United Way Examples

launched the African American Partners affinity group in 2000 to proactively engage members of the African American community who were historically under-represented in United Way’s giving societies. Members give $1,000 annually and UWGA provides the group opportunities for networking, advocacy, and volunteerism. In recent years AAP members and UWGA staff identified working with African American male youth in Atlanta as a priority. Members help plan and staff volunteer events, including a day of service to address summer slide, STEM workshops that involve local companies (AT & T, Delta, Georgia Power) and pair youth with AAP mentors for the day. In 2016, over 1,000 members donated $2.2 million to the United Way of Greater Atlanta.

embarked on a journey five years ago, to determine its relevance in its seven-parish service area. Over sixty community conversations brought to light that poverty had to be viewed through the lenses of equity, racism, and family. As a result, United Way of Southeast Louisiana co-developed the Blueprint for Prosperity with thought partners. The Prosperity Dashboard tracks the progress of population-level equity indicators in the Blueprint for Prosperity. The Prosperity Dashboard is available at https://www.unitedwayseladashboard.org/. In the 2018 program grant process, agencies were given the option to earn extra points by completing an equity audit. Ninety-eight percent of applicants completed the equity audit. Twenty new partners received funding and were allowed to have a fiscal agent in the grant cycle, including partners who may not have received funding in the past. Looking forward, United Way of Southeastern Louisiana is seeking funding to support an Equity Cohort for agencies to learn and grow together.

“10 to Watch” is a strategic investment opportunity that creates exclusive funding for historically underrepresented and under-resourced nonprofit leaders and their organizations. Through an analysis of its partner portfolio, United Way of the Greater Triangle (UWGT) determined that people of color (African American and Hispanics) represented 85% of those served through our Impact investing. However, less than 20% of the organizations UWGT invested in were led by people of color. Additional analysis revealed that organizations led by men possessed three times the assets of organizations led by women. 10 to Watch begins to address these disparities. In addition to a two-year commitment of unrestricted dollars ($500K in total), 10 to Watch participants benefit from leveraging UWGT’s access to boardrooms and decision-making tables. By participating in conversations held in rooms they normally would not be in, the outcomes are broader networks, broader influence, and broader visibility. 10 to Watch leaders are more connected to the Triangle’s philanthropy ecosystem, resulting in increased revenue and relationships. Lastly, through a partnership with Leadership Triangle, a premier leadership development organization, leaders have the opportunities to build the personal leadership abilities all leaders need to be successful.

The Community Impact staff at UWMD are revamping our multi-year Community Impact Grantmaking process to incorporate racial equity in both the application itself and in the process associated with those grants. In addition to the work done by those staff, a sub-committee of the Racial Equity Council is also involved in the project providing feedback with a racial equity lens. Using this work and the framework of Trust Based Grantmaking United Way is implementing those changes in our next multiyear grantmaking process. The goal for this effort is help ensure that our grant making is done through a Racial Equity Lens and that we will fund efforts that overtly address racial disparities in communities of color in Education, Income, and Health. We are also taking steps to reduce barriers that organizations face in applying for funding, diversifying our network of partners, recruiting grant evaluator volunteers that are in the communities where funding is awarded, streamlining the application and reporting associated with the grant, and building relationships with grantees in our community.