United Way of Bucks County

Who are the people you serve with your mission?

The people we serve struggle with access to education (particularly in the early years), financial stability, and health challenges connected to issues of nutrition and food access. Most of the households we work with are ALICE -- asset limited, income constrained, employed. To ensure we are meeting these needs, we formally engage the people we serve through surveys, in-person and online focus groups, and soliciting feedback one-on-one at our sites as needed. We use that feedback to determine where we need to make adjustments and build on our existing work.

How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?

Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person),

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,

What significant change resulted from feedback?

One recent change was adjusting our hours and distribution plans. In some cases, that meant allowing for walk-in service for programs that historically required appointments. In another case, families needed the opposite: They wanted to select a window for item pick-up rather than have walk-in service and risk having to wait when they arrived at our site. We are currently in conversation with focus groups to understand how to improve access to financial literacy programs. We understand that people need and want them -- but they are not always enrolling, even when they are free. We need to fix that. When we get feedback, we do our best to implement it as quickly as possible.

With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,

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 look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive,

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, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time,