Ever wonder how funding decisions are made at United Way? The Vision Council, a group of volunteers from throughout our community, play a pivotal role in reviewing and scoring member agencies' funding applications and making recommendations to the Board of Directors. Later this month, they will take account of community needs data and donate their time to reviewing and discussing the applications and scores.
One member of the Vision Council is Jason Eakin, the representative for Monroe County Government. “I value getting the opportunity to learn what all these agencies are doing around town, things they’re trying to get done and ways they’re trying to help.” Eakin continued, “It’s been a humbling exercise to learn there are so many people trying to do so much good. I’m never shy anymore about saying “don’t forget to donate” because I wish we could give the member agencies more. It’s been an eye-opening experience to learn about the need in our community."
He says his experience as Assistant Director for the Planning Department has come in handy during his work for the Vision Council. “I’m pretty comfortable in that environment,” he explained. “These are skills I use every day and this was a way for me to get back into the nonprofit world, which I’m happy to do.”
While he believes the Vision Council’s work is essential, Eakin said that making decisions about funding can be difficult. “We really do a lot of work on allocation because there’s just never enough money for the member agency to do everything they need,” Eakin said. “I think we’re doing the best we can to take these limited resources and spread them fairly across the agencies. I feel like there’s a great impact because they know, if they’re doing a good job and they have a good game plan, they can count on revenue to help their services. That’s one of the hardest things in the nonprofit sector – making sure you have funding.”
Eakin has been working with the Vision Council since 2016. “We’re ensuring the donations that are to be expended are for projects that meet the goals of United Way, that everything is aligned in terms of the mission and the vision and the goals. That’s the most important part of the work we do and why it matters so much.”
Thanks to Jason and the entire Vision Council for their service to United Way and our community.
