Community Impact
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As a non-profit social service organization, the Butler County United Way is focused on helping individuals and families become self-sufficient and encouraging youth to develop into successful adults. However, we aren't just concerned with maintaining the status quo and working within the current systems in Butler County. We are concerned with community impact.
What is community impact?
The best way to understand community impact is by way of analogy. Consider the various social services provided by local agencies. While some of these services are geared towards lifting people out of their current struggles and giving them the tools they need to be self-reliant, many of these services address the symptoms of a root cause.
While those services that alleviate symptoms are good and may allow individuals to work harder towards recovery, those services alone won't produce lasting change in people's lives or in the community. Treating symptoms is helpful, but true health cannot be restored until the cause of the symptoms is confronted. This substantial change that comes from targeting root causes is what we mean by community impact.
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How do we "do" community impact?
The Butler County United Way has been rolling out a new way of doing business that allows us to focus on community impact. The chart to the right is a simplified view of the process. Below is a more descriptive look at each step of the process.
Data & Community Input
We begin the process by collecting data in various categories of information about Butler County. The Impact Council - a group of community volunteers charged with focusing United Way's work and keeping tabs on our progress - sifts through reports and numbers on things like education, healthcare, and housing. After presenting the data to the community and asking for feedback, the Impact Council digs deeper into the biggest concerns, selects the most relevant one, and sets a target for improvement.
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Solutions & RFPs
After the direction is set by the Impact Council, an Action Council is charged with developing potential solutions for making the set goals a reality. Based on best-practices and issue experts, an Action Council will draft and distribute a Request for Proposal (RFP) to the community as a whole. The proposal will outline prescribed outcomes and methods to which any local agency or individuals can respond. The Action Council will read, evaluate, and select the best application(s) and award the contract for services. Contracts will be monitored by the Action Council, who will report progress towards the target to the Impact Council.
Resources & Reporting
Other United Way staff and volunteers will continue to leverage community resources and give a full report to the community.
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