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Investing in Your Community Since the founding of United Way of Greater Williamsburg in 1949, over 28 million dollars have been raised to help thousands of people in our community. Volunteers with extensive financial background work with our staff to ensure prudent stewardship of each donor’s contribution. For 2004, the amount of program support included in United Way operations was $61,467. The balance, $253,501 represents the unaudited cost of general administration and fund-raising, which was 15% of our $1,648,510 in revenues for 2004. These revenues include amounts designated by contributors for specific agencies and are net of an allowance for uncollectible pledges. This methodology is consistent with prior years.
In July 2004, however, United Way of America issued revised standards for computing and reporting overhead. These standards require that designated contributions be excluded from the calculation. This will result in an overhead rate greater than 15% for 2004. An independent auditor’s report applying the revised guidelines will be available in the summer of 2005. Prior to issuing their report, we will request that our auditors include both rates and an explanation of the difference.
Community Building
The United Way of Greater Williamsburg (UWGW) continued its outreach to the community. The Community Health Foundation and the United Way are working together on updating the current Needs Assessment conducted. The last Assessment for our community was completed in 1998. After the last Needs Assessment we opened a dialogue with partner agencies as integrated Task Forces studied and made recommendations on the Allocations and Designations Process; while another task force addressed the issues of High Priority Needs Grants and New Agency Admissions.
Historic Triangle Founders Forum
Responding to needs identified in the Needs Assessment, the Community Health Foundation and UWGW; have yet again hired a professional consultant to identify and address areas in the 1998 Needs Assessment and develop a module to analyze the problems. After the 1998 Assessment, we identified and brought together all agencies/groups in the area working in the field of addictions (an identified need in the 1998 assessment). These groups had never before met together and in, many cases, were unfamiliar with each others' programs. The discussions help in reducing duplication of efforts and therefore spread available resources further. We expect similar meetings to take place after the Needs Assessment has been updated.
Allocations and Agency Relations
One of the greatest strengths of the United Way is the allocation process. Nearly 100 volunteers contributed thousands of hours reviewing agency requests, visiting their facilities and making recommendations to help insure the needs of our community are met. The most critical issues are carefully considered in order to allocate the precious funds. Over one million dollars was allocated to 22 partner agencies for 39 programs in 2006. This is the backbone and integrity of the product we offer to our donors.
Additional information about allocations can be found in our annual report in the Quick Links section above.
Between 2001 and 2004, United Way of Greater Williamsburg underwent extensive internal and external self study. The organization wanted to make sure it was: addressing the needs of the Greater Williamsburg area, helping to build coalitions, learning the perceptions of the organization by the community, managing its mission and anticipating future challenges. Sallie Melvin, Chair of Plans and Programs oversaw this effort. Tools used to gather information included: focus groups, group forums, surveys and one on one interviews. Through analysis of the information gathered, we are already moving to address identified issues. The outcome of all this was an updated 5-year Strategic Plan for United Way of Greater Williamsburg. |
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