United Way invests in the community to improve lives and change conditions.

Our investments are focused to get measurable results. They address the issues that matter most to our community and are targeted to deliver meaningful results.

Investments are made in a variety of ways. We support direct emergency services for people in crisis and prevention and development services like literacy and job training programs, which help improve the lives of individuals and families. And we support special initiatives that affect the whole community.

In some cases, like Success By 6 or Day of Caring, we launch those strategic initiatives ourselves and convene a variety of partners in the community to work together to have a greater impact than any one organization can have by itself.

United Way has partnerships with a variety of organizations. You are probably aware of the kinds of direct providers of health and human services that United Way has always worked with. But United Way also works with:research organizations that provide nonprofits with better tools for their work.

• economic development organizations that work with local businesses to create more jobs.
• organizations that bring people together through community forums, public awareness campaigns and volunteer opportunities to become more engaged.
• organizations like United Way 2-1-1 that help you find the resources you need for your family or the people you work with.

All of United Way ’s investments in the community, whether it’s funding for a food bank or launching a service like our online Volunteer Link, are decided by volunteers from the community who lead United Way .

Those volunteers look for certain characteristics when choosing a community investment. They look for established programs with a track-record of getting measurable results, a focus on priority needs, the opportunity to leverage other resources for the greatest impact and collaboration with other powerful partners in the community.

In the following pages you can learn more about how United Way achieves measurable, sustainable change, where we invest and how your organization can apply for funding.