United Way of Escambia County

Each year, more than 75 volunteers review local health and human service programs and make funding recommendations that yield measurable improvements in our community.

The review process spans 4-5 weeks and includes agency/program tours, written and verbal presentations by the organizations requesting funds.  Excluding preparation time, volunteers typically spend about 20 hours in the process. 

Click here for the 2010/2011 Funds Distribution Overview and Panel Schedule

About Our Funds Distribution Process

United Way of Escambia County’s Funds Distribution process allows United Way donors to come together to make recommendations for how to allocate the undesignated contributions from the campaign.

Funds distribution volunteers are critical to ensuring that contributions from thousands of donors are spent in the most effective way possible. This is because the volunteers take a detailed look at each program requesting funding, tour the program, and listen to oral presentations with plenty of chances to ask questions about how the money will be spent.

The estimated time commitment is 20-25 hours over three months (February through April). The only requirement to be a Funds Distribution volunteer is that you must be a donor. Our goal is 100 or more Funds Distribution volunteers this year.

Funds Distribution volunteers score programs based on the written Funding Request Applications as well as more broad, community-wide factors. Community factors that play a role in the decision process include:

• Need for Services               • Degree of Service Intensity Required
• Public Interest in Issue      • Relative Urgency
• Importance of United Way funding to the organization
• Effectiveness of the Program

United Way of Escambia County is strengthening its Community Impact model to address the key community priorities of Education, Financial Stability and Health. Funding requests for programs receiving funds from United Way in the prior year are broken down into 4 areas (panels) reflecting United Way’s commitment to the most pressing needs in our community. The panels are:

• Education                      • Health1
• Financial Stability         • Health 2

Each of the Funds Distribution panels is comprised of 15-20 volunteers, ensuring a community-wide perspective in the review process. Each member brings a unique perspective, life experiences and insight to the process. It is the collective voice that builds consensus for funding recommendations. Programs new to United Way funding are reviewed separately through a competitive Request For Proposal process, allowing programs to request funds based on the program’s ability to meet one of the United Ways Community Impact Goals.

Volunteers can sit on a funding panel for up to six years. It is not required for volunteers to switch panels each year, but the notion is strongly encouraged by United Way.

The Review Process

All programs requesting United Way funding will submit a written Funding Request Application and make an oral presentation to the Funds Distribution Panels.  The requesting organization is responsible for providing all required documentation and information as outlined in the Request Application and is also responsible for answering any questions, in writing if necessary, that Panel volunteers may have. 

The Funds Distribution process typically spans five weeks.  During the first three weeks, each program requesting United Way funds is scheduled to conduct a 20 minute oral presentation followed by a 10 minute question/answer period.  If agency representatives are unable to answer questions that panel volunteers pose, then the question will be submitted in writing to the agency, and the agency will have 5 business days to respond to the question in writing. 

Agency / Program tours, or site visits by Funds Distribution Panel members are encouraged.  Tours allow the Panel Volunteers to observe actual service delivery sites and get a better sense of the programs they are evaluating.

All panel members score each program using the Program Evaluation Score Sheet.  The score sheet is a vital tool in the Funds Distribution process.  Panel volunteers score programs based on the written Funding Request Application as well as more broad, community-wide factors. 

The fourth week of the process is “Deliberations Week”.  Panels convene and prioritize the programs and determine the degree to which programs should be recommended for funding.  Actual finding amounts will not be determined.  Prioritization of programs is to be based solely on effectiveness of the program and the outcomes achieved for those served. 

During the fifth and final week of the Funds Distribution process, the Full Committee convenes to determine actual funding amounts that will be recommended to the Board of Directors for each program.

For more information...

If you would like more information about the Funds Distribution process, please contact Rob Engel at 444-7140 or rob@unitedwayescambia.org.