ABOUT UNITED WAY
What We Do:  Funding Process

The United Way of Madison County chooses programs to fund based on a three-year funding cycle. Agencies may submit programs for consideration at any time, and may be accepted at any time. However, funding will not be provided until the next funding cycle. Funds allocation will be determined again in 2010.

The funds distributed through the United Way of Madison County come from more than 600 companies and 20,000+ individuals and investors within Jackson and Madison Counties. The community-wide campaigns are also contributed to by the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), which solicits donations from military and federal government employees; and the Alabama State Employee Combined Charitable Campaign (ASECCC), which directs its efforts at Alabama employees.

Funds are distributed in two main ways. The CFC and ASECC are 100% donor designation programs, which means all of the funds raised in the programs go only to the organizations specified by the investor. However, most of the United Way of Madison County donors do not designate their gift, with 94% of gifts being unrestricted allowing community volunteers to allocate the funds to programs that address the most pressing needs in our community. The funds are then distributed among the program, focusing on our three main areas of concentration: Education, Income, & Health.

Agencies who receive funding for programs are required to create goals and evaluate outcomes of the program to determine whether the program is effectively meeting its purpose. Outcomes for each program are measured on an annual basis, and these outcomes are reviewed by a panel of volunteers.

Outcomes are evaluated by:

1.	Strengths of the client population: who the program serves and why
2.	Activities and services designed to achieve the desired outcome: what the agency intends to do
3.	Established goals listing intended achievements and purpose
4.	Indicators chosen to measure outcomes
5.	Data that provides information for evaluation of all indicators
6.	Data showing notable improvement in client lives
7.	Outcomes that show qualitative proof that significant improvement in the lives is occurring
8.	Insight gained from the program improvement: how we better serve the clients
9.	Results and effectiveness: are resources being used effectively and efficiently

The outcome scores are normalized to a 100 point system, which is used as a framework to evaluate continued funding of the program. Programs that do not meet a minimum performance level have money withheld from their funding. Through outcomes, volunteers hold programs accountable to fulfilling the proposed goals in their original application.

For more information about the funding process or to submit a program for consideration, please contact Nancy Colin at x 103 or by .