BUTLER TWP — The United Way of Butler County will have its annual meeting June 9 when it will announce the final 2015 campaign total, present annual awards, and discuss the decision to make major changes to the way it frames its work in the community, seeks donors and distributes money.

Last month the United Way announced that it had hired a Michigan-based consulting firm to help with the transition, which could take up to three years and will mean sweeping changes to many aspects of its work.

The main change will be a shift from the group’s fundraising-based model to an issue-focused campaign that highlights a single, longer term goal and focuses financial resources on that one issue.

That change will be discussed when the organization meets at the Atrium, 1031 New Castle Road, Prospect, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. June 9.

The United Way began moving toward this “impact model” in 2006, said Kierston Hobaugh, United Way executive director. She said the decision to do more with the shift will tap into the United Way’s ability to respond to the most pressing needs of the county without being bound to any national goals, issues or focuses identified by United Way worldwide.

“Agencies continue to measure outcomes,” Hobaugh said, “and the Community Investment Process continues to look deeply at how the community and programs are addressing root causes to community issues.”

The shift has been approved by the United Way board, and Hobaugh said that the United Way would continue to “refine our processes and procedures” to improve accountability to donors, ability to measure the impact of funding, and the end results to residents.

“By being issue-focused, we can be even more accountable,” Hobaugh said. “There is hard work ahead to begin to operate as an issue-focused organization.”

The first step is to identify what issue the United Way wants to tackle, something Hobaugh said would be done using a Community Needs Assessment done last year, surveys of donors, agencies and clients, and discussions with community groups.

For the 2014-15 campaign, the United Way set a fundraising goal of $1.43 million. The deadline to raise that money is June 30.