• United Way of the Bluegrass is a local nonprofit organization working to advance the common good by focusing on education, income and health. These are the building blocks for a good life – a quality education that leads to a stable job, enough income to support a family through retirement and good health.

• United Way exists for one reason: to help us come together as a community to identify and address the issues that take all of us working together to solve. Issues like making sure children enter school ready to learn and that all people have access to primary health care, cross lines of race, gender, geography, faith and economic status and can only be addressed with a collective community focus and action.
• In our community, United Way is a leading organization that, with the help of countless volunteers and community leaders, identifies the most pressing issues in our community, identifies solutions to the root-causes of these issues, and brings together the resources to make this change.
• United Way has a far reach in bringing together various stakeholders and problem solvers.
  

What does it mean to LIVE UNITED?

• United Way unites people from throughout the community to work together to identify and address the issues that matter most, change conditions and improve lives.
• It takes everyone in the community working together to create a brighter future.
• Together, we can accomplish more that any single group can on its own.
• Give - Invest in your community.
• Advocate - Champion the cause.
• Volunteer - Give your time.
• Living united means being part of the change.
  

What else United Way do besides fund nonprofit organizations?

• We assess community needs to mobilize efforts to address issues in education, income and health. We invest resources in the community through partnering with nonprofit organizations throughout our nine-county service area to build holistic solutions to solve complex and long-term issues. We work to strengthen everyday systems for those who need help today while also looking down the road to the future so fewer people will need help tomorrow.

How do people get help from United Way?

• United Way supports more than 140 programs throughout Central Kentucky that help people every day. To help connect people with the help they need, United Way operates United Way 2-1-1, which makes free, confidential referrals to organizations that can help with counseling, job training, emergency assistance and other needs.

How do the troubles at other United Ways and other nonprofits affect our United Way?

• They do not. Each one of the 1,100 United Ways in the country is autonomous and managed by local volunteers. In Central Kentucky, hundreds of volunteer leaders from all walks of life are involved in and oversee every detail of United Way operations, from fundraising to investments to financial management.

Does United Way of the Bluegrass have a formal financial audit procedure?

• United Way of the Bluegrass has detailed and rigorous internal controls with regard to our spending and expenses. These internal controls are monitored by the organization’s finance and audit committees on a regular basis. Our board continually monitors all aspects of our governance process. Additionally, we regularly conduct third-party external audits and adhere to strict fiscal and governance controls.

Giving to United Way of the Bluegrass
Where does my contribution go?

• The Community Impact Fund is the most effective way to invest in innovative programs and proven strategies with a single contribution and provides investment in education, income and health priorities. Education, income and health are the building blocks for a good life – a quality education that leads to a stable job, enough income to support a family through retirement and good health.
• United Way combines your contribution with others to invest in dynamic approaches and proven programs and initiatives to create lasting change in Central Kentucky. United Way’s direct knowledge of community needs, its ability to identify the most effective agency and community partners along with its regional, volunteer decision-makers ensure that your investment will make a real and lasting difference.
  

Why choose the United Way Community Impact Fund?

• Understanding that no one service provider, initiative, or partnership can address the complex issues, opportunities and needs that face Central Kentuckians, United Way of the Bluegrass invests the Community Impact Fund in support of a broad array of efforts addressing our agenda in Education, Income and Health.
• The process of investing in the Community Impact Fund includes careful review by dedicated volunteers from every county in our region. Last year alone, 61 community volunteers donated 875 hours of in person time and countless hours on their own reviewing proposals from our Member Agencies. United Way volunteers carefully invest and then monitor the impact of those investments to make the most positive impact possible with the dollars raised.
• Community Impact Fund contributions support programs and efforts that serve Central Kentuckians in the nine-counties serve. United Way of the Bluegrass is an independent, locally-governed nonprofit organization.
• It is the only giving option that allows you to join with tens of thousands of others to focus our resources where we can have the greatest impact.
  

How can you expect me to give when the economy is so unstable?

