With a goal of $1.48 million, the United Way of West Central Mississippi’s Donor Investment wing is making sure that funding is adequately monitored and used properly.

Ryan Lee, vice president of Trustmark Bank, is the Donor Investment chairman for the United Way of West Central Mississippi, which funds 37 programs at 23 member agencies in Warren, Sharkey, Issaquena, Claiborne, Hinds and Yazoo counties and Madison Parish in Louisiana.

“My volunteer role is to help lead us from the side that determines where the monies go,” Lee said. “We have 23 partnering agencies who we work with to determine where the money raised during our campaign goes.”

Lee said at the end of the United Way’s fundraising campaign, the donor investment panel meets for three days to dole out money.

“Each company has to provide a list of programs that they want funded,” Lee said.

Lee said the purpose is to measure efficiency and stretch every dollar the United Way receives.

“The main thing for the average donor is that we go through several processes to ensure the money is being used efficiently,” Lee said. “It’s not just a rubber stamp for funding.”

The United Way will announce program funding in January after the Donor Investment panel concludes its meetings.

Kay Lee, co-director of the Vicksburg Family Development service, described the programs United Way funds at her organization.

“Our early intervention program focuses on the importance of the first years of life and serves parents and children from the prenatal stage to age 4,” she said. “The second program we do is our youth enrichment program. That does evidence-based drug and alcohol-abuse prevention programs, tutoring and mentoring services.”

For the early intervention program, VFD measures the percent of healthy babies born to mothers in prenatal education classes and performs developmental milestone screenings to ensure children are being nurtured well. For the youth enrichment program, VFD looks at grades and behavior in school as well as drug and alcohol use.

She said that in addition to receiving United Way funding, the program measurements help VFD apply for other grants.

“These measures are things that grant programs are also looking for,” Kay Lee said. “This information that we gather also is helpful for us to report to any of our fundraisers as well as seeking additional funding sources. It’s just a good guide for us because if there’s anything we need to adjust, this shows what things need to be changed.”

Overall, the United Way provides about 16 percent of the VFD’s funding.

“United Way provides significant support to this agency,” Lee said. “Without United Way, we would not be able to provide the services we provide.”

Barbara Tolliver, United Way executive director, said monitoring the funds’ application is vital to the integrity of the United Way.

“We assure donors that we are investing in programs that work,” Tolliver said. “We have 45 volunteers who are very dedicated; who go visit the agencies and spend a substantial amount of their time working with the agencies. I just know it’s important for the donors to know that we’re good stewards of their money.”

While the United Way’s fall campaign officially ended Oct. 31, Tolliver said donations are still being sought with about $1 million of the $1.48 million goal reached.

For donation information, call 601-636-1733.