The United Way of Greater Kansas City is seeking proposals from area nonprofit organizations that are part the community’s health and human service ecosystem for inclusion in the 2024 United Way Impact 100, a network of high-impact health and human service providers supported by United Way of Greater Kansas City.
Donor Name: United Way of Greater Kansas City
State: Kansas, Missouri
County: Cass County (MO), Clay County (MO), Jackson County (MO), Johnson County (KS), Platte County (MO), Wyandotte County (KS)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 11/15/2023
Size of the Grant: Not Available
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
United Way utilizes principles of trust-based philanthropy in its grantmaking, including unrestricted funding in recognition that organizational leaders understand how to best use resources to achieve their mission, low barriers to application, including a 3-page proposal narrative, no budget forms and minimal post-grant reporting, and a broad-based focus that supports many types of programs and organizations within United Way’s health and human service mission.
Organizations selected for the Impact 100 receive a one-year, unrestricted grant in support of the organization’s mission. In addition, grantee organizations become part of United Way’s network, gaining exposure to United Way’s community of donors and corporate partners. In weighing whether to apply for this opportunity, organizations should consider their alignment with areas of investment across the three pillars of Health, Education and Financial Stability, as described in United Way’s Community Needs Index as well as selection criteria and related goals established by United Way to ensure the greatest impact across the region, described later in this document.
United Way Impact 100 Investment Areas
United Way of Greater Kansas City invests in a wide range of health and human services that together comprise community’s social service safety net. This includes a range of service delivery modalities including direct services, systems-level interventions, and policy advocacy. They also make investments in the continuum of services from crisis response and intervention to prevention and developmental approaches. However, United Way does not fund everything in the nonprofit ecosystem.
United Way Program Categories
- Access to Healthcare and Supportive Services
- Aging and Senior Support Services
- Behavioral Health and Substance Abuse Intervention & Treatment
- Child Welfare
- Community and Family Violence Prevention and Intervention
- Early Childhood Education and Development
- Financial Stability and Employment
- Food and Nutrition Security
- Housing Security
- Services for Individuals with Disabilities
- Supports for People with Involvement in the Justice System
- Youth Development, K-12 Academic Supports and Postsecondary Pathways
Eligibility Criteria
United Way will assess individual applicant organizations based on the following selection criteria. Organizations selected for inclusion in the United Way Impact 100 will have:
- A track record of effective service to the community within the health and human service system in the six-county metro area (Cass, Clay, Jackson and Platte Counties in Missouri; Johnson and Wyandotte County in Kansas).
- A mission aligned with United Way’s established pillars of investment in the community—Health, Education and Financial Stability. (Organizations should demonstrate alignment with one or more of the focus areas under Health, Education and Financial Stability.)
- A demonstrated understanding of the community needs and underlying conditions that the organization’s programming is intended to address, as well as the unique factors affecting the specific target population served by the organization
- Program design that effectively supports participant outcomes, including service delivery strategies rooted in evidence-based or promising approaches, well-qualified staff responsible for delivery services, a system for collecting outcomes data, and evidence of successes in the achievement of those outcomes.
- A track record of operating with a high degree of organizational accountability and transparency with respect to governance, fiscal sustainability, financial reporting, and adherence to external standards of accountability. This includes, but is not limited to, government reporting for nonprofits or adherence to standards set by third parties, if applicable, such as governmental funding entities, certifying or accrediting bodies, national affiliates, etc.
- A demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion, as demonstrated by services that are accessible by a population that is racially and ethnically diverse, that may face barriers due to disability, age, differences in culture or language, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation; or that otherwise may face barriers to access because of economic status. United Way recognizes that not all programs serve a similarly diverse target population However, all organizations can and should consider how their services are relevant, accessible to, and inclusive of an increasingly diverse community.
- A clearly defined, credible and effective role with the human service ecosystem of which it is a part. United Way is seeking to invest in organizations that have successfully found a place in the human service subsectors of which they are a part that enables them to cooperate with other stakeholders in supporting other stakeholders, through referral relationships, collaborative service delivery, and effective operation of the larger system of which the organization is part.
Overall Portfolio Criteria
In addition to the above criteria for assessing individual applicants, United Way’s selection of Impact 100 grantees will also be guided by the following goals in ensuring a broad-based and inclusive portfolio of grantees that, together, improve the quality of life for all people across the region.
- United Way strives to invest in a wide variety of strategies and approaches to improving community conditions, including programming that responds to immediate critical needs and preventative strategies, as well as both direct-service programming and systems-level approaches.
- United Way is committed to investing in a wide range of health and human service domains, addressing community needs across the three pillars of Health, Education and Financial Stability. (More detail is provided in United Way’s Community Needs Index.)
- United Way will invest in all areas of the Kansas City region, including communities within the sixcounty metropolitan area—Cass, Clay, Jackson and Platte Counties in Missouri, and Johnson and Wyandotte Counties in Kansas.
- United Way supports a wide range of organizations, in terms of scope and scale—including multicounty organizations and those with a narrow geographic focus; those with large budgets, as well as small- and medium-sized budgets; and those that provide a single service as well as those with a multi-faceted set of services.
- United Way is committed to maximizing the impact of its investments. This means reaching as many lives as possible through those investments. They also consider the depth of impact and recognize that some organizations serve a small number of people, but make a deep and lasting impact. We strive to strike a balance between these considerations when selecting Impact 100 grantees.
For more information, visit United Way of Greater Kansas City.
