UNITED WAY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY MARYLAND INC
We fight for the health, education and financial stability of every person in every community in Washington County
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
There are many well meaning organizations working on similar, if not the same, issues in our community. To avoid waste of precious time and resources, we bring agencies together in collaboration to address important human service issues in health, education, financial stability and the most urgent, basic needs. We do this by serving as a facilitator and funder of collaborative efforts by multiple organizations, including both private and public, and providing non-monetary resources to our collaborative partners.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Day of Caring
Day of Caring is Washington County’s single largest community service effort. By engaging people in volunteerism, United Way works to create positive change in Washington County. The Day of Caring is only possible with the help of hundreds of volunteers and assistance from local sponsors and businesses.
This is an event that mobilizes over a thousand volunteers (1,804 volunteers in 2019) to work on a variety of service projects at local nonprofit organizations (46 nonprofits in 2019) and homes of the elderly and/or disabled and military veterans (69 homeowners in 2019). United Way facilitates the much-needed projects performed in the community, at no cost to the homeowners. The additional resources and volunteers allow nonprofit organizations to continue focusing on serving the needs of Washington County.
Youth United
Youth United (YU) is a high school club in which members work together to help further the mission of United Way of Washington County in their high school and local community.
YU members find creative ways to raise awareness among their peers and the public about pressing issues in our community and the important work of United Way.
YU members get involved in activities that help them develop and practice leadership skills, including public speaking and the importance of advocacy.
Financial Literacy Program
Working with multiple nonprofit and for profit partners, provide financial education fo members of out community.
Where we work
Awards
Nonprofit of the Year, Finalist 2019
Washington County Chamber of Commerce
Nonprofit of the Year, Finalist 2021
Washington County Chamber of Commerce
Affiliations & memberships
United Way Worldwide 2019
United Way Worldwide 2020
United Way Worldwide 2021
External reviews

Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of students who exhibit kindergarten readiness
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Infants and toddlers
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
WCPS has shown a sharp increase in how well students are prepared when they start kindergarten, 1618 students who were assessed demonstrated readiness, which is up from previous year's 37% and lower.
Number of youth programs offered
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents
Related Program
Youth United
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Youth United has been a way to involve our rising high school students in the community with volunteer and leadership opportunities.
Number of participants engaged in programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Adults
Related Program
Day of Caring
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Day of Caring continues to thrive, even during a pandemic. Projects benefit the low-income, senior citizens, & military vets. Each volunteer averages 6 hours on this single day of service.
Number of backpacks filled with school supplies distributed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Micah's Backpack served 974 kids in the past year with the partnership and financial support of United Way. Micah's ensures children have food to eat on the weekend when the are not at school.
Number of meals delivered
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, People with disabilities, Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Meals on Wheels delivered 16,657 meals to 153 unduplicated senior citizens thanks to the partnership and financial support of United Way.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
United Way fights for the health, education, financial stability, and most urgent, basic needs of every resident in our diverse community. Our top priority is to bring community organizations together in collaboration to serve residents living at or below the federal poverty level. Our United for A.L.I.C.E project focuses on residents defined as the "working poor" or Asset Limited Income Constrained and Employed. These residents make just enough money that they are disqualified from receiving certain services or benefits; however, they are still living at the federal poverty level. They have little to no savings and are living paycheck-to-paycheck. Our programs focus on financial stability; access to affordable, quality healthcare; essential needs such as food, housing and much more.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our current strategic plan goals focuses on:
1. Increase revenue and widen the scope of funding sources,
2. Increase Collective Action activities to bring more collaborative action,
3. Increase the use of multiple data sources to determine the needs of the community and whether our supported collaboratives are performing as intended,
4. Increase community engagement to support our collaborative efforts, and
5. Increase the recognition of United Way of Washington County, MD, Inc. as the key resource provider to non-profit human service agencies in Washington County through marketing and brand development.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We have an army of volunteers that help us raise funds, develop and deploy resources, and identify who should be on the receiving end of those resources. We utilize technology, relationships with our many community partners, and volunteers to leverage our capabilities. We invest in creative and calculated ways to respond to the needs of our community in the best way at the right time.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We have multiple collaborative efforts in areas of health, education, financial stability and basic needs. We offer 3-year grants for funding in these areas with 1-year grants in the area of basic needs. We also offer monthly urgent needs grants to help with unexpected, unbudgeted expenses. We have undertaken a two year program to increase the strength of all levels of leadership in the field of human services and the agencies within the field to improve the viability of services provided in the community. We have significantly increased our supply distribution efforts since the pandemic hit in March of 2020. Since that time, we've distributed $1.5+ million dollars in emergency PPE, 180,000+ pounds of food, COVID care kits, and so much more. We are looking forward to the continued expansion of our programs including our free ride share program, Ride United. We are also thrilled to continue promoting 2-1-1 as an invaluable resource for our community. Our annual Day of Caring continues to grow in both volunteers and projects; and we will be unveiling new financial stability programs to our A.L.I.C.E residents in the very near future.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
Our 50+ community partner agencies and the clients they serve; our massive volunteer base, and our donors.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
Many of our nonprofit agency partners expressed that our annual grant application process was too cumbersome and difficult to find collaborative partners. As such, we conducted focus groups and listening sessions with most of our partner agencies and made changes as a direct result of their feedback. Changes were made to our grant review process; however, we were still able to maintain the integrity of our accountability protocols requested by our generous donors.
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
UNITED WAY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY MARYLAND INC
Board of directorsas of 03/23/2022
Karen Boyer
First United Bank & Trust
Term: 2021 - 2022
Greg LLoyd
Jamison Door
Erin Clark
SEK CPA's & Advisors
Julie Pippel
Environmental Consultant
Shane Heizer
Carson Wealth
Carrie Adams
Meritus Medical Center
Stacy Auldridge
Fiserv
Mary-Jane Bowyer
CNB Bank
Leslie DeMott
WDVM
Mike Harsh
Hagerstown Community College
Gary Hayes
Spherion Staffing
Chris Howlett
Hagerstown Housing Authority
Tereance Moore
JLG
Karen Paulson
City of Frederick
Ellen Prete
Citi
Zane Schreiber
Abeles Flurie Wealth Management Group of Wells Fargo Advisors
Angela Stouffer
WCPS - Smithsburg High School
Stacie Turner
Fiserv
Mark Zucca
Potomac Edison
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 03/23/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.