United Way of Central New Mexico

Please see important dates at the bottom of this listing.

United Way of Central New Mexico (UWCNM) is seeking proposals for the delivery of education, health, financial stability, and basic needs programs aimed at helping the most vulnerable in Bernalillo, Sandoval, Torrance and Valencia counties. The UWCNM Community Fund Grants will support strategies that contribute to the accomplishment of the following:

• Educational programs that create communities where: 1) children are born healthy and develop on track; 2) children are prepared to enter the educational system; and 3) students progress successfully through elementary school; 4) students progress successfully through middle school; and 5) students graduate high school within five years ready for school, life, or work.
• Health programs that create communities where individuals and families: 1) receive affordable and equitable health services; 2) live in a safe environment; 3) exhibit healthy behaviors; and 4) live in a health-promoting environment.
• Financial stability programs that create communities where individuals and families: 1) have resources to support their needs; 2) have the skills, knowledge, and relationships they need to increase and manage their income; and 3) where vulnerable populations are safe, socially engaged, and live with dignity.

Basic Needs Grant: UWCNM intends to preserve funding for programs that provide short-term services to meet the immediate and urgent needs of individuals and families in central New Mexico. Basic Needs funding is reserved for programs that provide services that are:

• Reserved for the most vulnerable, including low/fixed income individuals and families, and those experiencing a temporary crisis
• Accessible with few barriers to those in need
• Output, rather than long-term outcome focused
• Able to report on at least one performance measure;
• Connected to one of the basic needs categories (see below)
• Designed to provide short-term, time-limited support
• The entirety of the program must support stand-alone basic needs services, that are not part of more comprehensive wrap-around services

Categories of services eligible for basic needs funding include: toiletries; transportation assistance; food bank services; hunger relief services (both pantry and prepared meal services); emergency and basic (rather than ongoing and comprehensive, healthcare, dental care, and prescriptions); emergency assistance programs that provide materials or financial assistance; short-term housing and/or shelter for those experiencing homelessness; emergency or short-term shelter for survivors of domestic violence; utility assistance; birth certificate and driver’s licenses/state ID cards programs.

Note: Programs that provide more comprehensive or long-term support services must apply for funding in alignment with one of the Community Fund Impact Areas of funding: Health, Education, or Financial Stability. Programs that provide services in the event of a community-wide emergency or natural disaster must apply for funding through the UWCNM Emergency Fund.

The UWCNM Community Impact Strategy Maps outline expected results, indicators, and strategies. Funding is available to support programs that align with one or two strategies on the Strategy Maps (see online manual for more information). Agencies applying for program support will be asked to demonstrate how their work, in conjunction with the broader network of support services, aligns with UWCNM’s Community Impact priority strategies. Applying agencies are asked to demonstrate how their program contributes to the accomplishment of one or more results. Applicants will benefit by having a practical understanding of Results-Based Accountability Framework (see online manual for more information), as well as the capacity to create and use performance measures to track progress and report client-level data on a regular basis to UWCNM.

Amount: Annual giving is $3,500,000 with grants ranging from $4,000-$300,000 and averaging $10,000-$50,000.

Applicants must:

• Request no more than 110% of the ideal recommendation of the Grant Review Panel that reviewed the request last year. This rule does not apply to new agencies, agencies that have never applied for UWCNM funds, agencies that did not receive a recommendation for funding last year, or returning agencies that are applying for funds for a new program.
• Secure as much financial support as possible from other sources, including fees for service, before seeking UWCNM assistance.
• Adhere to the UWCNM policy that the request is no greater than 50% of agency prior-year revenue, and ideally, less than 100% of the program budget.

Eligibility: Applicants should:

• Be certified by the IRS as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization
• Be in good standing with the Attorney General’s office and the New Mexico Secretary of State
• Demonstrate financial sustainability through UWCNM financial standards review
• Provide health and human service(s) in one or more of the four central New Mexico counties: Bernalillo, Sandoval, Torrance and Valencia
• Serve the vulnerable in the community in the form of a program that aligns with the UWCNM Community Impact Strategy Maps
• Adhere to UWCNM’s social action and non-discrimination policy
• Have a Board of Directors in compliance with agency by-laws

Link: https://www.uwcnm.org/how-we-help/supporting-nonprofits/community-fund/how-apply

• Interested organizations must express their intention to apply for this funding by emailing kat.bradley@uwcnm.org before November 15th. They will then be contacted with instructions for submitting Letters of Intent through eCimpact.
• UWCNM holds training sessions associated with the grant application process. Training sessions are currently scheduled for November 16 (financial standards review) and January 23 (program proposal review). Videos are also available online.
• The December 1 deadline is for financial review documentation. This documentation is required in order to be invited to apply for the full program application that will be due on February 21, 2018.

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