Do you work for the University of Florida? If so, the Campaign for Charities has kicked off. Please select United Way of North Central Florida as your charity of choice. Read more about UWNCFL below.
What is the mission of your agency?
United Way of North Central Florida, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation organized for the purpose of advancing the common good by focusing on education, income, and health. United Way leads the community to focus on issues and build solutions through giving, advocating, and volunteering. Our mission is to improve lives and connect donors to results that demonstrate a lasting impact in the lives of the people we serve.
How do you impact the community in a positive way?
United Way of North Central Florida serves a six-county area that includes Alachua, Bradford, Dixie, Gilchrist, Levy and Union counties. Since our inception in 1957, we have raised more than $91 million for the region. United Way of North Central Florida focuses on the building blocks that lead to a good quality of life: education, income, and health. We all benefit when children are successful in school, families are financially stable, and people are healthy.
United Way funds 35 programs with 26 different nonprofit partner agencies through our Community Investment Fund. This fund provides financial support for more than 30 local programs committed to education, income and health. Some of the programs funded also include a dedication to providing help for immediate needs such as emergency shelter, food and safety. The best part about the fund is that all the money raised for it STAYS LOCAL! That means every dime goes to programs in our community, where help is most needed. 70% of the money donated to the Community Investment Fund focuses on three core areas: education, income and health. We also address immediate needs, 30% of the Community Investment Fund goes to immediate needs like emergency food and shelter.
What specific steps do you take to reach your goals?
United Way of North Central Florida is focused on the building blocks that lead to a good quality life. From start to finish, we ensure that the programs we fund are bringing about the most good in North Central Florida. Currently, the Community Investment Fund funds 35 programs at 26 local agencies in the areas of education, income, health and immediate needs.
All funding decisions are made by our Community Investment Council (CIC), a qualified, expert group of local volunteers from all walks of life. The CIC completes an extensive process involving detailed reviews of agency applications, site visits and personal interviews to select which programs will receive funding.
All funded programs are required to submit quarterly reports using Results-Based Accountability (RBA). RBA allows us to work together with our partners to deliver services, track results and improve the community. The data is compiled by United Way to demonstrate areas of high impact, sustainability and success. Through this process, we ensure that the money donated to United Way of North Central Florida is having the greatest impact and doing the most good in the local community.