Community Impact

What is community impact?

It's really easy to settle for the status quo. For over 90 years, the Butler County United Way has been making a difference in the lives of local residents. We want our next 90 years to leave an even bigger mark on the county we call home. Because of that, we don't want to simply serve the community; we want to change it.

Community impact essentially looks for long-term results and not short-term numbers. We're not so concerned about "x" number of people being served, but rather about "x" number of people who no longer need to be served because United Way-funded programs gave them the help they needed to take control of their lives. We don't want to see the cycle of poverty, hopelessness, and dependence continue for the same people and their families. Rather, we want to see that cycle interrupted and those people given the tools they need to support themselves and those they love.

Our Two Targets

In order to create fundamental changes in the lives of local families, we have to be focused. With limited resources, we can't possibly address every problem and every need in a way that makes such a huge shift. So to figure out what Butler County United Way should target, we asked the community what the most important issues of the day are.

Butler County residents spoke, and here are their top concerns:

Adults becoming self-sufficient, specifically the chronically employed or underemployed.
Youth becoming successful adults, particularly through building supportive relationships with adults in order to eliminate risky behaviors.

So everything we do revolves around adult self-sufficiency and successful youth development. Our goal is to make a difference in these two areas; not just to serve people who need help in these areas, but to change the expectations and set the bar higher for true transformation.

How We "Do" Community Impact

To accomplish our goals, we need a structure that helps us do the work. So we have put in place two tiers of volunteer groups: the Impact Council and the Action Councils. The Impact Council oversees the overall impact that Butler County United Way is having on the community through the support we offer to local non-profits. The Action Councils (one for adult self-sufficiency and one for successful youth development) are in charge of awarding funds, tracking results, and working more closely with programs that align with our target areas. Impact Council guides the work of the organization as a whole, and the Action Councils work more in the details.

To accomplish our goals, we need the help of other social-service organizations. So every year, our volunteers issue an invitation for local non-profits to help us accomplish our goals in their day-to-day work. The Action Councils review all of the applications submitted by non-profits, and the best proposals are awarded funding to bring their ideas to life. The successes and challenges of those programs are monitored throughout the year, and adjustments are made if necessary.