System Support

United Way of North Carolina

United Way of North Carolina (UWNC) is a State Organization representing all 59 United Way organizations. The organization works to represent the public policy interests of our members, provide members with educational opportunities as well as leading regional and statewide initiatives designed to improve North Carolina communities. Rated as highly efficient and effective by its membership and partners, United Way of North Carolina is an instrumental force in strengthening the United Way system and improving lives in our state.

Our objective is to lead, coordinate and strengthen local United Ways in achieving their goals. UWNC works in three areas to serve its members and deliver collaborative solutions to local communities across the state.

        ·         Lead in the development of tools, resources and tactical initiatives

        ·         Coordinate strategic partnerships and networks

Strengthening the United Way System in NC

United Way of North Carolina provides both leadership and support services to our membership by:

Working Together to Create Opportunities for a Better Life for All

• UWNC advocates for state programs that meet the needs of the populations United Ways serve by: advocating for a stable, recurring   funding source for the NC Housing Trust Fund to ensure safe and affordable housing for more low to moderate income North Carolinians; advocate to maintain and expand the NC Earned Income Tax Credit; advocates for adequate investments in early childhood programming and the PK-12 education system; advocates for policies that provide teachers with the supports, tools and resources necessary to be successful.
•  UWNC leads the Teachers Effectiveness grant work taking place at the state and local level including statewide coalition building and statewide advocacy strategy development.

• UWNC provided more than $62,000 in support of NC2-1-1 during 2009.
•  UWNC has generated more than $300,000 in grant funds to purchase the NC2-1-1 software system, implement statewide cell phone coverage, and increase statewide coverage to almost 80% of the NC population.
• During the last 15 years, UWNC has trained more than 100 new CEO/Presidents of Metro III and smaller United Ways- while only 14 attended the UWW New Presidents training.
•  UWNC recognizes the most outstanding local United Way employee fund raising efforts through the Spirit of North Carolina Awards. These statewide awards are presented each year at the UWNC Annual Meeting. This year’s event had more than 270 in attendance which was the most of any North Carolina United Way. 

• The ACC has provided PSA airtime valued between $500,000 and $800,000 over the last 14 years. Public Service Announcements run during both football and basketball seasons. Each ACC Game reaches an average of 607,000 television households. The spots have also been successfully placed as additional PSA stock in the local TV media increasing local exposure to United Way.
• The ACC/United Way partnership also provided UWGSO an opportunity for community engagement at Fanfest, thousands of both football and basketball schedule cards for distribution locally, jumbotron exposure at local games and more.
•  Brian Gallagher heralded the ACC/United Way partnership, managed by United Way of North Carolina, as a national model for collegiate engagement. 

• Strengthening the United Way brand through increased message consistency resulting in greater media coverag
• Sharing access to more diverse materials than any United Way could create alone including Spanish language materials, t-shirts, photography and coloring books.
• Reducing cost by printing and screen printing in bulk.