United Way Announces Allocations to Local Non-Profit Agencies

The United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties announced today its plans for distributing more than $1.5 million to local non-profit agencies for the 2010 – 2011 fiscal year.

The funding, which was secured from pledges and donations to the local United Way, was allocated to the various agencies by panels involving more than 80 volunteers. United Way was able to fund 74% of the requests from 44 partner agencies, who requested a combined $2,131,620 in funding.

Cannon County agencies receiving funding and the amount are: Cannon County REACH Program, $18,400; Cannon County Senior Citizens Center, $13,900 and Cannon County 4H Club - UT Extension, $1,920.

“We are pleased to announce that 83.5 cents of every dollar donated to your United Way is invested back into the community through local agencies and programs,” said Brian Hercules, President and CEO of United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties. “United Way is able to advocate and raise these funds for the agencies so that they may focus on providing direct services to our community.”

The allocations process ensures a high degree of community impact through agency accountability standards. Each United Way partner agency determines its overall annual operating and program budget and calculates funds it will receive from other sources, such as grants and fees. Before reviewing these budgets, the United Way allocations panel volunteers visit the agencies. Each panel is responsible for monitoring several agencies.

Each spring, every partner agency presents its funding request to the appropriate allocations panel. The allocations panels review agency programs and funding requests. They consider how well the agency is managed, how justified its proposed budget is and the extent to which its services meet high priority community needs. The allocation panels determine what amount each agency will receive from United Way to deliver proposed services. The panels forward their recommendations to the United Way Board of Directors. If the United Way Board of Directors has no reservations, it approves the recommendations presented by the allocation panels.

“I would like to recognize the wonderful efforts of our team of over 80 community volunteers, who represent a broad spectrum of the donors of Rutherford and Cannon Counties, for their efforts in working with our partner agencies and making these decisions for allocating our community’s generous donations to fit our community’s needs,” said John McLaughlin, Community Impact Chair for the local United Way. “We are looking forward to a successful campaign this year so that we can fulfill an even greater proportion of the needs that we all see for enhancing our children’s education and the basic human needs in our community.”