New Funding Model

The United Way of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks and Area has supported an
array of programs helping people in our region for five decades. Our community
volunteers reviewed the requests our partner agencies made and funded them
based on their merit and the generosity of thousands of Grand Forks area supporters.

Occasionally we solicited special applications to deal with pressing issues. However, our
regular practice was to fund a broad range of programs, supported by a wide variety of
groups. Now United Way believes that in these challenging times that is no longer
enough.

There are core problems in our community that we will not be able to solve until we
establish firm foundations in three areas of peoples’ lives: People need Education
and skills in order to earn the Income to be self-sufficient; and they need good Health
to take care of themselves and their families. What we are calling our Full Community
Impact Funding Model, concentrates our efforts on building those foundations.

We are putting resources where they will make the most difference in the lives of our neighbors. Inadequate education, income, or health account for most of our community’s problems. People need services in place to address those problems.

When those basic needs are met, fewer people will fall between the cracks. Those who have hit hard times will spring back sooner when our local services focus on meeting these three key needs.

Most of the agencies that work with United Way already provide programs that address the key areas of Education, Income and Health. Some, however, do not. In order to be eligible for United Way funding, agencies will have to take stock of their current programs. Agencies should ask themselves if their programs address the three Community Impact priorities. Or, agencies may prefer to develop programs that create a whole new approach in response to today's economic situation.

United Way wants to continue our partnerships and work together for the common good. We welcome conversations about ways that programs might be aligned with this new united focus.

Yes they may, if their programs address unmet needs, by providing Community Impact for the priority areas in Education, Income, and Health.

This fall United Way will be reviewing the process agencies use when they seek funding from the annual campaign. We will allocate the funds to programs that address our three building blocks of Education, Income, and Health. However, we will make smaller ($5,000 or less) grants available for traditional United Way programs that may not necessarily meet the new Community Impact criteria, but are still important to the community.

You can be assured that your donation will continue to stay in the Greater Grand Forks community working on health and human service issues that matter most. However, now United Way and our Participating Partners will be focusing on specific issues identified as problems in our community within the areas of Education, Income, and Health.

Donors will continue to have the option of designating a local nonprofit agency (501c-3) as the recipient of their gift.

The only way to gain traction on problems before they become insurmountable is to pull together. Just as area families are making adjustments to weather hard times, we are changing, too. During this economic squeeze, United Way’s new approach will mean more funding for programs that address the root cause of problems, to stop them before they start.

In the future we plan to report back to the community on the progress that we all are making to create opportunities for a better life for everyone. We remain committed to working together for the common good and we invite you to be part of it. Feel free to call United Way of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks and Area at any time: (701) 775-8661 to learn how you can become more involved.