United Way Adopts New Grant Model for Cape and Islands

BARNSTABLE – The Cape and Islands United Way will focus its grant funding on long-term solutions to the region’s most pressing issues.

The organization’s new Community Impact Council, which is made up of regional experts who will identify and prioritize strategies to help achieve sustainable solutions, has developed a new Results Framework for awarding funding for projects in the areas of health, education, financial stability and housing.

“We’re very focused on long-term strategies for really addressing some of the most pressing challenges that we have in the community,” said Barbara Milligan, the CEO of Cape and Islands United Way. “We’re not just funding organizations at random, but we’re really targeting our strategies based on our identified needs across the Cape.”

A new step in the grant process for the 2017-2018 grant period will require nonprofits to submit a two-page letter of intent outlining projects that align with the Results Framework.

“We hope it will make it easier for our nonprofit partners not to have to write a big grant proposal that isn’t funded,” Milligan said.

The deadline for letters of intent is October 17.

Organizations that fall within the framework will then be asked to submit full proposals.

“It saves them a little work and also saves us a little work and hopefully will help us accomplish some big things here on the Cape and Islands,” Milligan said.

Milligan said change isn’t always accepted by everyone but she thinks most organizations are enthused with what the United Way is trying to do.

Two Informational sessions for local nonprofit leaders interested in applying for grant funding will be held next week. The first will be Monday, September 26 at 10 a.m. at the Mashpee Public Library. The second will be held in Yarmouth on Wednesday, September 28 at 10 a.m. at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod.

To RSVP or for more information contact Beth Bowman by phone at 508-775-4746 or by emailing [email protected].

The Cape and Islands United Way is the region’s leading social impact organization that aims to improve lives and strengthen communities on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.