UWCO Program Investment Process

UWCO Program Investment Process Letter of Intent Glossary of Terms

Collaboration – a mutually beneficial and well-defined relationship entered into by two or more organizations, systems or stakeholders to achieve a specific result. Collaborations include shared goals, shared resources and shared accountability.

Community Result – an important, specific, long-term community-level outcome necessary to support the achievement of UWCO’s four community impact areas and vision. Community results represent UWCO priorities for all of its community impact efforts, including program investment. UWCO’s nine community results are the framework for the 2010 program investment process.

Community Impact Cabinet – a UWCO volunteer committee responsible for advancing the achievement of UWCO’s vision and integrating work across focus areas and community results. The Community Impact Cabinet directs the allocation of all UWCO financial resources across focus areas and community results.

Donor Choice – the opportunity for donors to direct their UWCO contributions to specific organizations or impact areas. Member agencies may not under any circumstances solicit donor designations as part of UWCO’s annual fundraising campaign. Funds directed to specific agencies through donor choice in the UWCO campaign will be treated as “first dollars in” toward the organization’s UWCO program support.

Full Proposal – the second step in UWCO’s program investment process.

Through its review of LOIs, UWCO will identify programs to move forward to the full proposal part of the process. In spring 2009,UWCO will provide orientation and materials to all programs that participate in the full proposal phase. In the full proposal, agencies will provide more detailed programmatic and financial information about the program(s).

Funding Range – the approximate level of funding that UWCO will consider investing in a program during the full proposal phase of the program investment process. UWCO will identify and communicate a specific funding range to each program that moves forward from the LOI phase to the full proposal phase. The amount of funding a program may request in the full proposal must fall within that

range. Funding ranges will be determined based on the amount of funds available, program strength and resources, and factors related to the total group of programs submitting full proposals linked to a specific community result.

Impact Areas – areas of community need or opportunity around which UWCO has organized its framework for community impact. The four impact areas are: Ensuring children and youth succeed, Strengthening individuals and families, Building vibrant neighborhoods, and Meeting emergency and short-term basic needs. For each impact area, there are two or more community results.

Impact Council – a UWCO volunteer committee responsible for facilitating the achievement of the community results linked to a particular focus area and integrating work across those community results. UWCO has created four impact councils which correspond to the four impact areas.

Inputs – the resources a program uses to provide activities and deliver services including staff, facilities, volunteers, and supplies.

Intervention Target – the persons, groups or geographic area to which the program is focused. The intervention target is often described in terms of its specific characteristics (e.g., age, gender, race, special needs, risk factors, assets, etc.)

Letter of Intent (LOI) – the first step through which UWCO will identify programs that offer the most potential for helping to achieve UWCO’s nine community results. A LOI is the brief programmatic and financial description through which non-profit organizations share their strongest ideas for addressing UWCO’s community results.

Measurement Tool – self-administered questionnaires or other procedures designed to accurately and efficiently identify status relative to a performance measure. UWCO will identify measurement tools and methods for all performance measures by early 2009. Programs that receive funding in UWCO’s program investment process must collect and report data using UWCO’s prescribed measurement tools and methods.

Performance Measure – specific, measurable results that UWCO will track to quantify impact for each strategy, using identified measurement tools and methods.

Priority Consideration – characteristics that UWCO values and that will receive additional consideration in the LOI review process. Priority considerations could include a specific target population, geography or other factor.

Program – a set of activities or services directed toward a specific intervention target that are intended to achieve a specific change or result.

Strategy - a specific approach that will directly contribute to the achievement of a community result. The strategy represents the “how to� – the most effective or preferred means of achieving a community result. Strategies are grounded in research and evidence-based practice and the accumulated knowledge and experience of volunteers, agencies and community partners.

Unit of Service - a measure of program activity that can be counted over time.

A unit of service is one representation of program output.

October 1, 2008