A trusted, mission-driven organization adapts to a rapidly changing landscape

Partner profile

United Way Monterey County (UMWC) is a public charity with roots dating back to 1929 and a countywide presence since 2000. UWMC is dedicated to building a stronger, more equitable community by creating pathways to prosperity. Through innovative programs and cross-sector partnerships, the organization focuses on opportunities for youth, financial security, and community health.

What the data says and doesn’t say about living in Monterey County

Monterey County, California, is well known for its scenic landscape, charming architecture, and tourist attractions up and down the Central Coast. It evokes images of lush vineyards, world-class golf courses, and the stunning beauty of Big Sur. But as is often the case, the story beneath the surface is much more complex. Wealth is highly concentrated in some areas, and sparse in others. The cost of living is extremely high, and many residents must choose between rent, child care, food, and their own health. In 2025, 30.6% of the population had severe housing problems, and 20.4% of children lived in poverty.

United Way Monterey County provides services to help fill these gaps. Their free income tax support service returned over $2 million in refunds to working families last year, and 211 Monterey County provided over 19,000 referrals to local housing, food, legal, and mental health resources. They procured school supplies for 6,000 students experiencing homelessness, and connected thousands of people to bilingual counseling, rental assistance, and career-building opportunities.

To sustain this level of service, UWMC prioritizes thoughtful and ongoing strategic planning. From 2022–2025, their planning efforts included continued relief from the pandemic and a focus on equity. Their strategic plan for 2025–2028 builds on that strong foundation and addresses new goals for sustainability and impact. Our role was to design a structured, inclusive, and data-informed process to help them move forward with a strategy that truly reflects who they are and where they want to go.

Jordan Greene facilitates a strategic planning session with United Way Monterey County in July 2025.

To bring clarity and focus to UWMC’s next chapter, we set out to: 1) develop a strategic plan that aligns mission, programs, people, and resources; 2) translate strategic goals into a practical operating system; 3) create a return on investment assessment tool to evaluate each program’s impact; and 4) generate a flexible, scenario planning framework to create resilience during uncertainty.

Partner focus groups

The Nunes Company, Inc.

A fourth-generation family farming corporation in Salinas Valley
Alliance on Aging

A nonprofit that supports the unmet needs of seniors living in Monterey County
Housing Resource Center of Monterey County

A nonprofit working to end and prevent homelessness throughout Monterey County
Wescom Credit Union

A credit union serving the financial needs of the Marina community since 1949
Mujeres en Acción

A nonprofit that offers resources to women across Monterey County to improve their economic circumstances
Bright Beginnings Early Childhood Development Initiative

An initiative by Monterey County Children’s Council to help prepare children for school and life

Our data collection approach sought to discover operational realities and lived experience through:

An organizational self-assessment to evaluate internal capacity and effectiveness
A financial analysis to understand trends and sustainability
Facilitated focus groups with board members, staff, and community partners
A senior staff survey to capture leadership perspectives and insights
A board survey to assess governance, alignment, and strategic priorities

Inside UWMC's headquarters looking through a window onto an outdoor wall mural of a fox and other geometrical shapes.

Developing a data-driven, multi-year strategy

United Way Monterey County’s 2025–2028 strategic plan was drafted during significant political and philanthropic volatility, and against the backdrop of enormous cuts to federal services. This included the passing of bill H.R.1, which according to Katy Castagna, president and CEO of UWMC, will be detrimental to the hundreds of thousands of Monterey County residents who rely on SNAP, Child or Earned Income Tax Credits, and Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program. It is with needs like this in mind that UWMC reinforced their commitment to their community and prepared for the uncertainty ahead.

In early 2025, UWMC performed a comprehensive organizational self-assessment with board members and staff to identify the organization’s strengths, challenges, and opportunities for growth. These findings offered a valuable snapshot of internal and external perspectives and helped prepare a foundation for strategic development. Sweet Grass also conducted a six-year financial analysis to assess the fiscal health and trajectory of UWMC. This analysis highlighted opportunities to build an even more resilient, forward-looking funding model and remain steady in an evolving fiscal landscape.

In-depth, in-person focus groups with key stakeholders, including board members, staff, and community partners, were critical to the strategic direction. The intentional conversations and explorations allowed each focus group to bring their unique point of view. This was also true of surveys that were distributed to the staff and board. With a range of employee tenures and roles, the survey produced rich, open-ended feedback that showed a clear understanding of the challenges and opportunities the organization faces. Equally notable were the responses from the board, which highlighted a consensus around UWMC’s strengths and recommendations to take forward.

From there, UWMC developed five bold goals along with specific strategies and actions to achieve them. The strategies answer questions about what to grow, what to refine, and what to let go. The actions provide tangible steps for turning the plan into a day-to-day reality. In the end, UWMC produced a strategic plan that promotes equity, ensures accountability, and embeds measurable outcomes across all areas of their work.

United Way Monterey County board member

“When something happens, like emergency rental assistance or flooding, people turn to United Way because they trust us. We’re seen as an honest broker who will do what’s right.”

Detail from a wall mural painted by local artist in Monterey County.

To supplement the strategic plan, an implementation plan helped translate the goals into a practical operating system. It drilled down each strategy and action into tasks and timelines, and provided an accountability framework that assigns internal roles for each goal. With the goals and strategies in place, we then developed a return on investment evaluation tool that enables UWMC to quantify each of their program’s impact, reach, and financial health. Knowing whether their work is advancing their mission in a sustainable way is essential to their long-term viability, and the data it provides helps them tell the larger story of their impact.

With the strategic plan in place, UWMC sought to mitigate the unpredictable funding environment through detailed scenario planning. We helped develop a planning framework that prepares UWMC for a range of possible scenarios by mapping three plausible futures: pessimistic, moderate, and optimistic. Each scenario considers varying levels of federal funding, philanthropic support, community demand, and risk tolerance, and builds protocols around them. These pre-determined triggers will allow UWMC to quickly shift resources and protect their core services when needed. Turning a what if into a we know what to do will serve UWMC well as political and economic conditions change.

Knowing whether UWMC’s work is advancing their mission in a sustainable way is essential to their long-term viability, and the data it provides helps them tell the larger story of their impact.

The results of this intensive, strategic collaboration fortified UWMC as an organization that is clearer about who it is and better prepared for what lies ahead. Each effort supports and completes a larger whole: strategy shaped priorities, implementation created accountability, evaluation guided choices, and scenario planning built resilience. With a unified call to action, UWMC has the tools it needs to lead with confidence in the service of Monterey County.

Sweet Grass project team & services

Jordan Greene

Associate Strategy Director
Project supervisor, tool design, client communication, data collection and analysis, in-person strategic planning, report writing
Nat Bauer

Graphic Designer
Graphic and layout design, creative direction, data visualization

Strategy

Through customized strategic support, we make sure planning and processes are mission-aligned and based in stakeholder engagement.

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Design

We use strategic visuals and messaging to demonstrate each organization's distinct personality and values.

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