For over 70 years United Way has proudly served Paducah and McCracken County by providing critical funding to many human service agencies that implement a variety of programs to help people in unique ways.  United Way has worked under a model that brings efficiency to fund raising, and confidence to the donors that their contributions are helping many people.

As government funds become more difficult to obtain, and human needs increase, the need for an even more effective United Way is clear.  With so many non-profit organizations in our community, how can we be sure where to invest our time, energy, and resources that will allow for the most benefit?  United Way continues to be the most effective way.  One gift to United Way meets countless needs.

However, United Way doesn’t want to be just a fundraising organization.  We want to be known as one who is making definitive impact in our community.  In order to do this, we have begun to make changes in how and why we fund agencies.

We call it the “Community Impact” United Way.  The basic concept is simple: Rather than measuring our success by whether or not we achieve our annual fund-raising goal, we measure our success by considering the impact our investments are making on the people served.  We have already taken the first step toward this new model by establishing new evaluation tools that measure our program’s outcomes.

We are excited about the results of this year’s allocations process.  More than ever before, our agencies are measuring their impact on the people they serve by collecting data in a way that allows us (United Way) to project their long-term success.  This information also helps improve the programs by making necessary changes when they fall short of set goals and visions.

It is a work in progress, and we appreciate the many committed volunteers, agencies and staff who have joined together to ensure our new direction will provide solid results and the promise of continued success.