Many people are aware of the United Way of Marquette County during the active campaign, when the publicity is high, and the pledge forms and materials are being distributed. Individuals, workplaces and small businesses are invited and encouraged to make donations to the United Way to help support our local nonprofit health and human services organizations.
When the campaigning winds down and the money and pledges are mostly collected, it’s time to distribute the funds. This part of the process doesn’t receive a lot of attention, but it’s every bit as important as the collection of the funds.
The process of investing the dollars collected from donors is completely done by community volunteers. The requests for program funding come from the nonprofit agencies in one of four “impact areas:” Basic Needs, Elderly Citizens and Adults with Disabilities, Health Care, and Youth Programs. Each of these impact areas has a panel of 8-10 volunteers, who attend a training session about the process and receive the program funding proposals to read and consider. United Way Board members serve as Chair and Vice Chair of each panel, and bring the experience of previous years to the process.
Then, on the evening of May 21, all of the volunteers are brought together for presentations from the agencies making the program funding requests. Each agency has the opportunity to meet with the appropriate panel to elaborate on their funding request and further explain the program for which they are asking for money, as well as to answer questions. When all of the presentations are done, the volunteers discuss and come to consensus on the amount of funding to be awarded to each program.
The funding decisions do not come easily. This year there are almost $389,000 in requests, and the total amount available for funding will be much less than that, so some very difficult decisions have to be made. (The available amount does NOT include all of the pledges that were designated by donors to a specific agency. Those amounts are earmarked to go directly to them.) All of the programs are important and worthy of funding, but with a such a disparity between what was requested and what was available, obviously not every program can be fully funded.
The volunteers do a wonderful job, putting a lot of thought and discussion into the community investment process, and at the end of the evening have a very good idea of how necessary the United Way funding is to the welfare of our community. Most people who have participated comment how we really need to raise more money to fund these wonderful programs.
Becoming a community investment volunteer is very easy. There is a place on the pledge forms to indicate an interest in doing so. Or potential volunteers can just contact the United Way office to ask to be put on the list for next year. New volunteers are very important to the process because they present new perspectives and ideas, and the experienced volunteers share their expertise.
The United Way’s community investment process is the most fair and equitable way to distribute the funds entrusted by donors to be spent in maintaining the important services provided to the people of Marquette County. For more information, the United Way office can be contacted at (906) 226-8171 or by e-mail at unitedway@uwmqt.org. There is also more information available at www.uwmqt.org. Those interested in receiving United Way’s quarterly e-newsletter may contact the office and request to be added to the group e-mail.
Click To Submit Press Releases, News, Calendar Items, and Community Events to mediaBrew radio stations WFXD, WKQS, WRUP, GTO, Fox Sport Marquette, and 106.1 The Sound
Marquette, Michigan Calendar; Ishpeming Calendar; Negaunee Calendar; Gwinn Calendar; Negaunee Calendar and Events; Upper Peninsula Calendar of Events; Escanaba Events and Calendar