What is United Way of Denton County?
We are a locally-governed affiliate of a global organization. For more than 70 years, we have partnered with Denton county donors, businesses, governments, and nonprofits to co-create solutions to our neighbors' most pressing challenges. We take a comprehensive approach, listening and responding to local needs so everyone in Denton County can thrive.
Our Mission:
To improve lives by mobilizing Denton County communities to action so all can thrive.
Our Vision:
A Denton County community with strengthened resilience, wellness, and financial security where everyone has the opportunity to flourish.
How We Help:
We Listen, Collaborate, and Succeed:
Understanding our Community's Needs
On a regular basis, we examine the many competing needs of our community by performing a Community Needs Assessment. The data and narrative identified by this document play a crucial role in determining our strategic direction. Between major updates, we keep our finger on the pulse of our community by updating secondary data as it is released by other agencies and organizations. Follow the link below to view our most current Community Needs Assessment documents.
The Dual Strategy
Armed with the data and narrative identified by our Community Needs Assessment, we follow a dual strategy to accomplish our mission of improving and transforming lives in Denton County. Where services already exist, we partner with existing agencies to amplify their effects through smart, targeted investments in our Partner Agencies, in local Impact Grants and via direct service Programs. Where services don't already exist, we draw community stakeholders to the table via Collective Impact Initiatives, collaborative efforts where we serve as the backbone of a community effort to create positive change. Read more about our dual strategy:
Racial Equity Statement
United Way of Denton County vows to challenge systemic issues of racism and colorism and the impacts they have on our organization and community. Denton County's experience with race-related discriminatory practices has complicated the efforts of vulnerable communities to achieve parity in education, financial stability, and health & mental health. We will better understand our own unconscious bias in order to make decisions that provide equitable treatment, access and opportunity for all people in Denton County.
Frequently Asked Questions
United Way of Denton County is a local non-profit organization, governed and managed by local volunteers and staff who call Denton County home. Your donation to United Way of Denton County stays in Denton County and helps our neighbors here in North Texas.
As an affiliate of United Way Worldwide, we have access to global, research-based tools and resources that help us improve lives in Denton County.
United Way of Denton County helps people across Denton County - children, families, Veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and people affected by mental illness. We work collaboratively with United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and United Way of Tarrant County and a growing number of local non-profit organizations to bring the most help to people living in Denton County. We are constantly evaluating needs, closing gaps, and building assets to create the best Denton County for all of us.
United Way of Denton County provides financial support to Health & Human Service 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit organizations that improve lives in Denton County. Local volunteer committees and our Board of Directors determine annual Partner Agency Grants and Collective Impact Grants. It is the policy of the Board of Directors of United Way of Denton County to support donor-designated gifts to other Health & Human Service 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit organizations.
United Way of Denton County pursues two collaborative strategies to improve lives in Denton County: Where gaps exist and no existing Denton County nonprofit organization has the ability to close the page, we perform direct services through pilot programs intended to be transitioned permanently to the best nonprofit alternative. Primarily we fund safety net direct services through carefully selected nonprofit Partner Agencies. These nonprofits perform at high levels and provide direct services to clients in our community that lead to improved lives. That leaves us to focus as the backbone organization to Collective Impact Initiatives across Denton County to tackle issues that no one organization can solve on its own.
Our overhead percentage has ranged annually from 17.6% in 2019-20 to 6.7% in 2022-23. We make every effort to deploy only necessary funding in our budget to overhead so as to deploy the maximum possible funding to grants and collective impact initiatives. Our overhead percentage is based on our latest IRS Form 990, Page 10, Line 25, found on our Financial Transparency page. The formula below is recognized by the Texas State Employee Charitable Campaign, United Way Worldwide, and charity watchdog groups BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Guidestar and CharityNavigator.
((Column C + Column D) / Column A) = Overhead %
BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Guidestar and CharityNavigator, three key watchdog groups who evaluate the performance of charities, advised donors in an open letter to also "pay attention to other factors of nonprofit performance: transparency, governance, leadership, and results."
We are all one phone call away from needing help. The people helped by your support are wide-ranging in culture and socio-economic status and sometimes remarkably similar to you. Most often they are ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) households in Denton County. There are over 100,000 ALICE households in Denton County. This includes the woman who slept in their car, cleaned up each morning in a gas station restroom, and went to her office every day, hiding her crisis from her co-workers for weeks while her children stayed with a relative. One in three families in Denton County are one major setback away from crisis.
United Way of Denton County regularly examines the needs of our community competing for limited social services funding support by performing a Community Needs Assessment. The data identified by this effort plays a crucial role in determining United Way of Denton County's strategic direction and funding decisions. Follow the link below to view our most current Community Needs Assessment resources.
Armed with the data and narrative identified by our Community Needs Assessment, United Way of Denton County follows a dual strategy of collective impact initiatives and safety net partner agency grant funding to accomplish our mission of improving lives in Denton County. Where services already exist, we partner with existing agencies to amplify their effects through smart, targeted investments in our Partner Agencies. Where services don't exist, we draw community stakeholders to the table via Collective Impact Initiatives; collaborative efforts where United Way of Denton County serves as the backbone of a community effort to create positive change. Read more about our dual strategy: