CAPE GIRARDEAU — United Way of Southeast Missouri announces the official opening of their grant application on January 10th for agencies and programs that desire to join the United Way network of partners. Applications for the organization’s 2022-2025 funding cycle will be accepted until February 4th at 4 pm (CST).
To receive a link to the online application, interested parties must first complete a preliminary Grant Application Request Form, which can be found at www.unitedwayofsemo.org. This preliminary form ensures applicants meet basic criteria that include serving the geographic footprint of United Way of Southeast Missouri and at least one of the organization’s key focus areas.
Each United Way is assigned a specific region. United Way of Southeast Missouri (UWSEMO) serves the counties of Cape Girardeau, Bollinger, Perry, and northern Scott. UWSEMO currently invests in nearly thirty partner agencies and forty programs that support the three areas determined by United Way Worldwide to have the greatest impact on success in life: education, income stability, and health. While UWSEMO will continue to help meet urgent needs, such as food and rent, the organization is especially interested in initiatives that help move families and individuals away from need to self-sufficiency.
To help identify current needs in each county it serves, UWSEMO recently conducted a series of six Community Conversations throughout the region, offered a Community Survey online and in print, and gathered information at a recent meeting of network partners. The data revealed were similar to community needs identified in this process prior to the 2019-2022 funding cycle: affordable housing, reliable transportation, improved access to preventive and primary healthcare, and a greater emphasis on mental healthcare. Improved education about available resources was a need identified this year that was not in 2019.
Those seeking and receiving funding must participate in a rigorous vetting process spearheaded by a panel of area volunteers comprising the Community Investment Committee (CIC) and board of directors. CIC members and other community volunteers review and score every application for funding three times based on an approved rubric. Applications that meet the required score advance to the next level, which is a site visit or panel presentation for programs and organizations that do not have a location to visit.
Once the application and site visit scores are averaged, the CIC members devote many hours to determining the next group of partners and programs that UWSEMO will invest in and the percentage of revenue each will receive. Every United Way funded partner is required to return annual Outcomes, participate in partner meetings, share organizational information, and promote their membership in the UWSEMO network.
Due to a large number of applicants with every funding cycle, the triple scoring of each application, the site visits and panel presentations, and the lengthy discussions among CIC members, the entire process takes several months. All applicants will be notified May 31 through June 9, following UWSEMO’s Over The Edge fundraiser on May 20. New partners will be announced to the public on June 10. Individuals interested in volunteering to review and score online applications should visit UWSEMO’s volunteer page at www.unitedwayofsemo.org/volunteer.