A New Approach to Community Investment
For more than 12 years, United Way of Johnson & Washington Counties used essentially the same approach to community investment and partnership. This year, we took a step back and asked an important question: Is the way we invest in our community keeping pace with what our community needs?
The answer was clear: It’s time to evolve.
Our Stronger Together Community Needs Assessment and Community Roadmap provided the foundation for that change. Over nine months, we listened to community members, reviewed data, engaged nonprofit partners and examined the issues that impact people’s ability to thrive across Johnson and Washington Counties.
More Stability. More Flexibility. Greater Impact.
Our new community investment model is designed to provide both stability for our nonprofit partners and flexibility to respond to changing community needs.
United Way will continue making two-year Community Investments in our Funded Partners. These unrestricted investments give organizations the flexibility to direct resources where they are needed most while providing a dependable foundation for their work.
At the same time, we are introducing Stronger Together Impact Grants—a new funding opportunity that allows us to respond to emerging needs, promising ideas, collaboration opportunities, and targeted initiatives aligned with our Community Roadmap.
Community Investment gives our partners stability. Stronger Together Impact Grants provide flexibility. Together, they allow us to be more responsive and strategic with the resources our donors entrust to us.
Details about the first Stronger Together Impact Grant opportunity will be announced in the coming months.
A New Approach to Partnership
We also updated how organizations partner with United Way. For the first time in more than 12 years, we opened our partnership application process to the broader community. We received 42 applications and brought together a 12-member United Way Partnership Council to review them.
The Council brought diverse community perspectives to the process and considered each organization’s:
- Alignment with the Stronger Together Community Roadmap
- Community impact
- Organizational capacity
- Governance and accountability
- Collaboration
- Alignment with United Way's mission and priorities
Council members carefully reviewed applications, discussed them collectively, and made recommendations about partnership designation. This was not a quick review or a rubber stamp. It was a thoughtful community process designed to bring multiple perspectives to decisions about how United Way can best advance the priorities our community identified.
We are incredibly grateful to the Council members for the time, care, and responsibility they brought to this work.
Welcoming Our New Partners
Under our new model, United Way is welcoming 20 Funded Partners and 18 Recognized Strategic Community Partners.
Our Funded Partners
Funded Partners are eligible for United Way's two-year Community Investment process:
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Big Brothers Big Sisters of Johnson County
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CommUnity Crisis Services
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Coralville Community Food Pantry
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Domestic Violence Intervention Program
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Free Lunch Program
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HACAP
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Healthy Kids School-Based Clinics
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Horizons
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Houses into Homes
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Inside Out Reentry Community
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Iowa City Free Medical Clinic/Parrott-Stiles Free Dental Clinic
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Iowa Legal Aid
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Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity
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North Liberty Community Pantry
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Shelter House
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Table to Table
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The Arc of Southeast Iowa
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The Housing Fellowship
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The Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County
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United Action for Youth
Our Recognized Strategic Community Partners
Recognized Strategic Community Partners remain part of the United Way network and are eligible for targeted funding opportunities:
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4 Cs Community Coordinated Child Care
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Abbe Center for Community Mental Health
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Aging Services, Inc.
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Boys & Girls Clubs of the Corridor
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ChildServe
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Community and Family Resources
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Foundation for the Iowa City Community School District
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Geriatric & Special Needs Dental Program
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Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois
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Goodwill of the Heartland
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Immigration Welcome Network of Johnson County
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Iowa City Hospice
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Iowa Valley RC&D
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Johnson County Visiting Nurse Association
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National Alliance on Mental Illness of Johnson County
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Our Kids DBA Open Heartland
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The Dream Center
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The Salvation Army of Johnson County
A Stronger Network for Our Community
Partnership with United Way is about more than funding. It is about building a stronger network of organizations that are committed to making a difference, working together and advancing the priorities identified by our community.
Our new partnership model allows us to recognize and connect with organizations doing important work across Johnson and Washington Counties—whether they receive direct United Way funding or contribute to the broader network as a Recognized Strategic Community Partner.
What This Means for You
At the heart of these changes is a simple commitment: to be thoughtful stewards of the investment our community makes through United Way.
When you give to United Way, you trust us to put those resources to work where they can make a meaningful difference. That means listening to our community, following the data, supporting organizations doing important work today and remaining flexible enough to respond to emerging needs tomorrow.
The Stronger Together Community Roadmap identifies four key areas where we can make an impact: Youth Opportunity, Community Health, Financial Security and Community Resilience.
Our new partnership and funding model is designed to help move those priorities from a roadmap into action.
"The goal isn't simply to change a funding process; it's to make sure the resources entrusted to United Way are connected to the needs our community has identified and that we have the flexibility to adapt as those needs change."
“Every dollar entrusted to United Way represents someone's belief that we can make a difference. Our responsibility is to use those dollars thoughtfully, strategically and in a way that reflects what our community needs. That's what Stronger Together means to us.”
— Jennifer Banta, President & CEO
Your investment gives us the ability to provide stability today—and the flexibility to build a stronger tomorrow.
Thank you for trusting United Way with your generosity and for being part of this work.
United is the Way.