a broader shift towards a more equitable, collaborative, and innovative philanthropic model.
“Let’s take the strength of one organization and combine it with the strength of another, and then make it a service.”
CONCLUSION
Shaping Enduring Change Through User As Designer® Approach
Our collaboration with the Equity Accelerator program underscores a fundamental truth: those immersed in a challenge often hold the most effective solutions. This philosophy forms the bedrock of our approach at Imagine Deliver—seeing the individuals we work with not as mere beneficiaries but as wise architects of their own leadership and collaboration.
In this project, the grantees—navigating the intricacies of the philanthropic system daily—were emboldened to leverage their first-hand knowledge and experiences. They crafted tailored strategies and in the process, reimagined the traditional model of technical assistance into a process of co-creation, growth, and innovation.
Are you ready to take actionable steps toward better support for your grantees? Get in touch. Together we can create change that lasts.
