Bleak sells.
That’s often true in news and politics, and also in the world of nonprofits, where leaders sometimes woo donors by playing up mounting social woes while playing down gains made on those same issues.
But that script flipped a bit Wednesday, April 9, as leaders of Orange County United Way met with about 300 supporters at a community center in Costa Mesa to go over the results of FACE 2024, a long-term initiative the nonprofit launched in late 2013 to tackle four specific issues – high school graduation rates, childhood health, financial instability and housing.
The news wasn’t all bad.
Though none of the issues tackled in FACE 2024 could be considered “solved,” and the pandemic interrupted gains made in some areas and data shifted the way to measure success or failure in other areas (childhood obesity), United Way’s overall report card was strong, particularly in education and financial stability.
The initiative, named as an acronym (Fund, Advocate, Collaborate and Educate), was considered a model at the time, as OC United Way was one of the first charities to use rules more common in for-profit businesses, including data, to measure its success or failure, and to set goals that would play out over a long-range (10-year) window.
“We really just listened to the community,” said Sue Parks, chief executive for Orange County United Way since 2016, three years after the 10-year initiative was launched.
“And the community was really doing this,” she added. “The initiative wasn’t just us.”
The initiative definitely was a risk.
Director of Operations Taylor Montano, left, and Executive Director Andrew Fahmy with United for Financial Security speak during the Orange County United Way 2025 Scorecard Event in Costa Mesa, CA on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. Presenters updated initiatives on education, homelessness and health programs. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG) People listen to speakers during the Orange County United Way 2025 Scorecard Event in Costa Mesa, CA on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. Presenters updated initiatives on education, homelessness and health programs. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG) Executive Director Sergio Contreras, left, and Director Yahaira Ortiz with United for Student Success speak during the Orange County United Way 2025 Scorecard Event in Costa Mesa, CA on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. Presenters updated initiatives on education, homelessness and health programs. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG) Orange County United Way CEO Susan B. Parks speaks during the groups 2025 Scorecard Event in Costa Mesa, CA on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. Presenters updated initiatives on education, homelessness and health programs. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG) Executive Director Sergio Contreras, left, and Director Yahaira Ortiz with United for Student Success speak during the Orange County United Way 2025 Scorecard Event in Costa Mesa, CA on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. Presenters updated initiatives on education, homelessness and health programs. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG) Show Caption1 of 5Director of Operations Taylor Montano, left, and Executive Director Andrew Fahmy with United for Financial Security speak during the Orange County United Way 2025 Scorecard Event in Costa Mesa, CA on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. Presenters updated initiatives on education, homelessness and health programs. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG) ExpandWhile for-profit businesses and even government agencies use positive data to convince investors or taxpayers that they’re efficient, hard numbers can be more volatile for nonprofits. Statistical gains can become a reason for donors or others to funnel money to other projects, while losses suggest, well, losing.
Some numbers presented Wednesday by Orange County United Way seemed to split the difference.
For example, the overall graduation rate for so-called at-risk students in Orange County – an area targeted by United Way in FACE 2024 – jumped from 84% to about 91% over the past decade. Though that means nearly 1 in 10 local kids who come from families where income and language issues are hurdles still don’t graduate from high school, it also means that hundreds more local students did get degrees, often going to college, over the past decade.
The improvement didn’t come from a single idea. Instead, United Way officials pointed to a variety of programs established in the past decade, some aimed at changing the way students view higher education – creating “a college-going culture” in parts of Anaheim where that wasn’t previously the norm – and others that linked local businesses with local students. The Youth Career Connections program, for example, has resulted in 1,600 local high school students being placed into internships with local employers, according to United Way.
The other area the nonprofit aced was money.
The number of Orange County families living on the extreme edge of an economic cliff – at least as graded out on something known as the Family Financial Stability Index – has fallen considerably, from 37% a decade ago to just under 19%, according to United Way.
Again, the gains came from a variety of programs, from job training and financial literacy education to helping lower-income families file their taxes. United Way officials pointed to another data point – $100 million in tax refunds over the past decade to local families that previously didn’t realize they qualified for certain deductions – as a win.
In their talk on Wednesday, Parks and others didn’t dwell much on child health, once considered one of the four targets of FACE 2024. When the initiative was established, childhood obesity was a huge issue and the data, at the time, was tracked by public health officials.
Child health, including obesity, remains a critical problem, but some of the data to track it has gone away. Local child obesity numbers no longer are tracked publicly, so measuring it isn’t feasible.
Another target area for FACE 2024 – housing – offered mixed results.
On the one hand, United Way said last year that it has connected more than 1,000 people to permanent housing in Orange County over the past decade. This included a program that linked 187 veterans to housing and others aimed at helping victims of human trafficking and recent graduates from foster care.
Yet homelessness remains a huge and seemingly growing problem. The biannual homeless count held in January 2024 found more than 7,300 people in Orange County were without shelter. And United Way officials said Wednesday that more than 26,000 individuals used local homeless services during a recent 12-month window.
Parks and other United Way officials noted that the nonprofit has changed since it launched FACE 2024.
A decade ago, United Way remained primarily an umbrella organization, receiving donations and spreading them to hundreds of local nonprofits. Today, that function remains, but United Way also is a lead agency, or takes a leadership role, in some key areas, such as housing and hunger.
And since July 2023, United Way has been the agency in charge of Orange County’s 2-1-1 hotline. The 24/7 service connects people with everything from housing assistance and food to mental health resources. During a recent six-month window, 2-1-1 was handling about 14,000 calls a month.
Parks, after the luncheon, said the FACE 2024 experiment was a success. She said the agency is far better equipped to handle new challenges, and is likely to use more technology and data, not less, in the future.
“We’ve become much more nimble. But we’ll have to be even more nimble going forward.”
Parks also isn’t done testing Orange County United Way. She said her agency’s next long-term initiative, likely in the five-year range, is expected to be announced in mid-summer.
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