Measuring Outcomes of United Way–Funded Programs: Expectations and Reality

In 1996, United Way of America (UWA) developed and began disseminating the most widely used approach to program outcome measurement in the non-profit sector. Today an estimated 450 local United Ways encourage approxi-mately 19,000 local agencies they fund to measure outcomes. The authors first describe and then assess the strengths and limitations of the distinguishing fea-tures of the UWA approach, efforts to disseminate the approach, implementa-tion by local United Ways, and actual outcome measurement by local agencies. The chapter ends with a description of United Way’s relatively new emphasis on community impact and how that initiative relates to program outcome mea