Senior Center, SAVE Receive United Way Funding

The United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties announced today its plans for investing a record $2.367 million to the community for the 2012 - 2013 fiscal year.

This amount includes $171,746.98 designated to non-partner agencies per donor wishes, as well as an allocable pool amount of $1,789,000 – the highest to date for the local United Way and a 10% increase from 2011.

For the second year, the local United Way also offered an opportunity for a one-time grant of up to $5,000 to agencies that align with United Way's mission and values. Through the grant opportunity, $36,500 was funded to ten programs.

Organizations in Cannon County that received allocations included the Cannon County Senior Citizens Center, which received $25,000. Cannon County SAVE received a grant for $5,000.

Some of the other organizations receiving grants or partner agency money which partner with Cannon County included the Child Advocacy Center, $39,000.00; Alive Hospice, $39,134.46; American Red Cross Heart of Tennessee Chapter, $135,000 and Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, $16,000.

United Way also accounted for $346,654.44 in internal program expenses in addition to $24,000 for 2-1-1 services, an information and referral services line.

“United Way strives to impact the community in the highest degree possible, and funding services is one component of that community impact model,” said Brian Hercules, President and CEO of the localUnited Way. “Our system of identifying issues, developing partnerships, implementing solutions and measuring and reporting outcomes allows us to produce long-term, sustainable results."

The allocable pool funding was invested amongUnited Way’s partner agencies by panels involving more than 80 volunteer business and community leaders. Each spring, partner agencies present their funding request to the appropriate allocations panel, which are aligned according toUnited Way's impact areas of education, income, health and rebuilding lives.

The allocations panels review agency programs and funding requests, visit the agencies at their facilities, and works to ensure a high standard of agency accountability throughout the process. 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 the proposed services. The panels forward their recommendations to United Way’s volunteer Board of Directors. The United Way Board of Directors reviews the recommendations and then approves the final allocation amount to each agency.

United Way also announced a 14% overhead budgeted for the 2012-2013 fiscal year. The organization's financial information may be located at www.uwrutherford.org.