• When the economy is distressed, even more people need help. Your gift is even more critical in challenging times. As you consider the choices available to you and your family, we hope you will remember how much your contribution to United Way of the Bluegrass provides help for everyone in our community. Help that improves education, income and health. No single shelter, meal program, or child care center can solve the challenges we face. But each one of us can do something to change our world.
• United Way is inviting all of us to give our full attention to the basic pillars that support and sustain the quality of life in every community: education, income and health. Our actions today determine the reality for tomorrow. A tomorrow that will come regardless of the economy’s condition. The decision to give may have been easier in years past, but it has never been clearer.
  

What percentage of my contribution goes toward administrative and fundraising expenses?

• United Way takes the business of investing and managing your gift very seriously. Roughly 16 percent of funds are used to cover administrative and fundraising expenses, far less than the 35 percent that charity monitoring organizations recommend. (See the Better Business Bureau’s website for more at www.bbb.org/us/charity.)

Running Workplace Campaigns    
Why has my company selected United Way as its philanthropic partner?

• United Way is focused on education, income and health – the building blocks for a good life: a quality education that leads to a stable job, enough income to support a family through retirement, and good health.
• United Way and its partners, donors and volunteers want to create long-lasting changes in our community that prevent problems from happening in the first place.
• United Way is a local, community-based nonprofit organization with a strong tradition as a catalyst, convener, fundraiser and change agent.
  

Why does my company run a United Way campaign?

• United Way uses economies of scale to raise funds very efficiently. United Way’s Community Impact Fund supports a broad range of programs, partnerships and special initiatives to improve lives and respond to community needs by focusing on the basic things we all need for a good life: education, income and health.

Why does my company ask me to make a charitable donation?

• As a United Way of the Bluegrass partner, your company has a deep commitment to its community and believes that real change can happen if the community comes together to focus on the most pressing problems.
• An integral part of that commitment to community is involving employees in its efforts.
• United Way understands everyone has something to offer and encourages all Central Kentuckians to come together – every resident, every family, every corporation, every charity and every nonprofit organization – to change lives and conditions in the Bluegrass.
  

Our employees and their families are struggling. How can we ask them to give?

• Time and again, some of the most generous givers are those who themselves have struggled and needed a helping hand from our community. Everyone should be given an opportunity to express caring through charitable giving, to enjoy the emotional reward that comes from knowing her or she has helped our community become safer and stronger. And when you reach out a hand to one, you influence the condition of all.
  

United Way Member Agencies and Community Partners
How does an organization apply to receive funding from United Way?

• United Way invites applications from organizations that can demonstrate measurable results in addressing issues our community has identified as most important in the areas of education, income and health. Agencies seeking more information can contact Jon Parker, Vice President, Community Building, at jon.parker@uwbg.org.
• United Way also supports nonprofits by providing technical assistance, matching and training volunteers, connecting those seeking help with available resources through 2-1-1 and much more.
  

Does our United Way support the Boy Scouts?

• Each of the 1,100 local and autonomous United Ways decides for itself whether to support each program, and nonprofit organization, based on community needs. This year, United Way of the Bluegrass volunteer leaders have chosen to continue investing in Boy Scout programs. These volunteers, from all walks of life, grapple with difficult decisions about where best to invest contributions each year. They believe that thousands of local boys—including hard-to-reach, low-income, at-risk youth—greatly benefit from Scouting's proven record of safe, structured after-school programs.

Do any United Way grantees perform abortions?

• No. Abortion is not funded through United Way of the Bluegrass.

Learn More
Tell me more about United Way.

• United Way is advancing the common good – creating opportunities for all by focusing on education, income and health. These are the building blocks for a good life—a quality education that leads to a stable job, enough income to support a family through retirement, and good health. Our goal is to create lasting changes that prevent problems before they happen.
• United Way of the Bluegrass works with a diverse partner network to continually evaluate social need and measure results of current impact programs.
• We all win when a child succeeds in school, when families are financial stability and when people have good health.
• United Way 2-1-1 is an easy-to-remember three digit phone number which provides access to information about local programs and services to meet the needs of individuals and families in the Bluegrass.
• United Way Success By 6 ensures that young children are born healthy, remain healthy, are nurtured and ready to successfully enter school by age six.
• Ask your staff liaison for United Way success stories and other items to share with your fellow employees.