Framing can be an effective communication tool to help shape people’s understanding of social issues. It can make a significant difference in building support for solutions. United Way is working with the FrameWorks Institute, which teaches that framing starts with understanding what the mindset surrounding an issue is – and isn’t – and what’s needed to shift it. Cultural mindsets are deeply held, foundational and widely shared.

For example, some people think, “If you just work hard, you can get ahead.” Or regarding early childhood education, the mindset may be, “Some kids just can’t be saved,” without considering the system. These perspectives sometimes prevent us from solving entrenched community problems. One can shift mindsets by activating more productive ways of thinking about an issue and employing evidence-based techniques and communication tools. This is framing.

What mindsets do you encounter in your work on a daily basis? How can you begin to shift the way you communicate?

Quick ways to address some common limiting mindsets:

• Remove individualistic themes from messaging.
• Reframe messaging from fatalistic to more “can-do” language.
• Use broad, generous “we” and “togethering” language.

For a full recap of our past framing webinars and to learn more about communicating more effectively about issues related to your work, see Moving Mindsets: What It Takes to Change Culture and Talking About Economic Well-Being: New Strategies for New Times.

Support the HELP Act
Social service needs have surged since the pandemic. This legislation is critical to securing funding for United Way 211. Use your voice to urge Congress to support the HELP Act — it takes just seconds! Take action.

Champions of Change
The 2024-25 Champions of Change leadership class has been selected. As part of United Way’s Black-Led Social Change initiative, it brings together community leaders with diverse backgrounds, skills and perspectives who are driven to imagine and bring to life solutions to the problems most impacting Greater Cincinnati’s Black community. We are excited to see the impact these Champions make as they evaluate priority community .

Free Tax Prep
Free Tax Prep is open most Wednesdays through the end of September in United Way’s Convening Center. Dedicated volunteers help clients tackle tough tax issues and prior-year returns. Appointments can be made through our website and 211. Feel free to stop by and meet our volunteers, or if you know of someone who needs our help, send them our way. 

New 211 system
UWGC transitioned on July 1 to a new 211 system, CareSuite, to better respond to the 55,000+ requests for help we receive each year. The new system will improve efficiency and provide better longitudinal tracking of our 211 caller data. In September, our expanded service area will include 211 callers in Butler, Warren and Clinton counties. Please be sure to review your organization’s information in our database by visiting 211uwgc.org and submitting any additions/changes to [email protected].

United Knowledge and Insights
Looking for publicly available data to help you in your work? Check out United Way’s United Knowledge & Insights, which aligns data, research, impact evaluation and other learnings to improve economic well-being across the region. Our monitors key indicators to understand community challenges in the areas of educational success, financial empowerment and housing security. Want additional insights? Explore our online PolicyMap mapping tool.

Social Capital survey
United Way has partnered with Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) and Blume Community Partners (BCP) to conduct a Social Capital survey to better understand the priorities of people who live, work or own a business in United Way’s service area. We also are interested in people’s perceptions of how the community has changed over time. LISC and BCP have been administering the survey for over 15 years to help guide the work of Place Matters. To take the survey or pass it on to your clients and networks, visit our website. Those who complete the survey by the Aug. 31 deadline will be entered into a drawing to receive a $50 gift card.

Black Empowerment Works Mini-Grant Profile
Jori An Cotton started Voices of Healing Workshops and Consulting in 2019 to provide creative wellness workshops for the community. Receiving a Black Empowerment Works (BEW) mini-grant this year will allow her to expand her efforts. Her workshops empower women to find and use their voices Learn more about her work.

Investments in community partners
United Way announced it is investing almost $11.3 million in 81 community partners through June 2025. The organizations, which range from small placed-based organizations to large operations spanning UWGC’s nine-county service area, will build upon our collaborative, systems-change work developed during the last two years. Their work aligns with United Way’s key impact areas: educational success, financial empowerment and housing security.

Workforce development
United Way has partnered with the GE Aerospace Foundation to strengthen workforce development programs in response to growing demand in the aviation and manufacturing sectors. The $1 million investment in the Future of Manufacturing Fund supports five organizations’ ongoing efforts to address critical gaps in the advanced manufacturing workforce and their innovative ideas for scaling these initiatives. Learn more about the first class of grantees.

Wi-Fi grants announced
Hamilton County and United Way in June announced the organizations selected to receive funding through Hamilton County’s Public Wi-Fi Grant Program. Commissioners invested more than $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act resources for the program that United Way is administering to expand broadband internet to Hamilton County families. Earlier this year, UWGC also awarded complementary digital equity grants to support digital skills programming, but it all starts with foundational broadband access.

For more information . . .
To learn more about UWGC grant opportunities or for more information about our process, please email us.

Additional opportunities

• Statewide Capital Projects Initiative | By partnering with their local Indiana United Way, nonprofits with real estate needs directly associated with providing essential health and human services in Indiana communities may be eligible for a matching capital grant.
• Responsible Technology Youth Power fund | Grants from $25,000 to $150,000 are available for youth and intergenerationally-led 501(c)(3) organizations working in the responsible tech space on topics such as artificial intelligence (AI), mental health and well-being, and climate change. Apply for the 2024 cohort by Aug. 9.
• Interact for Health’s Rural Changemaker RFP | It supports grassroots work addressing community-identified challenges and inequalities related to health in the rural regions served by Interact for Health in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Grants are expected to range from $10,000-$100,000 for 12 to 18 months. Proposals are being accepted until Oct. 7.

• Sept. 5 | Knowledge Exchange Webinar: UWGC and the FrameWorks Institute present The Power of a Shared Story: Lessons from the Early Childhood Movement.
• Sept. 17 | Knowledge Exchange: Policy with a Splash of Coffee – The Benefit of Lived Experience Advocacy.
• Nov. 14 | Knowledge Exchange Webinar: UWGC and the FrameWorks Institute present We Agree There’s a Problem, But How Do We Fix It?

United Knowledge & Insights offers a variety of regular publications, learning and capacity-building sessions. To be notified of upcoming Knowledge Exchange webinars.

If you have any resource needs for direct requests for goods or services, please email [email protected].