Grant Process 2024–25

Community Fund Grant Process 2024–2025

United Way of Idaho Falls & Bonneville County is accepting Letters of Intent (LOI) from 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations beginning March 4, 2024 through noon on March 15, 2024.

Community Investment Fund Grants are awarded to organizations with programs that align with the goals of United Way of Idaho Falls & Bonneville County in the areas of health, education and financial stability. Grant recipients must provide annual outcomes and demonstrate measurable results as part of the grant process.

All Letters of Intent must have been submitted by noon on Friday, March 15, 2024

2024-25 Community Fund Guidelines

Program Eligibility Criteria

United Way has established certain criteria that agencies must meet before their Letter of Intent will be considered.

  • Be a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization as determined by the Internal Revenue Service.
  • As a condition of a program grant award, it will be expected that you attend monthly meetings with United Way of Idaho Falls & Bonneville County and other funded nonprofit partners.
  • Have as their primary mission the provision of health and/or human services.
  • Resources are directed towards programs that support families, individuals, seniors that fall within the A.L.I.C.E. (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) demographic.
  • Be under control of a local governing board which is organized and functioning to provide policy direction and fiscal management oversight.
  • Have the ability to demonstrate outcomes in the goals under the Impact areas of Health, Education and Financial Stability. 
  • Our funding priorities under the three pillars are:
    • Access to Healthcare (mental health & physical health)
    • Food Insecurity for children and seniors
    • Early Education
    • Affordable Housing and a Living Wage
  • Financial Attachments 
    • Be able to provide an independent financial audit of most recent fiscal year (if organization annual revenue is over $500,000) 
    • or an independent financial review of most recent fiscal year (if organization annual revenue is $1 to $499,000), 
    • Also, a copy of the most recent 990 filed with the IRS.
  • Provide services to residents of and have a physical service delivery location in eastern Idaho, including the counties of Bonneville, Clark, Fremont, Jefferson, Lemhi, Madison, and Teton.

Program Investment Guidelines

  • Minimum grant amount will be $5,000.
  • Grant awards are not made for capital projects.
  • Outcomes will be reviewed each year by the Community Solutions Panel Volunteers.  To ensure that investments are making an impact, a maximum grant amount for any newly applying agency/program is $15,000.  
  • UWIFBC grant awards should not exceed 20% of a program’s budget.

Letters of Intent (LOI forms) are reviewed by our Community Solutions Panel Chairs who determine which programs will be invited to apply for our annual grant process. Please see the annual grant process timeline below for more details.

Please submit grant questions to Carol Mercau at cmercau@unitedwayif.org or by calling (208) 522-2674.

Schedule of Events

DATE 2024 United Way of Idaho Falls & Bonneville County Grant Process Timeline
March 4 LOI available online for public.
March 15 LOI due by NOON. Community Solutions Panel Chair’s review and make recommendations for full grant application.
March 22 Invitations to apply sent to nonprofit organizations.
April 9 Community Solutions Panel Volunteer training via zoom. Volunteer/panel assignments sent to Panel Chairs. Six panels reviewing 4-6 grants applications.
April 12 Applications due from nonprofit organizations by NOON.
April 15-May 24 UWIFBC staff review and verify checklist of completed grant application. Completed grant applications will be sent Panel Chairs and volunteers for review, scoring, interviews. Follow up with additional interviews and possible site visits.
June TBD Community Solutions Panel Chairs meet to create funding recommendations for the June board meeting.
June 11 UW Board Meeting to approve 2024 grant funding.
June 18 Grant awards will be announced by email. Funding agreements sent for signature.
July Quarterly payout to nonprofit organizations awarded funding will begin. Quarterly payout through June 2025.

Community Solution Panel Volunteer Opportunity

Approximate time commitment–20 hours from April through June

Each year, grant applications are received from regional nonprofits seeking funding from UWIFBC'S Community Fund. This fund is from area employee donations through our Workplace Giving Campaigns. Community Solution Panel volunteers (CSPV) from our seven-county service region help the United Way Board of Directors direct the funding to nonprofit organizations that align with our impact areas of:

  • Food insecurity for children and seniors.
  • Access to mental health and health resources and services.
  • Affordable housing, living wage.
  • Early education, equity-based programs.

Duties Include:

  • Commit to 15–20 hours of time between April and June.
  • Review and score grant applications.
  • Understand and apply UWIFBC's mission and goals while making funding decisions.
  • Participate in CSPV training - one hour in April.
  • Participate and contribute to panel emails, discussions, and meetings.
  • Participate in nonprofit agency site visits and interviews.
  • Contribute to discussions and final funding recommendations.

Being part of the CSPV is a great opportunity to better understand the work that our 40 nonprofit community partners are making creating lasting changes for children, families and seniors in eastern Idaho.

If you are interested in being a volunteer for the 2024 grant season please reach out to Chris Wiersema cwiersema@unitedwayif.org.