County United Way Grants Workshop Tomorrow

Friday, Sept. 23 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Orcas Public Library

United Way of San Juan County is currently revising its grants process, to assure improved reporting and streamlined grant applications. The process will require applicants to attend one of three seminars to be held this fall regarding United Way SJC  grant applications.

A workshop for current and prospective grant applicantss will be held on Orcas Island on  Friday, September 23 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Orcas Public Library. A final workshop will be held Thursday, September 29 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the American Legion post in Friday Harbor.

These workshops are not on general grant-writing techniques, but on how to fill out United Way SJC’s  specific grant.

Topics covered will include filling out the grant application, how and when to fulfill the minimum requirements throughout the year, specific guidance on periodic reporting, and changes to the reporting and application process effective next year.

“This information is vital for programs to be aware of, to get the maximum funding and avoid penalties for non-compliance,” according to the United Way SJC website.

“It’s important that everybody knows what’s going with the United Way SJC grant process,” says United Way SJC Board President Dr. Carol Vincent-Hall. The seminars are geared to explain the process of application, review, recommendations, awards and reporting. They will also present budget reporting advice, including the requirement for a balanced budget for grant follow-through.

“The grants are — and should be — open to public scrutiny,” says Vincent-Hall. “They are public moneys that United Way has been given to disburse. The more you know about a program, the better you feel about supporting it.”

New in the process this year will be an end-of-year grant report that includes measurements of the number of people helped by the grant funding, their ages, sex, ethnicity and sexual orientation.  Grantees will also be asked if the agency intends to reapply for a grant from United Way SJC.

If the answer is yes,  the agency will be asked to supply a new budget and information regarding board and/or organizational changes.

If the answer is no, the grantee will be asked for their rationale: did the program end? was another granting source found? etc.

If an grantee intends to continue a program,”It does not make sense for the organization to write the same grant application year after year. This is why we are trying to simplify the re-application process for agencies,” says Vincent-Hall.

United Way SJC’s mission  is “to enhance the ability of local agencies to meet vital needs of our community.

“The dollars that United Way provides to our 22 partner agencies is an investment in the human assets of our community. We invest exclusively in local programs after evaluating the overall picture of our community’s needs.”

Vincent- Hall says that, like most non-profits, United Way SJC has experienced a downturn in donations even as programs funded by United Way become more needed and associated costs rise.  In 2009, the local agency was able to distribute $115,000 in grant funds. Last year, the grant awards distributed came to $68, 237, of which $58,100 was allocated from the General Fund and $10,137 came from funds designated by donors.  (Funding requests had exceeded $142,000.)

Orcas Island non-profit organizations that received funds were:

• Orcas Family Connections – Family Support Resource & Referral Program ($2,942)
• Orcas Family Health Center – Well Child Clinics ($2,642)
• Orcas Island Elementary Schools – PIP ($4,142)
• Orcas Island Prevention Partnership($1,142)
• Orcas Island Prevention Partnership – On Applebee Pond Program ($742)
• Orcas Island Senior Center – Hearts and Hands ($1,642)
• Orcas Montessori School ($1,842)

The local organization pays for the license to use the name, “United Way,”  but has its own by-laws and articles of incorporation.  More than 98 percent of funds raised on the islands is spent locally. United Way SJC’s  2011 operating budget is $39,000 which includes mandatory insurance and audit expenses, and wages for part-time office staffer Elli Gull.

The decline in donations will probably continue into the future, says Vincent-Hall. Regardless, the grant process will begin with applications in the fall, due just before Thanksgiving. “Late applications will cost the applying organization,” she says. Applications will be distributed to the Allocations Committee on December 2.

The United Way SJC Board approves the Allocation Committee’s recommendations in January 2012, and then will send out award letters and contract agreements. Grant checks will be sent out upon receipt of the signed contract agreements.

United Way SJC is looking for interested parties from all the islands, especially Lopez Island.  United Way SJC is now on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn as:

• Twitter@SjcUnited Way
• Face Book  — https:www.facebook.com/pages/United-Way-of-San-Juan-County106284826070778
• LinkedIn  — United Way of San Juan County

United Way San Juan County maintains its website at https://www.unitedway-sanjuancounty.org/ .