As a trusted source for identifying effective programs and strategies, the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley today announced it will distribute $30.8 million in support of strategies, organizations, partnerships and programs aimed at solving entrenched poverty and effecting upward mobility among those most in need across the region. United Way will award strategic grants to 146 non-profit partners, distribute dollars designated by donors to organizations in the region, as well as fund innovative initiatives and public policy work.
United Way announced it has selected to fund the following strategic partners on the North Shore: For Kids Only Afterschool (FKO), North Shore Community Development Corproation, LEAP for Education, Catholic Charities, Raw Art Works, Family and Children’s Services of Greater Lynn, Girls Incorporated of Lynn, Gregg Neighborhood House Association, Inc., and Lynn Housing and Neighborhood Development, Beverly Children’s Learning Center, YMCA of the North Shore, Pathways for Children, Inc., Wellspring House, The Open Door, Action, Inc., and YMCA of Metro North.
United Way also recently launched DRIVE, a city-wide universal screening initiative to increase school readiness among young children and funds a team of AmeriCorps members to increase educational success among English Language Learner students in Lynn.
Also announced today was a key partnership aimed at generating even more resources to solve community problems. United Way has teamed up with the global technology company Salesforce to launch a new social platform called Philanthropy Cloud that will transform the way people engage with and support the causes they care about most. This new platform will allow companies to easily aggregate data to understand the collective impact of their employee giving, transforming the way companies align their philanthropic objectives with those of their workforce.
“As a leader in generating resources to fund community-based work, it is our responsibility to find new ways to collaborate, innovate and drive a conversation that helps more people find financial opportunity and educational success for themselves and their families,” says Mike Durkin, president and CEO of United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley. “That is why we are eager to launch our new Philanthropy Cloud technology that will change the way donors tap into our community expertise and on the ground resources to connect to the work that they are passionate about in their own communities.”
United Way Impact in the Community
United Way funding of non-profit community-based organizations, partnerships and initiatives next year is expected to help 250,000 people and specifically will:
Provide 18,300 young children and their families with high-quality early education, care and support to optimize their healthy development and school readiness.
Ensure that 50,740 youth are given the opportunity to develop critical skills and experiences needed to succeed in the workforce and in life.
Provide 159,000 individuals and families with safe, affordable housing and emergency assistance to pay for rent, food and utilities and help prevent evictions.
Place 14,500 individuals in jobs that pay family-sustaining wages and provide resources to improve their credit, increase savings and reduce debt.
“Putting people first is our main priority at United Way,” says Krissy Davis, a board member of United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley. “Through very strategic partnerships with our community-based organizations, we can do more to effect real change that empowers more people to find opportunity, provides more solid foundations for our young people to thrive, and gives the tools for upward mobility to those that need the help the most.”
Driving Innovation in Giving
The way in which individuals give has changed dramatically over the last decade, requiring companies and organizations to think differently about how to more successfully engage with donors. United Way announced today that they have teamed up with Salesforce.org, a nonprofit social enterprise to create Philanthropy Cloud which aims to redefine the future of corporate philanthropy. This technology will allow people to not only connect to their own interests but will utilize Salesforce Einstein AI technology to intelligently sift through millions of opportunities to create personalized giving recommendations to organizations and causes aligned to their interests that they may not even know about. Companies can easily integrate Philanthropy Cloud data to understand and communicate the collective impact of their employees. United Way will launch this technology locally this summer.
Increasing Impact across All Communities
United Way’s competitive grant program focuses giving in eight key priority areas, which were identified more than a year ago with the help of over 1,000 people United Way surveyed in the community and experts in the field, including agency partners and donor focus groups. More than 450 volunteer grant reviewers were recruited to read and help score the 198 applications submitted.
United Way selected 146 nonprofits for funding, which represents 20 new organizations and advances 12 to Lead Partners. The process strategically focused on organizations that would have impact across a broad spectrum of the community, granting awards through a lens of equity and deliberate consideration of agency size, geography, population served, quality of programming and effectiveness of solutions.
United Way’s eight areas of focus are: 1) ensure high-quality early education and care; 2) funding two-generational approaches to school readiness; 3) enhancing social-emotional learning in school and outside of school; 4) ensure youth who are disconnected from school or employment find a path to opportunity; 5) supporting job skills training and placement; 6) providing individualized coaching to increase financial well-being; 7) funding place-based Financial Opportunity Centers; and 8) ending family homelessness.
Advocating for Game-Changing Public Policy
While United Way continues to focus its mission on funding organizations that do the work of creating lasting change in our communities, there is also an added value to offering the resources to fund meaningful advocacy to impact the real change necessary in public policy. This work has been successful in recent weeks as the Commonwealth has moved forward the Community Investment Tax Credit Reauthorization, currently in the Housing Bond Bill that has passed the House and Senate and was signed into law today by the Governor. This legislation will secure sustainable revenue for our Community Development Corporations (CDCs) who are at the forefront of increasing housing across the spectrum of need. This past fiscal year the United Way raised $2.1M to support the work of CDC partners through these efforts.
The United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley has already started looking toward 2020 as they implement the use of new technology, partnerships and strategies aimed at increasing the awareness and support for programs and services that provide impactful opportunities across our communities.
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