I hear the term ROI — Return on Investment — all the time. People want to ensure that their money is making a positive impact. When it comes to a ROI in philanthropy, look no further than investing in early childhood education.
Perry/High Scope has conducted research throughout the past 40 years to demonstrate the ROI of strong early childhood development. For every dollar we spend on preparing our children for success at an early age, we save $17 in providing health care and prison expenses for them as adults.
As of now, only 50% of our children are ready for school by age 5. There is a direct correlation between school readiness and prison incarceration. And it will cost us thousands of dollars in the future for not preparing our children — more than $30,000 each year to incarcerate an individual rather than invest resources for early childhood learning.
We consistently invest in early childhood work at United Way. If you are interested in learning more or want to get to involved, click here.
michael j. brennan 
