Citizens Review Process

Involving more than 200 committed volunteers over eight months, the Citizen Review Process holds 96 local human services agencies accountable. When the agencies apply for new funding each year, they must prove that they are improving lives in quantifiable fashion. To see examples of such impact, please click here

 

 

Involving such a large number of volunteers serves two purposes: first, it ensures that our funding process has diverse representation to champion the community’s desires. Second, leveraging the volunteers reduces staff overhead, ensuring that more of your charitable dollars get into the hands of the agencies ­– and not just the well-known nonprofits, but the ones having the greatest impact in our community.

 

In 2009, these volunteers and our staff evaluated 194 programs provided by the 96 agencies. Your dollars are invested based on verified results at the program level, based on demonstrated needs and demonstrated impact over time.

 

Due to substantially reduced available funds in the current recession, volunteers in 2009 placed emphasis on programs geared toward short-term crisis outcomes. To help balance that, volunteers in 2010 are placing emphasis on successful programs that received the largest funding cuts in 2009.