Trenton PolicyOptions.org Interns,

In reading the new United Way funding plan,

http://www.uwgmc.org/community_needs_assessment.html

take notes on the following so we can incorporate this information into our website:

• How they define and group the issue areas?
• What statistics they use to quantify and prioritize those issues? (note data sources, too)
• How they define their overall strategy (i.e., emphasis on collaborative initiatives, addressing root causes, advocating for policy change, etc.)?
• What other 'players' are mentioned (i.e., other non-profits, government agencies, funders, including individual people and their affiliations)? Do we have these organizations and people in our database?
• Examples of model programs or policies? (e.g.,

From Appendix D: One initiative, for example, the Housing First Initiative, has already been identified under Fostering Self-Sufficiency as a special demonstration project that leverages UWGMC resources with resources from the Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness, the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), Mercer County, City of Trenton, several state agencies, foundations and corporations. This proposal, modeled after United Way of Rhode Island’s, will create permanent supportive housing for homeless people and wrap services around them in order to reduce the homeless population of Mercer County over time.

• Deadline dates for RFP submissions and award announcements?
• How much money do they award annually and to what programs? Can we get annual figures for the last, say, five years? What is projected for the next funding cycle beginning January, 2008?
• How does the United Way's funding level compare with the existing funding from government and foundation sources being applied to these issue areas? Are they a major player? Will their change in funding priorities have much an affect on the decisions by Mercer County non-profits? Also, how might their new emphasis on collaborations rather than individual programs ('core services') complement or hurt other the funding and policy strategies of the local government and foundations?
• Figure out what staff and volunteer leaders (those on their advisory boards) you should interview at the United Way of Mercer County? Also, can we find out who the 'experts' where that they interviewed in each of Key Informant Focus Groups?

In your upcoming interviews of government and non-profit staff, you might consider adding a question about what they think of the United Way's new funding approach and whether they are involved in it somehow?

Based on how they define and prioritize the issues, how might we define a series of PolicyOptions issue brief topics that could be of use to groups applying for funds? Remember, we focus an issue brief using a title (i.e., gang violence prevention) and a goal statement (what they call a vision statement).

Finally, you'll notice that their focus groups had different results in Trenton, Hamilton, Lawrence and Hightstown. Should we consider making the Mercer County PolicyOptions.org be a 'public website' (it is currently hidden from public view so attention is focused on Trenton)?

Ok, that's enough for now. This will keep us busy for awhile!

Bobby

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The Corella & Bertram F. Bonner Foundation

10 Mercer Street * Princeton, NJ 08540

(609) 924-6663 * (609) 683-4626 fax

www.bonner.org

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