The United Way of Davie County invites you behind the scenes of the Community Investment Process. It is their goal to advance the common good of Davie County by uniting the resources of the community to identify and address the most pressing human needs. In partnership with local agencies, their vision is to eradicate poverty, work toward social healing, expose systemic failures, and advance the financial, educational, health, and social opportunities for each and every person. But they can’t do it alone.
You play an important part in the work that the United Way does in the community. Because of your generosity and willingness to financially support the United Way they are able to partner with these agencies to make Davie County a stronger community.
Currently, the United Way is in the process of Community Investment. This process is where the United Way brings together corporate partners, businesses, and individuals in order to raise funds and then entrust monies to these vital nonprofits serving the most vulnerable in our county.
During Community investment, agencies submit applications to the United Way and present their case for how their agency’s program will positively impact those in need. A group of volunteers sit on the Community Investment Council and ultimately decide how much each program will receive.
The council members will read through the applications, speak with the organizations’ directors, visit the facilities, and look into their agency’s sustainability. It is vital that these individuals have a thorough understanding of what the program will do in the community and that it is a well-run and stable organization.
The executive director of each organization that has requested funds will also have the opportunity to make a presentation and spell out in their own words what the program is and how the organization will use these funds to benefit the community.
At this point, the volunteers will then take a look at the pool of money that was collected and compare that against the request the agencies have made. The committee then comes to a decision and awards the organizations a decided upon amount of funds.
“The staff has no bearing on these decisions,” Chuck Taylor, Executive Director at The United Way of Davie County said. “We don’t make the decision at all as to who gets funding — we inform the council as to how agencies are following through and provide contact information but this is volunteer driven and run. And this is a hard process, because we never have as much money as these important programs need. COVID has made this worse. Donors are truly the lifeline for so many who need these critical services.”
In 2020, The United Way had 10 partner agencies and was able to give away $100,000 to agencies. Donors get to choose where they want their money invested. While some wanted their gifts given to agencies other than those who applied for funding, we were able to invest just under $75,000 to local partner programs.
If you are part of a nonprofit in the community and would like to learn more about the Community Investment Process, you can call 336-751-0313 and speak to a team member to find out if this would be a good fit for your organization.
“Always remember that we can do more for the agencies with the more money we get,” Chuck said. “The more that we are given, the more we can give. Our campaign is still going and people can still donate.” You can give by texting DCUW2020 to the number 44-321 to give via text or give online at https://davieunitedway.org/give/
This post originally appeared as an article in the March 2021 issue of DavieLiFE as The United Way of Davie County Invites You Behind the Scenes of the Community Investment Process.
