United Way Looks To Be Transparent With Donations

ZANESVILLE, Ohio-The United Way Muskingum, Perry and Morgan Counties is in a transitional period between its funding cycles.

The cycles are based on donations from private citizens and businesses as well as some grants. Though the amount raised this year was similar to last year’s, Meg Deedrick wanted full transparency on how the money is raised and how it’s spent. 

“We’ve always wanted to be transparent, and we’ve always wanted the donor to know where investment is going. We’ve continually gotten better and I feel that this is the best we’ve ever been in showing and disclosing how much money is raised locally, how much money is invested locally, and of course we want to invest the most that we possibly can.”

This cycle the United Way is looking to invest half a million dollars back into local non-profit organizations. The amount is about $50,000 more than they invested last cycle. 

“We are going to be investing $500,000 in the community. $280,000, actually a little over $300,000, is already being invested, either through designations or through our phase one funding, so our traditional partners. We just extended the funding cycle to maintain funding through COVID-19, through when the pandemic hit.”

Local nonprofits can apply for funding on the United Way website or their Facebook page to fill out an application.