The mission of the United Way of the Tri-Valley Area is to improve local people's lives by focusing the caring capacity of our communities.
The United Way cares about where we live and work. All of us want to give back to our community and make it safer and healthier for our families, our friends, and our neighbors. That's why we support the United Way of the Tri-Valley Area. It's how the community comes together to address local problems and opportunities.
By identifying the community's most pressing problems, supporting or developing programs that best address those problems, and measuring the program results, the United Way makes sure donor support makes a difference in the Tri-Valley Area.
The United Way knows that together we can do more than any one of us can achieve alone. If, in addition to helping others in our own special ways, every employed person in our Tri-Valley area contributed just $1.00 per week to our United Way Community Fund, we would create a resource of over $800,000 annually. This would enable our community to invest much more in new and expanded programs designed to solve community problems and take advantage of opportunities to improve the quality of life for all of us. That's the power of our community working together the United Way.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why give to the United Way?
The United Way is more than a single agency. Giving to the United Way makes it easy to give to multiple charities and/or charities of your choice -significantly improving the lives of community members. Payroll deductions make it easy; even 25 cents a day makes a huge difference in someone's quality of life.
I don't live in this area, but I work here. Can I donate to my hometown?
Yes! We have a "give where you live" philosophy, you can give at your workplace and designate to the United Way where you live.
How much money goes to administration?
The United Way of the Tri-Valley Area pays only one percent of annual Campaign fundraising dollars raised to United Way Worldwide, our parent organization. Our local overhead rate of 11.7% is inline with the nonprofit sector average.
I get lots of requests for my charitable donation, why choose United Way?
There are lots of worthy organizations one can contribute to. You can give to any charity organization through United Way. Giving through the United Way makes it easy with a little each paycheck. Funding from United Way allows agencies to focus more on programs and less on their own fund-raising. In fact, some people do all their charitable giving through United Way using donor designations.
What is the Community Fund?
By far the largest portion of campaign dollars are contributed to the Community Fund. The Community Fund is made up community contributions that are not designated to a specific organization. Organizations who apply for funding through a rigorous process, are allocated money through the Community Fund. Each year, community volunteers determine how allocations are divided among eligible applicant organizations. This volunteer driven process ensures that your donations are invested wisely.
I prefer to give to an agency of my choice, can I still do this with United Way?
You can still do that through United Way. Donors always have the right to say where their donation will or will not go.
With agencies doing a great deal of their own fund-raising, why do they need United Way?
Without United Way funding, many agencies would have to increase their individual efforts to raise funds. UWTVA funding helps agencies spend more time providing services.