Nonprofit Resources

What is a Community Impact grant?

United Way of Palm Beach County Community Impact grants are how we invest local dollars in our community. Funding decisions are made through a competitive application process.

A Community Impact Committee, comprised of informed volunteers from the community, is charged with reviewing agencies applying for funding by evaluating programs and reviewing financial records to develop an understanding of the agency. The committee then determines funding recommendations based on criteria such as program outcomes, fiscal accountability and demonstrated need in the community. The recommendations are then presented, reviewed and approved by the United Way of Palm Beach County Board of Directors.

Agencies receiving funding through the Community Impact grant process meet strict standards of accountability and are required to report semi-annually on the efficiency of their programs and how they are meeting their goals.

Our Community Impact grants are invested in high-performing nonprofit organizations that provide programs and services aligned with the areas of Education, Mentoring, Special Needs, Income, and Health. United Way of Palm Beach County invites 501(c)3 organizations doing outstanding work in these areas to consider applying for a United Way Community Impact Grant.

The 2024-25 United Way Community Impact Grant is closed.

Launched in February 2007, the Continuous Improvement Initiative was conceived as a way to build the capacity of agencies under contract with Children’s Services Council and United Way.

United Way of Palm Beach County no longer offers the Continuous Improvement Initiative funding opportunity. However, this capacity-building opportunity is still available through Children’s Services Council.

Learn more about the Continuous Improvement Initiative here.

Through the Palm Beach County Collaborative Capacity Building Initiative, Allegany Franciscan Ministries, Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County, Community Foundation of Palm Beach and Martin Counties, The Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation, Palm Health Foundation, Quantum Foundation, and United Way of Palm Beach County have partnered with Catchafire to support nonprofit organizations in the greater Palm Beach County area by connecting them to pro bono professionals looking to donate their skills.

Nonprofit organizations have access to Catchafire’s innovative virtual platform and programming. These resources leverage a network of more than 100,000 skilled consultants who will help with needs such as website development, online marketing, strategic planning, professional development, and other critical work areas.

Click here to learn more about Catchafire.

Launched in January 2014, the Mentoring Support Opportunity was conceived to help mentoring programs develop additional matches and help alleviate the wait list of mentees in Palm Beach County. Research shows that high quality, enduring relationships can lead to a range of positive outcomes for young people. Through the Mentoring Support Opportunity, United Way of Palm Beach County seeks to support capacity-building efforts that enhance the quality of mentoring programs and increase the number of youths being mentored.

Now years removed from the ending of the pandemic, we hope to get back to serving our most vulnerable populations in Palm Beach County.

For the current mini-grant opportunity, only affiliate programs that have a current active mentoring program, and are willing to serve vulnerable youth and are seeking to implement all Elements of Effective Practice are eligible to apply. The typical grant is between $2,000 to a maximum of $7,500 (based on available funds) to be used to expand program capacity and extend their services to serve this most at-need segment of youth and become eligible to join the Mentor Center Network.

The Mentoring Capacity Building grant is now closed.

Recognizing the unacceptable consequences of hunger, United Way of Palm Beach County and the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners, backed by a group of 183 organizations, convened the Hunger Relief Initiative and identified the need to create a comprehensive plan to reduce local hunger. The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) and the University of South Carolina (USC) Center for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities were commissioned to create the Palm Beach County Hunger Relief Plan. Since its inception in 2015, United Way of Palm Beach County has worked alongside community partners to address food insecurity in the county.

View the Palm Beach County Hunger Relief Plan by clicking the link.

The Hunger Relief Capacity and Infrastructure Request for Applications (RFA) will fund in two categories.  The funding categories were chosen based on their ability to promote long-term, sustainable improvements to the hunger relief system in Palm Beach County, as well as needs identified by hunger relief partners and frontline hunger organizations.  Additional details for the following funding category can be found in the Guidelines:

• Equipment
• Technology

All funding requests must be related to improving food access and existing food operations, not for general or overall projects. This grant will NOT fund programs or programmatic support (e.g., weekend backpack programs, food purchases, staffing). The intention of this grant is to fund immediate needs. For more information regarding the Hunger Relief Initiative, please visit the Palm Beach County Hunger Relief page.

Eligibility:

• Applicants must be active participants in the Palm Beach  County  Hunger  Relief  Initiative through regular attendance at one or more Hunger Relief Initiative meetings. Please note eligibility for this grant requires regular organizational attendance at the meetings your organization is a member of over the last year (October 1, 2023 – September 30, 2024). Participation in a minimum of 50% of meetings is necessary for funding. Hunger Relief staff will verify attendance and excused absences for eligibility. Contact us with questions or concerns.
• Applicants must be a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides hunger relief services in Palm Beach County.
• Applicants must be in good standing with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations as a nonprofit for at least two (2) consecutive years prior to the date of the application.
• Agencies are required to register and file financial information with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS). Agencies that had less than $50,000 in contributions during its immediately preceding year who submitted a Solicitation of Contributions Small Charitable Organizations/Sponsors Application to FDACS must provide evidence of exemption.
• Applicants must be a tax-exempt organization registered in the state of Florida in good standing and established for at least two (2) consecutive years as shown on Florida Division of Corporation’s website (SunBiz.org).
• Applicants must have audited financial statements for the past two years, if legally required.
• Applicants must serve Palm Beach County residents. Organizations not located in Palm Beach County or whose service area extends beyond Palm Beach County may apply but grant requests must be specific to meeting the needs of and serving Palm Beach County residents only.
• Applicants must be an active partner in good standing with 211 Palm Beach/Treasure Coast by the time of funding or provide an explanation of exemption.
• Applicants must have a valid food safety training certificate recognized by the State of Florida. The food safety training certificate can be obtained from any of the state approved providers such as the National Registry of Food Safety Professionals and 360 Training. It should cost no more than $15 to obtain the food safety certification. The training takes no longer than 2-hours.
• Applicants must have the ability to meet any local or federal funding requirements.
• Applicants MUST have the ability to meet all reporting requirements and MUST NOT have any outstanding reports at the time of submission.

Deadline:

Applications must be submitted through the online portal no later than October 2, 2024, Noon. Late or incomplete submissions will not be reviewed.

Questions:

Applicants may submit questions about the RFA to the Hunger Relief team.  Questions must be emailed to HungerRelief@UnitedWayPBC.org.

For questions about the Hunger Relief Capacity and Infrastructure RFA Guidelines, contact:

Kathleen Mason, United Way of Palm Beach County, Director for Hunger Relief
Email: HungerRelief@UnitedWayPBC.org
Phone: (561) 375-6633

Subject line: Hunger Relief Capacity & Infrastructure RFA – *Agency Name*

FY24-25 – Hunger Relief Capacity & Infrastructure RFA – Application Guidelines

FY24-25 – Hunger Relief Capacity & Infrastructure RFA – Grant Application – SAMPLE

FY24-25 Hunger Relief Budget_Template

Link to JotForm Application: https://form.jotform.com/242405426047148

The Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) was created in 1983 to supplement and expand the work of local social service agencies, both nonprofit and governmental, in an effort to help people with economic emergencies (not disaster-related [i.e., fires of any kind, floods, tornadoes, etc.] emergencies). Therefore, EFSP funds are not to be used to provide emergency assistance for circumstances that are the immediate result of a disaster situation. EFSP funds may be used to provide economic assistance in the long term, even if the current circumstances may have been impacted by an earlier disaster occurrence. EFSP funding is open to all organizations helping hungry and homeless people. EFSP funds must be used to supplement feeding, sheltering (including transitional sheltering), and rent/mortgage and utility assistance efforts only.

EFSP is governed by a National Board that selects jurisdictions for funding. Local Boards are convened in those qualifying jurisdictions to determine the highest need and best use of funds and to select Local Recipient Organizations (LROs) that will provide emergency food and shelter services. Each year, needs are to be assessed in an effort to respond to changes in the community.

United Way of Palm Beach County’s role is to administer the EFSP program locally, which includes facilitating the local EFSP board, coordinating the distribution of EFSP funds to local emergency food and shelter programs, and monitoring and providing technical assistance to those programs regarding EFSP funds.

Click here to access the EFSP Phase 42 Application

Click here to access the list of EFSP Local Board members.

The MISSION UNITED grant is available to nonprofit organizations serving the veteran community of Palm Beach County, including veteran dependents and caregivers. Grant categories include Capacity Building and Support Services to assist organizations that will promote veteran stability and long-term self-sufficiency. Specific information about each and the requirements for the grant overall are in the guidelines. The targeted outcomes include increased availability of veterans services, increased access to health and social services for veterans, increased veterans’ financial stability, increased veterans’ access to living-wage jobs, increased veterans’ housing stability, increased veterans’ access to behavioral health care, and reduced veterans’ suicide.

The FY 2024-25 MISSION UNITED grant is now closed.