United Way of Southwest Minnesota
Every Person. Every Community.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The commonality among the needs we are addressing is access to services and connecting individuals, children and families with needed resources and support systems. Through these efforts we work towards creating long lasting community change through our five community impact priorities. Health: Increase healthy behaviors and wellness. Education: Improve life-long learning and development. Financial Stability: Improve financial stability and independence. Hunger: Increase food access, nutritional awareness and outreach. Safety & Well-Being: Increase access to services focused on safety and well-being. More than 44,100 local people are being served in 2021-22 through United Way of Southwest Minnesota initiatives, community partner programs and partnerships. We strive to unite people and resources to improve lives and strengthen communities in southwest Minnesota. Serving Every Person in Every Community, Every Day of the Year!
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Imagination Library
Imagination Library book program is for children (ages birth – 5 years of age) who live in our service area. Every child who is enrolled receives an age and developmentally appropriate book in the mail each month. Children gain valuable school readiness skills each time an adult in their life takes time to read books to them. United Way of Southwest Minnesota began sponsoring the program in 2005. Since we began sponsoring the program in 2005, 7,975 local children have graduated from the program, and 480,950 books have been delivered to homes throughout our service area. At this time, over 2,250 local children receive a book delivered to their home on a monthly basis (stats as of June 2022).
Stuff the Bus Back to School Supplies
Stuff the Bus engages dozens of volunteers to collect, sort, pack and distribute supplies and backpacks to K-12 students. Because of receiving free school supplies, students are given the opportunity to create and learn to their full potential without the worry of not having basic supplies. In 2022, we provided over 56,000 school supplies to 22 local schools to distributed to approximately 3,000 students.
Student Emergency Fund Grants
Student Emergency Fund grants have been distributed to local schools for almost twenty years. Each spring all private, public and charter schools in the United Way of Southwest Minnesota service area are invited to apply. In 2022, $11,291 was granted as Student Emergency Funds to help needy students at 23 local schools that applied for funding. Funds to be used at the schools’ discretion to support their neediest children. Participating schools reported that during the 2021-22 school year funds were used for items such as: activity/band/fieldtrip fees, clothing, socks and shoes, lunch assistance, hygiene items, emergency food support, eyeglasses and vision exams, winter apparel, specialized school supplies, etc.
Where we work
Awards
Meets all Standards Seal 2021
Charity Review Council
Affiliations & memberships
United Way Worldwide Member 2022
United Ways of Minnesota Member 2022
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
United Way fights for the health, education and financial stability of every person in every community. At UWSWMN we focus on health, education, financial stability, hunger and safety & well-being. We achieve these goals by convening the community to address key issues, collaborating to achieve measurable impact and connecting human and financial resources. We never know when we might be in need of help, and everyone benefits from living and working in a healthy community. We offer several internal programs that are aimed at ensuring children enter school developmentally on track in literacy skills, as well as in social, emotional and cognitive skills. Finally, we want to encourage civic engagement and volunteerism. We provide a dedicated page on our website that lists current and upcoming volunteer opportunities throughout our service area. Users can search for needs, reach out to the agencies that care about the same things they care about and find meaningful ways to give back.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Community investment volunteers from throughout our service area review all grant requests and make funding recommendations to our local Board of Directors to be certain that all donations make the greatest impact possible throughout our service area. Funded programs, known as community partners, report on their methods of evaluation and progress toward outcomes through both a mid-year and final grant report.
One of our United Way of Southwest Minnesota goals from our Strategic Operational Plan is to Optimize Community Impact. One strategy is to strengthen, evaluate and review internal United Way programs for effectiveness and impact. Our tactics include continuous evaluation of the strategic ROI for each program offered including an annual evaluation for certain programs and an overall 3 year survey and data collection for all internal programming.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
At United Way of Southwest Minnesota, we unite people and resources to improve lives and strengthen communities in southwest Minnesota, focusing on health, education, financial stability, hunger, and safety & well-being. We achieve these goals by convening the community to address critical issues, collaborating to achieve measurable impact, and connecting human and financial resources. We have an experienced professional team with expertise in grant management, finance, project management, education, volunteer services, and strategic alignment. Our board of directors brings a wealth of experience in human services, planning, education, business, banking, IT, and law. We have also achieved the Meets Standards Seal from the Charities Review Council, which certifies our accountability in public disclosure, governance, financial activity, and fundraising practices.
United Way of Southwest Minnesota Community Impact Priorities & Outcomes are as follows:
Health: Increase healthy behaviors and wellness.
*Achieve a healthier start to life.
*Increase community conditions that support healthy behaviors.
*Promote healthy eating and physical activity,
*Provide and increase access to programs that improve physical, emotional, and mental fitness.
Education: Improve life-long learning and development.
*Assure children enter kindergarten developmentally on track in literacy skills and social, emotional, and cognitive skills.
*Prepare elementary-age students to succeed in later grades and graduate high school.
*Assist learners in exploring areas of interest and preparing for post-secondary education and career.
Financial Stability: Improve financial stability and independence.
*Increase financial literacy skills for youth and adults.
*Help individuals and families move toward financial stability.
*Increase access to education, employment, and job training.
*Assure community members have resources to overcome disasters and emotional or financial crises.
Hunger: Increase food access, nutritional awareness, and outreach.
*Connect people to food support efforts/programs/opportunities.
*Increase access to food and nutritional meals for people in need.
*Increase nutritional awareness, food budgeting/stretching, and basic cooking skills.
Safety & Well-Being: Increase access to services focused on safety and well-being.
*Increase suicide prevention, support, outreach, and awareness.
*Increase access to services that provide a safe environment free from sexual assault, domestic violence, abuse, bullying, and crime.
*Provide engagement opportunities for community involvement, service, mentoring, and youth development.
*Strengthen efforts to create equitable opportunities; increase awareness and engagement in outreach services/programs.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In 2022-23, we are investing:
$16,500 in health-related programs.
$115,689 in education-related programs.
$35,500 in financial stability-related programs.
$56,322 in hunger-related programs.
$75,000 to increase access to services focused on safety & well-being.
UWSWMN provides access to volunteer opportunities through our website at unitedwayswmn.org/volunteer. This page includes Current UWSWMN volunteer opportunities, Volunteer opportunities that can be done during the COVID-19 Pandemic, an Annual overview of all UWSWMN volunteer opportunities, and a list of volunteer opportunities from our Community Partner programs.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
United Way of Southwest Minnesota
Board of directorsas of 10/26/2023
Rachel Nuese
Schwan's Shared Services LLC
Term: 2022 - 2023
Al Castor
Lockwood Motors Inc.
Term: 2022 - 2023
Joseph Karanja
City of Marshall
Terry Kriz
Runnings
Al Castor
Lockwood Motors
Brian Jeremiason
Lyon-Lincoln Electric Cooperative
Rachel Nuese
Schwan's Company
See Moua-Leske
Southwest ABE
Hans Zahrbock
Western Equipment Finance
Michelle Warme
Community Volunteer
Shawna Christianson
Vivayic
Hayley Fruin
Bremer Bank
Curt Schake
North Star Mutual Insurance Company
Doug DeSmet
State Bank of Taunton
Kim Holm
Kim Holm Insurance Agency, Inc.
Casey Pohlen
U.S. Bank
Matt Suby
Southwest Minnesota State University
Melanie Pedersen
U.S. Bank
Molly Peterson
Self-Employed
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
No data
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 07/25/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.