What is Community Impact?
Community Impact is an approach that seeks to engage the
entire community in
the process of identifying, addressing,
and solving the underlying causes of Orange County’s most pressing issues.
The first step in the path toward Community Impact began with Orange County United Way’s Community-Wide Needs Assessment: A Report For the Community From the Community conducted in 2008. With the help of the SUNY New Paltz Business Institute who commissioned the study and generous financial contributions from The Warwick Savings Foundation and JP Morgan Chase, United Way was able to uncover three distinct priorities:
- Affordable Health Care
- Helping Children and Youth Succeed
- Affordable Housing
Recognizing that United Way alone cannot tackle the complex issues of health care and affordable housing, United Way has broadened its targeted goals to address those areas that most affect the priority needs.
- Promoting Health & Well-being – United Way supports programs that positively impact the health and well-being of Orange County residents, particularly those who are uninsured.
- Helping Children and Youth Succeed – United Way strives to support educational initiatives that help children achieve their potential in school and in life.
- Promoting Financial Stability – While United Way cannot influence the cost of housing in Orange County, it can and does support programs and initiatives that promote financial stability so that our friends and neighbors can better afford safe and adequate housing.
How is Community Impact Different?
The idea behind Community Impact is that United Way has
taken a more strategic
approach to the way we utilize our
resources. Since conducting the Community-Wide Needs Assessment in 2008, we have taken a closer look at how we can best address those issues. Our volunteers are guided on how to best evaluate funding requests we receive, to make sure they are consistent with our mission.
The volunteers also evaluate:
- how well the programs achieve or plan to achieve their goals,
- the amount of collaboration with other organizations,
- if it constitutes an effective use of United Way resources.
In other words, funding many programs that serve a broad range of needs only places a temporary band-aid on the problem. The United Way sets forth clear objectives and addresses the priority needs first. This approach will make the most impact on the community.
United Way has instituted an open Request For Proposal (RFP)
Process, which allows all IRS approved 501 (c) (3) charitable
organizations to apply for funding from Orange County United
Way for programs that address one of the priority needs.
United Way strongly encourages non-profit organizations to partner with one another and is offering multi-year funding to those who demonstrate clear collaboration.
All non-profit organizations undergo a careful review by independent Community Impact Panels that are made up of volunteers from all over the county. Subsequently, when the approved organizations receive funding, they enter into a partnership agreement with United Way. This agreement outlines both the responsibilities of each party and the mutual benefits of the partnership.
