Research

Having appropriate research to guide our work in the areas of Education, Income, and Health has become an important component of United Way’s success.

With many local partners, United Way is:

• Helping children and youth achieve their potential.
• Helping families and individuals achieve financial stability and stable housing
• Supporting the health and wellness of older adults and their caregivers  
      

To maximize results in these areas, our work and our funding must:

• Meet identified community needs.
• Target identified populations
• Use proven approaches
• Link to key priorities
• Achieve measurable outcomes
• Deliver services cost effectively
  

Understanding national research on promising approaches and best practices helps maximize the effectiveness of the work that United Way and its partners deliver.

Collecting and examining community indicator and demographic data helps identify top priorities and track trends in community strength over time. United Way conducts primary and secondary research, analyzes and summarizes data, and provides this information to volunteers, staff and the community for decision making and action.

United Way is also committed to accountability through careful evaluation – for our own programs and projects as well as all programs that receive United Way grants.  It is through identification of targeted outcomes, thorough program planning and delivery, and outcome measurement , that program improvement and strategic investment of United Way funds is achieved.