The United Way Of Central Maryland Inc

Programs: Objective of program: for over 90 years, united way of central maryland (united way) has been a human service leader for the region, encouraging all central marylanders to give, advocate and volunteer. United way is dedicated to helping individuals and families facing poverty to meet their basic needs, stabilize and achieve self-sufficient lives. We do this through grantmaking, collaboration, promoting volunteerism and advocacy, and mobilizing resources as a trusted fundraiser. Additionally, united way addresses local needs and creates impact through targeted direct-service initiatives. United way uses expertise, data, and local knowledge to better understand the issues facing central marylanders and to make informed investment and programmatic decisions. As part of this work, united way convenes local stakeholders and actively works to develop collective impact strategies in partnership with other nonprofit organizations and government agencies. Over the past five years, united way has moved beyond fundraising and grantmaking and into creating innovative direct-service initiatives that support family stability in high need communities. United way implements evidence-based best practices and incubates promising ideas in the areas of education, housing, health, and workforce development. United way grantmaking: through our grantmaking, united way works to sustain and grow the capacity of community-based partners to strengthen families and neighborhoods, underpinning the community safety net. We direct funding annually to more than 100 nonprofit organizations through grants that target specific community needs, most through a competitive allocation process administered by our volunteer partnership boards. United way provides three types of grants: -community operating grants - are the culmination of an annual competitive process in which hundreds of nonprofit organizations apply for funding through united way's six local partnership boards, serving each of central maryland's jurisdictions: baltimore city, anne arundel, baltimore, carroll, harford and howard counties. Funds are allocated among the six jurisdictions based on relative poverty and relative population. Partnership board volunteers use their local knowledge and subject matter expertise to assess where united way funding and other support is most needed. They then evaluate applications and recommend grants of up to $30,000 each. Their operating grant recommendations are then reviewed and approved by the united way's board of directors. -community response grants - united way's community response grant application is an opportunity for non-profit health and human service organizations to request united way support for urgent, unexpected or emergency organizational needs. United way's board of directors authorizes its partnership boards to respond throughout the year to requests for crg funding from local nonprofits and award grant amounts of up to $7,500. - directed grants - are allocated based on recommendations from united way partnership boards, staff and the volunteer community. United way's board of directors approves directed grants to certain highly qualified nonprofit organizations that provide specific health and human services in central maryland. Directed grants are made only to organizations that have demonstrated strong programmatic and fiscal capacity, and have a track record for achieving outcomes. The largest such grant was made to american red cross of the greater chesapeake region to underwrite its local emergency response efforts. United way continues to utilize directed funding to organizations with specific expertise uniquely related to our impact work. These funds are used to meet specialized needs in the community. Grant eligibility criteria: all eligible applicants must provide: -copy of their irs determination letter -most recent copy (within the last two fiscal years) of one of the following financial documents: -financial audit of their organization (preferred for all organizations, and required for organizations with annual revenues of $500,000 or more). -financial statement reviewed by an independent auditor (acceptable only for organizations with annual revenues of less than $500,000). -good standing certificate of status - from maryland's state department of assessments & taxation (sdat) united way's grant allocation process: united way conducts a comprehensive and stringent grant allocation process that utilizes the extensive experience of staff and relies on the knowledge and insight of local professional and community leader volunteers who live or work in each respective jurisdiction, and make up united way's local partnership boards. United way utilizes these partnership boards, one in each of the six central maryland jurisdictions, to address local needs as they relate to the overall impact goals of united way. United way announces and promotes its grant funding opportunities through its website, through emails to a comprehensive regional list of non-profit agencies, and through a network of community partners, including its partnership board members. Applications are reviewed by staff to ensure that applicants meet established eligibility criteria, and are then reviewed by partnership board members who score and rank the applications using established grant review guidelines. Partnership boards are convened to review and discuss application scores and rankings and come to consensus on funding recommendations. Each organization that receives a grant is required to submit the following: -executed grant agreement - signed by the organization's executive director/president/ceo -copy of form 990 -patriot act compliance form -board of directors rostergrant reporting and accountability: united way requires all grantees to sign an agreement in which the recipient is held responsible for specified deliverables. United way staff provides periodic reports to the partnership boards and board of directors to demonstrate that funds are used, programmatically and fiscally, by the grantees as intended. Community operating grants and directed grants are granted for the fiscal year and both have narrative and fiscal reporting requirements, twice annually for community operating grants, and quarterly for directed grants. United way also conducts site visits to directed grant recipients. Organizations receiving community response grants are required to submit a final report when expenditures are complete. United way and partnership board members monitor reports to ensure compliance with grant agreements and ensure that funds are being spent down accordingly. Grants must be expended by the end of the grant period. Continued funding can be suspended for non-compliance. Donor designated - in addition to the grants outlined above, more than 1,700 nonprofit organizations receive grant funding through private and public-sector designated gifts through the united way's annual campaign. United way acts as a pass-through facilitator for this funding and does not establish eligibility criteria for these funds, nor does it monitor spending or require reporting from organizations receiving these funds. United way's direct service programs: united way continues to develop, strengthen and expand proactive initiatives that provide innovative solutions aimed at strengthening individuals and families. Results of programs: during fy2017, united way and its partners served over 120,000 people from diverse backgrounds through its community operating grants, direct grants and other direct service activities. While each distinct agency program reports to united way on unduplicated clients served, the total count of clients served by all programs combined does not necessarily represent unduplicated clients, as a client may receive services from more than one distinct agency. The gender distribution was approximately 60% female and 40% male. The demographics included 55% african american, 35% white, 4% mixed race, 1% american indian, 1% asian,