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Investing in our Community

Community Assessment

We conduct periodic community assessments to maintain a relevant and timely grasp on the issues affecting quality of life for Lancaster County residents. Our assessment analyzes and anticipates community conditions and human needs, and identifies community assets and availability of services.
 
From the assessment, we develop strategies to build a stronger Lancaster County, set community priorities, and target resources to the most relevant and necessary programs.
 
Our Community Assessment:
  • helps educate our community about the most critical human service needs as well as underlying causes and recent trends;
  • is a resource for nonprofit organizations, policymakers, government entities, faith-based organizations, foundations, businesses, and others for training, strategy development, program planning, grant writing, and other activities;
  • provides a road map for United Way to lead and guide the community, to develop strategies for long-term solutions to community problems, and to invest resources to achieve the greatest impact. 
 

Resource Investment

As responsible stewards of the community, our volunteers work hard to make sure the Community Funds are invested wisely and in ways that help create opportunities for a better life for all right here in Lancaster County.
 
Teams of diverse volunteers spent more than three months in 2011 reviewing the impact on our community of 84 programs from 36 local health and human service nonprofit agencies that sought support from the 2010 Campaign Community Fund. In the end, 73 high-impact programs received United Way support.
 
Our thorough evaluation process ranks programs on performance, making sure they are aligned with community needs and priority areas (Education, Financial Stability, Health, Safety Net) and demonstrate the ability to produce results. The old days when United Way funding was seen either as an entitlement or a pass-through are long gone. With community need increasing, our donors and investors demand results for the hard-earned funds they donate.