United Way of Greater Battle Creek

What it reported doing in 2011

United way of greater battle creek advances the common good by creating opportunities for a better life for all. Our focus is on education, income and health the building blocks for a good quality of life.the common good builds on the premise that we all have a stake in creating a healthy, prosperous community and by improving conditions for even one has an effect on us all.under this strategic model programs are funded in three priority areas: education (helping children and youth achieve their potential), income (helping families become financially independent) and health (improving peoples health through increased access to health care and basic needs). United way also serves as a community catalyst and convener, recruiting people and organizations that bring the passion, expertise and resources needed to get things done. Together, through collaboration with community partners, united way of greater battle creek is making lasting change. Collaborationunited way of greater battle creek realized it could not make change real by itself so it began collaborating with more community organizations and groups and found itself at many community tables, serving in a variety of capacities.building blocks to a good quality of life: education, income and healthinfluence the condition of all community impact fundthrough the generous, undesignated gifts from donors united way invests in essential services and also supports comprehensive and innovative approaches that address the underlying causes of problems. Utilizing public knowledge, combined with expert knowledge, united way of greater battle creek has brought together volunteers to help develop each of the investment pillars. Each pillar has a vision council made up of knowledgeable volunteers that determine the specific focus areas that would have the greatest impact in improving indicators with united way resources.request for funding proposals (rfp's) for agencies interested in applying for funding under health, education and income are released once a year, respectively, in three-year cycles. Investment teams for each pillar dedicate time to reviewing funding requests and determining which programs they believe best fit the comprehensive, focus-nature of the work that united way of greater battle creek intends to do and can provide the evidence for community change being made through their program. Recommendations are then made to the planning and investment committee and ultimately to the board of directors for final approval. Each level of the investment process is lead by community volunteers with support from united way staff.all funded programs are carefully monitored to ensure they meet stated goals and are improving the indicators on some of our community's most pressing issues.healthfocus areas: access to health carebasic health needshealthy lifestylesmaternal & infant healthfunding for programs approved under the health pillar began july 1, 2010.educationfocus areas: mentoring for families and childrenschool readinesssupport for adolescent developmentsuccess by third gradefunding for programs approved under the education pillar began july 1, 2011.education mobilizationin 2009, united way of greater battle creek was selected as one of 10 united way's around the country to participate in united way worldwide's education mobilization work. This select group of united way's is part of a pilot-project to develop and implement an education plan to help increase high school graduation rates. Battle creek was selected, in large part, due to the strong collaborative work already being done in the community around creating greater educational opportunities for the community's youth.among other things, being part of the mobilization group will help bring additional training resources and support to united ways education core team which is made up of united way of greater battle creek's entire leadership team along with three community volunteers. It then becomes the core team's re

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: Limited
• Program expense ratio: Limited
• Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 14th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 93.9%; rating input score 94; 26th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -95%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
• Officer compensation ratio: 2.4%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: Limited
• Revenue growth: -7.8% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: -200% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings