Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The United Way of Santa Cruz County is an independent non-profit organization that has operate for over 65 years. In efforts to meet the goals of our mission, United Way raises and invests over $1 million dollars a year from individual givers and corporations in our 33 Partner Programs and in other non-profits chosen by our donors. We work to build stronger communities by convening leaders throughout the county to seek solutions to problems.

We have a member volunteer Board of Trustees that meets every other month. In the months in-between, committees of the Board meet including: the executive committee, finance committee, agency relations committee, personal committee and resource development committee. We are audited annually by a CPA firm and always pass with flying colors.

Volunteers like yourselves from more than 30 local businesses and organizations. They complete agency site visits (both an annual programmatic review as well as a triennial administrative review) and recommend to our Board of Trustees their recommendations for funding allocations.

Our organization serves Santa Cruz County, which includes all of the areas and zip codes listed below:

*Aptos (95001, 95003)
*Ben Lomond (95005)
*Boulder Creek (95006)
*Brookdale (95007)
*Capitola (95010)
*Davenport (95017)
*Felton (95018)
*Freedom (95019)
*Mount Hermon (95041)
*Santa Cruz (95060, 95061, 95062, 95063, 95064, 95065)
*Scotts Valley (95066, 95067)
*Soquel (95073)
*Watsonville (95076, 95077)

United Way funding is only one of a variety of funding sources our partner programs have to utilize. Maintaining professional staff such as counselors, social workers, nurses, etc. costs money so fees are sometimes necessary. Our Partner Programs that do charge fees usually have a sliding fee scale so that your donations go toward helping those individuals who cannot pay the usual fee. Thus your gift helps make sure that no one has to go without services because of financial difficulties.

Our campaign season ends officially on March 31st. After all campaigns results are in countywide, the donor choice slips are processed through June 30th and the agencies are sent a letter to acknowledge the donor designations. This saves money, processing time and postage to mail the donor choice designations just once.

Our bylaws prohibit us from directly funding any religious organization. If you are referring to Catholic Charities or the Salvation Army, they both provide services to anyone needing help regardless of their religious affiliation.

The United Way of Santa Cruz County's Fund Distribution plan is based on a three year funding cycle. Every three years, our Agency Relations committee reviews our funding strategy and with the assistance of the Santa Cruz County Community Assessment Project (www.santacruzcountycap.org), they determine in what areas of the community they would like to focus our resources. At this point, organizations are both recruited as well as solicited through an RFP process for possible funding.

Our three goal areas are:
1. Our Youth will Succeed in School and in Life.
2. Our Families will be Financially Stable and Independent.
3. Our Residents will achieve Good Health.

We have selected our partner programs for this three year funding cycle (2009-2012), thus we are neither seeking nor accepting applications for funding at this time. Organizations however are encouraged to send a packet of information about their program(s) to our offices for review by our staff so that when appropriate we can refer persons to your agency.