United Way looks at the big picture to deliver a coordinated network of services and programs to address a range of needs for children and families who are living in poverty.
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United Way is a network of more than 75 local United Way offices. Since 1941, we’ve worked in the Alberta Capital Region for the betterment of all.
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Home / Programs / Community and Social Sector Development / Common Outcomes Initiative
Streamlined reporting for funded agencies. A collaborative, coordinated approach drives our success to make real change in community.
We unlock solutions to meet Edmonton and area’s greatest needs by supporting 140 programs, partnerships, and initiatives and working with more than 50 community agencies in the region.
These agencies and organizations receive funding support from numerous entities, including United Way of the Alberta Capital Region and Edmonton Family and Community Support Services (FCSS).
United Way and FCSS, along with the agencies they fund, worked to develop the Common Outcomes Initiative (COI). These common outcomes, indicators, and tools are used by funded agencies to evaluate the programs that they offer. They also provide a streamlined reporting process for agencies, and an annual snapshot of the work happening in the social services sector.
The Common Outcomes Initiative (COI) is more than just a collaborative system of demonstrating results. An innovative approach to program reporting, COI brings together multiple funders, and those they fund, in a truly collaborative process resulting in opportunities to shift the landscape from just program reporting to include program evaluation.
Participants of the collaborative report recognize they are better able to meet community needs through working together and sharing their learned experiences. The creation of the COI has provided the forum to:
As a result of working together, the initiative is more effective than each partner could be operating on its own and has made more of a positive impact on social issues in our community.
For more than a decade, local agencies have worked together to provide a continuum of programs and services to meet the needs of all community members. To provide a summary of some of the social impacts and outcomes this sector is achieving, funders and agencies work together to implement the Common Outcomes Report (COR). By working together, COR simplifies data collection and highlights the positive difference programs are making in our community, together. The COR captures work within one report instead of many individual reports, providing a clear demonstration of the successes and benefits of collaborative work within this sector. It also identifies where further effort needs to be focused and how to improve programs through evaluation.
It takes a whole community pulling in the same direction to solve a complex problem like poverty. As we move forward and continue to learn from both our successes and our failures, this data and information will be used to identify and then reduce gaps and challenges to to achieve the impact needed as a community.
