1) Which theory (or theories) seem to best describe the leadership of Brian Gallagher at United Way?

2) How does the process for change that Brian Gallagher implemented at United Way reflect the change management model of Kotter (2012) introduced in week 4 class?

3) How does the leadership of Brian Gallagher reflect the behaviors of effective nonprofit CEOs addressed in week 4 class?

Case #3 (Worth, 2024) Challenge and Change at United Way In 1887, Denver became the first city to establish a united organization to raise funds in order to meet community needs. Other cities adopted the idea, creating similar organizations, which eventually became known as United Way (United Way of America, n.d.). By 2003, there were more than 1,400 local United Ways, raising almost $4 billion to support a broad range of nonprofits in their communities (Wolverton, 2003). Local United Ways are independent nonprofit organizations. In the U.S., the national office provides support to local United Ways, and the local organizations are required to meet certain standards in order to use the name. Historically, the United Way model was to partner with employers. Employees were solicited in their workplace for an annual gift commitment to United Way, which would be paid through payroll deductions. Donors could designate specific charities, but most gifts were unrestricted, permitting local United Ways to allocate funds to nonprofits in their communities. In 1995, the president of the United Way of America, then the national umbrella organization, was convicted of stealing funds for personal use, eroding public confidence. Another blow came in 2001, when the CEO of the United Way of the National Capital Area, the local chapter serving the Washington, DC, region, was charged with similar abuses. The brand was damaged, but larger forces were also at work, presenting challenges to the United Way and its model. By 2003, the amount of gifts to United Way that were designated for specific nonprofit organizations had risen 13 years in a row (Ogden, 2008). That approach to giving denied the United Way the ability to select recipient nonprofits, reducing its influence. More donors were bypassing the United Way altogether to make gifts directly to nonprofits that interested them. The introduction of online platforms made such direct giving even easier to accomplish. Some were questioning the continued relevance of the United Way model. Both individual and corporate donors were becoming more interested in the impact of their gifts and less interested in giving to a fund that would benefit any nonprofit organization that qualified ("Brian Gallagher," 2007). In addition, an economic recession in 2003 led to a significant decline in workplace giving by employees, which accounted for 66 percent of United Way revenues, and a decline in support for United Way from corporations (Wolverton, 2003). Brian Gallagher, who had worked in local United Way chapters for 20 years, became the new president and CEO of the United Way of America in 2002. He recognized the urgent need for change. Gallagher raised a basic question about the mission of United Way: Was it to raise funds or to have an impact on communities? Fundraising was only a strategy, he concluded, and the real purpose was changing people's lives. The United Way's focus on fundraising had obscured this larger understanding of the mission (Boston Consulting Group, 2014). Gallagher committed to undertaking a significant transformation. Although the idea had preceded Gallagher's presidency, he began to promote a plan in which United Way would move from being just a fundraising organization to one that would focus its resources and be measured by its impact on communities. It would not be easy to accomplish such change in an organization with so many decentralized and independent components, each of which supported a wide range of local nonprofits that depended on the funds. Organizations that were receiving United Way funds under the old model would be worried about the possible loss of support and local United Ways might remain committed to the traditional way of operating. 7

Gallagher brought together local United Way leaders from across the country to discuss the new model. About half were receptive to the proposed new approach, but the other half wanted to remain primarily fundraising organizations (Wolverton, 2004). Gallagher focused the discussion on the question about the mission, helping to build greater consensus. He also hired new people for the national staff who were less committed to the old way of thinking. He surveyed United Way professionals in various communities to learn what issues (e.g., emotional needs of members) concerned them and consulted experts from think tanks, foundations, and government to identify the most pressing social problems facing the country (Ogden, 2008). Gallagher created new channels to increase communication among local United Ways, including webinars and other online tools, so that they could exchange ideas on best practices ("Brian Gallagher," 2007). Change would take time. Initially, some resisted the new vision, including some employees both at local United Ways and the United Way of America (Wolverton, 2004). Six years later, in 2008, United Way of America adopted a 10-year plan reflecting the new approach. It would emphasize the health, education, and finances of working families and be focused on achieving three "Goals for the Common Good" by 2018: cut in half high-school dropout rates across the United States, cut in half the number of families with working parents who don't earn enough to cover the family's basic expenses, and increase by one third the number of Americans who are healthy and avoid risky behaviors (Schwinn, 2008). Rather than distributing funds widely, United Way would focus on organizations that were achieving progress toward the three goals and would hold them accountable for specific performance metrics (Schwinn, 2008). Gallagher recognized that United Way could not do it alone and sought to establish partnerships with other national nonprofits, including the YMCA and Boys and Girls Clubs of America. United Way also would increase its advocacy efforts to encourage government to spend money on the three priorities (Schwinn, 2008). Charities that had traditionally received United Way support continued to be concerned that they would be shut out of the new program. Gallagher stated that many could still qualify for United Way support, but they would need to adopt a different approach: "Activity is not going to be enough anymore, [for example,] saying we served 200,000 seniors last year. The question is what are we doing to increase the financial stability of seniors?" (Schwinn, 2008). A tracking system would be established for local United Ways, which would report data to United Way of America so that progress toward the goals could be measured at community level (Ogden, 2008). In 2009, United Way of America merged with United Way International to form United Way Worldwide. Brian Gallagher became CEO of the new organization. But his focus on change continued. Recognizing that the United Way's traditional model of fundraising through payroll deductions was in decline, he moved to develop direct relationships between United Way and individual donors, launching a digital transformation. By 2015, United Way had created a digital services operating group, and, in 2017, the nonprofit partnered with Salesforce to establish the Philanthropy Cloud (Gallagher, 2018). By 2019, more than 200 companies were using Philanthropy Cloud, and United Way Worldwide had created a for-profit subsidiary, UpPurpose, to create content for the platform (Stiffman, 2020). As with earlier reforms, there were risks in the new approach, including the possibility that even more donors might designate their gifts directly to nonprofit organizations. Gallagher again emphasized the mission: "Since I became CEO, I've said that our mission isn't to raise funds but to create social change. To do that, we need to create content and educate people about the policies we're targetingand the data shows that we're succeeding" (Gallagher, 2018).