Your $ at work: grants funding update

Here's an update on our grant review process for the 2012-13 fiscal year. We got about 290 applications and every one of them was for very worthy projects. Now comes the hard part: figuring out where to allocate the money so that your donation will have the biggest impact.

As in previous grant cycles, we’ll be awarding grants to help local nonprofits with projects in education, income and health. New this year, we’re also giving out money for equipment and building upgrades that directly help clients. Learn more about our funding priorities. This year we moved the application process online to save time, make things easier for applicants, and best of all, help us tell you about results quickly and more accurately.

Right now, small groups of volunteers are reading grants to rank the most promising projects. The grant readers are from all throughout the community: workplace campaign volunteers, community leaders, and United Way staff. Including staff has brought us closer together and we now have a better appreciation for each others’ work.

Next, we’ll invite representatives from top-ranked projects in for interviews. Then the reading groups will recommend which projects to fund, our Community Impact Cabinet will approve these recommendations, and finally our Board of Directors will make the official decision. We’ll announce funding decisions by the end of June. Then next up, we’ll start the process over again for the next grant cycle!

We’d love your feedback on the grant process—please tell us what you think or find out about how you can get involved in the next grant cycle.