With the non-profit landscape changing in recent years, each autonomous United Way is taking a custom approach to providing community services. New studies show that donors are diversifying and altering their giving preferences. Donors increasingly see themselves as investors and are becoming more interested in how their donation will impact the lives in their community. United Way of Santa Rosa (UWSR) continues to carefully observe the landscape; adjusting and implementing changes accordingly. The new grants and major gifts department was created at UWSR based on the annual need to recruit new investors, coupled with the fact that donors today want to be on the forefront of solutions to existing community problems.
Kyle Holley, grants and major gifts manager at UWSR, heads the new department. Holley is the organization’s former development director. “I have been concerned about vulnerability in our area for a long time and was looking for a position where I could access real data. I am thankful to work at UWSR, where I have data available to learn more about our community and how we can better serve it,” Holley said. Holley constantly keeps his other eye on the horizon, searching for opportunities to procure out-of-town funding, and remains focused on those goals.
Holley works to remove barriers, ensuring requirements are met for UWSR to administer federal and state funds, and maintain the credentials needed to handle federal dollars in the county. The first federal grant received by UWSR was an Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) in 2012, which provided emergency shelter for first-time homeless families in Santa Rosa. Currently, the department is working on submitting the application to receive funding for what will be the third allocation for the ESG.
“My dream for UWSR is to become a stronger advocate for our community. Grants and major gifts can help us provide extensive planning assistance based on data we collect by our team through the First Call for Help hotline. The data helps create problem-solving strategies for vulnerable populations not currently being served,” Holley said. Aside from obtaining federal funds for the community, he also lead the effort to procure disaster funds for the county, as well as compiling a detailed resource guide for the organization.
Through donations, UWSR helps contribute base funding to its agencies. The lack of local match dollars is a barrier for growth in the community. In order for UWSR and other agencies to procure outside funding, each agency must be able to match requested dollars. Many outside finances never make it to Santa Rosa due to the local agency not being able to make the match. Holley has a five year goal to create a $250,000 in-house fund to leverage local match dollars for UWSR agencies. In order to achieve these goals, he is working to reach out to larger donors, create a community development advisory team to guide where the money is spent, much in the same way UWSR’s funds distribution team functions. This would yield a larger result, enhance community impact, and sustain even more lives.
“We are currently inviting donors who wish to become involved with United Way’s grants and major gifts department. Together, we can work to raise a $6,000 contribution that would help us receive $51,000 in ESG money to help serve first-time, employed homeless in our community,” said Holley.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Grants and Major Gifts impact lives