Underwriting support from:
The Heart of West Michigan United Way building /HWMUW
Heart of West Michigan United Way’s commitment to connect resources to important community outcomes in the areas of education, income and health was finalized with the first new agency funding in over four years. This journey began in 2010, when United Way redesigned its funding structure to ensure that the agencies we partner with are more closely aligned with our building blocks of education, income, health in terms of:
- Impact information – Funded provider agencies will now report information on specifically chosen outcomes within the categories of education, income and health to show what kind of impact their programs are making. These outcomes were developed in 2009-10 by community experts within the fields of education, income and health Also, potential applicants must base the design of their services on proven strategies, either research-based or from their past experience.
- Outcomes/indicators – Outcomes/indicators are more standardized among agencies, thus allowing for data measurements that compare similar programs cohesively
- Impact figures – As a result, we can easily demonstrate to donors how their contributions are helping to build a stronger community.
Decisions on funding followed a community-review process lead by Investment Councils who were made up of over 90 community volunteers. More than 90 agencies applied for funding, sending 177 proposals for review, with allocation requests totaling $12.5 million. The Investment Councils were challenged not only with a newly designed, outcome-based process but limited dollars as well.
2010 workplace campaign dollars allowed $6.1 million to target specific outcomes in the areas of education, income and health, with an end result of 62 agencies being awarded funds featuring 120 proposals. Funding agreements for these proposals will be in effect for up to two years.
View United Way's agency providers list here.
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