Community Investment Volunteer Information

ADVOCATE -- Become a Community Investment Volunteer!

Greater Ottawa County United Way is always seeking interested community members, who live and/or work in Ottawa County, to have a voice in the funding of human service programs throughout Ottawa County. Community investment volunteers help to decide where the funds raised during the annual campaign are invested, or allocated. This year's new Impact Areas are Emergency Assistance and Basic Human Needs, Education, Financial Stability, and Health. Volunteers need to simply have an interest in helping to better their community and may choose an impact area and panel that fit their interests and time schedule.

To help you decide which impact area and panel might be best for you, click to see and/or print the 2010 Community Investment Process Agency Tours and Meeting Dates.

The “Emergency Assistance and Basic Human Needs”  impact area includes programs that provide resources to people in need of emergency assistance; the “Education” impact area programs help people achieve their potential; the “Financial Stability” impact area programs help people achieve financial stability; and "Health" impact area programs help people to live life in a healthy way. Last year approximately 65 volunteers from around Ottawa County volunteered during the community investment process. They decided where $1.2 million in funds would be allocated across 63 programs of 38 nonprofit agencies that serve Ottawa County.

The Community Investment Process begins with a brief volunteer training session in late January. Volunteers are assigned to panels, or teams. Each panel is assigned any where from 4 to 8 different applications for review. Each volunteer receives a 3-ring binder containing the applications and agency information to review, along with study materials about United Way’s community impact model. Panel members will have a pre-tour meeting to review all panel applications; two weekds later the panels visit the agencies to learn all about the programs and the impact they have on the community. After the tours are complete, the panels meet (either in the morning or the evening) to discuss the applications and make their recommendations. One member of the panel, called the panel leader, then finalizes the panel’s recommendations, which are then represented to the United Way Board of Directors.

The volunteer time commitment averages about 20 hours over a two-month period.

Ready to get started?  Click to download and complete the 2010 Community Investment Volunteer Form.doc or

Click to print a PDF version of the 2010 Community Investment Volunteer Form.