United Way of Carolinas 2009 funding distributions

From the United Way of Central Carolinas, a PDF of 2009 funding distribution to member agencies and programs in Anson, Cabarrus, Mecklenburg and Union counties, plus the Lake Norman-Mooresville area.

The 56-page documents includes money requested by each agency/program, money allocated by the United Way, and how much each agency gained or lost (percentage and in dollars) from 2008.

Read the full document (.pdf)

United Way - what's happening now and later

(Updated, 9:11 a.m.) At first, there was anger - non-profits upset at local United Way mismanagement, knowing that charities would likely feel the brunt of inevitable giver outrage.

Now there's anxiety - e-mails and phones calls between agencies in the past week, speculating about the bad news that's finally here, as the United Way of Central Carolinas announces it funding cuts today. (The announcement is expected at 1 p.m.)

"I think now it's kind of 'Let's just kind of know for sure, and that way we can take some action,' " says Carson Dean, executive director of Uptown Men's Shelter.

The United Way's regional board of directors is meeting Uptown this morning to discuss and vote on funding recommendations made by 234 volunteer members of the Citizens Review Process, who evaluated agency requests for a budget year that begins next week.

Agencies have known for months that the United Way would cut funding to its 91 agencies by around 40 percent. The United Way's 2008 campaign, hurt by controversy over former CEO Gloria Pace King's pay, fell $15 million short of the previous year.

"There are some people who are worried they might have to close their doors," Dean says.

United Way officials will contact agencies today to let them know if funding was cut - and how pain much those non-profits will feel. We'll bring you those decisions in detail, with explanations from United Way officials and reactions from the non-profit leaders as they get a clearer of view of their, and Charlotte's, needs.

UPDATE, 9:11 A.M.: the Observer's Mark Price reports from the United Way meeting that the Board has approved a policy tightening executive travel and reimbursement guidelines, part of the firestorm surrounding the former CEO.

Also, Susan Faulkner, co-chair of the CEO search committee, told the board that 275 candidates expressed interest in the job. The committee will narrow that to about 50 this week, then down to a top two or four on July 16 and 17. Those candidates will be presented to the board.

Faulkner also said two type of candidates are emerging - national candidates with a non-profit background and local candidates with both non-profit and for-profit backgrounds.

Which type of candidate do you think United Way needs? Is a Charlotte connection critical, given the turmoil that the local United Way has endured?

From our media partners:

David Boraks of Davidsonnews.net writes that North Mecklenburg got mixed news with Arts & Science Council funding. Some groups lost more than expected, while others were pleasantly surprised to get any money at all.

WCNC is reporting that senior centers need funding help.

Youth Homes Inc. - death greatly exaggerated

The Observer's Eric Frazier, who has been covering Mecklenburg's non-profits crisis, writes that tension is escalating among local agencies today as the United Way board of directors prepares to break the bad budget news tomorrow to scores of local charities that depend on them for financial support.

Writes Eric:

The impending decision has stoked such anxiety among nonprofits that Youth Homes Inc., which provides support services for fragile families, found itself fending off budget rumors that didn't even involve the United Way. The misunderstanding came after an Observer story on Sunday mentioned that state budget cuts have claimed one of the agency's many family preservation programs.

Frank Crawford, director of Youth Homes Inc., stressed that just one of those programs failed to get state money for next budget year. He fielded calls over the weekend from anxious staffers and other supporters who mistakenly thought that all of the agency's family preservation programs had been eliminated.

"We are losing one program within a broader array of programs," he wrote in an e-mail. "Some 50 other families will be served next year in the other family preservation programs that Youth Homes offers."