United Way donors and volunteers care about our community -- that's why they share their time and their financial support...to help those in need make lasting changes in their life. Here's where to find out how United Way's funding decisions are made.
 

There are two questions we hear quite often:
"Who decides where the donors' dollars go?"
-- and --
"How's the decision made?"

We'd love to tell you all about it.

WHO:
United Way of the Midlands' professional staff works with seasoned volunteers from across our community to distribute the donations from each fall's campaign. All year long, the team monitors community conditions -- What are the needs? Where are the gaps in service?

Then, they spend a good part of the spring studying the programs that currently receive United Way funds, looking at the evidence that the programs make measurable changes in people's lives. They need to see more than a tally of the people served by the program -- there has to be confirmation that a person's life is changing for the better. For example, does a funded tutoring program result in better grades and attendance records for the kids who participate? If the answer is yes, the program is proving it's effective. We call this network of specific programs the COMMUNITY CARE FUND.

The allocation volunteers and staff then decide how much each of the CCF programs will receive, based on the total raised in the annual fundraising campaign. Then finally, the United Way Board of Directors must approve the allocation team's recommendations. It's a thorough process that includes a lot of community input, thanks to our volunteers.

HOW:
Here's something that may come as a surprise: United Way doesn't fund agencies, we find solutions.
(And that "we" includes thousands of individual donors and volunteers, hundreds of companies, labor unions and other organizations!) 

It's true, we have long-time partnerships with the very best health and human service agencies in our metro area. But United Way provides support for a select few of each partner's programs - the ones that address urgent local needs, and the ones make the biggest difference possible for the people they serve.

It involves a comprehensive examination of existing programs and possible new ones. Here are the things the allocation staff and volunteers consider with each program:

1. Potential to achieve community impact - can the program make a lasting positive change in our community?
2. Potential to influence client variables: how vulnerable are the people served? How dependent are they for help with basic life functions? Does the program show the potential to strengthen a person's capacity to cope, to become self-sufficient?
3. Do the program's results address long-term solutions, show measurable human outcomes, take a preventive approach in a cost-efficient manner?
4. Does the host agency have strong management and oversight?
5. What is the overall financial health of the partner agency?
6. Survivability of the program aside from United Way support - does United Way provide a majority of funding for the program, or a small percentage of it?
7. Other funding availability - has the host agency explored other funding sources for the program?
8. Evaluation of programs seeking United Way funding for the first time - Among other factors, are there enough dollars available for this new program?

The allocation team also considers other community programs that offer solutions for our neighbors' longer-term needs. And when it's needed, the team engages other experts in the community - nonprofit groups, private business, government agencies -- to come up with new approaches that not only improve a person's life but makes a difference at a community level too. That's where our COMMUNITY IMPACT INITIATIVES come in.