Frequently Asked Questions

What is United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut (United Way)?

Founded in 1924, United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization working to improve lives for children and families throughout central and northeastern Connecticut, including the Greater Hartford, New Britain, Windham and Enfield regions.

What is United Way’s mission and vision?

Our mission is to engage and bring together people and resources committed to the well-being of children and families in our community.

Our vision is a community where opportunities are available for every child to succeed in school and for every family to achieve financial security.

What is the value of United Way?

United Way is committed to addressing immediate needs and finding long-term solutions to challenges facing our community. We do this by investing in programs and services, leading community change initiatives and mobilizing resources and volunteers.

We know that for many children, adults and families, recovery from the economic, health and learning loss impacts of COVID-19 will not be immediate.

The pandemic has taught us the value and importance of taking care of one another. The goal is not to get back to where we were, it is to build back better, to a future with more equitable outcomes for all. That is what it means to LIVE UNITED.

When you give to United Way, you are supporting a network of partners who are working together to meet the complex needs of people in our region, efficiently and effectively.

How does United Way help working families?

The 2020 Connecticut United Ways ALICE* Report revealed that 38% of households in our state have income which falls below what is needed to pay for basic necessities such as housing, food, child care, health care, technology, and transportation.

Challenges facing ALICE households are complex and it’s a long journey to self-sufficiency and success, yet we are making progress. With our partners, donors and volunteers, we connect ALICE and other hard-working individuals with opportunities to get ahead through United Way-supported programs and initiatives.

*ALICE, stands for – Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.

What is the United Way Community Campaign?

You may make a gift directly to United Way to support our focus areas (Youth Success, Family Financial Security, Access to Health, Basic Needs, United For Racial Equity, and COVID-19 Recovery) and/or designate your gift to a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of your choice.

Be sure to check with your employer for a matching gift program to make an even greater impact.

Why give to United Way?

United Way is committed to addressing immediate needs and finding long-term solutions to challenges facing our community. We do this by investing in programs and services, leading community change initiatives, and mobilizing resources and volunteers.

Over the last year, United Way responded to needs of those affected by COVID-19 while also supporting programs that ensure that children succeed in school; people get jobs and are financially secure; people are healthy; and, basic needs are met.

How have gifts to United Way  of Central and Northeastern Connecticut made a difference locally?

Youth Success

• Nearly 90% of children birth to age 5 achieved developmental milestones, such as language and literacy skills, preparing them for kindergarten.
• Nearly 4,000 children enrolled in early childhood education programs, that provide quality child care for parents while they work and equip children with kindergarten-readiness skills.
• 2,781 students in kindergarten through eighth grade received programming and services to keep them on track and engaged academically.

Family Financial Security

• 8,700+ households received no-cost tax preparation services through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, which resulted in nearly $24.5 million in refunds returned to families.
• 2,000 individuals received benefits screenings for programs that provide income support, such as SNAP, child care and health care. These supports help families stretch their budgets.
• 750 adults gained employment in industries that provide livable wages, opportunities for advancement and benefits.

Access to Health and Basic Needs

• 10.9 million pounds of food were distributed through regional food banks to local food pantries.
• 103,500 calls were made to United Way 211 for information and referral services. 211 connects callers, at no cost, to critical health and human services in their community.
• 3,600 people were connected to emergency resources such as rent/utility assistance, medical equipment, clothing or transportation assistance.

How can I become a United Way Leadership Investor?

Leadership Investors are individuals who give $1,000 or more annually. Gifts of $1,000 to $9,999 are recognized by our local Constitution Society while those who give $10,000 or more are recognized as members of the National Tocqueville Society.

I would like to designate my gift to a specific agency. How do I do this?

United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut is honored to partner with your employer in helping employees give back to issues they care about. If you direct a portion or all of your gift to any qualified not-for-profit organization recognized as a 501(c)(3) by the Internal Revenue Service that is Patriot Act compliant, please include the name, address and phone number of the organization.

If we cannot locate your directed organization, or if it is not an IRS qualified 501(c)(3) organization, or it does not meet above requirements, we will make every reasonable attempt to contact you. If we cannot reach you, your gift will go to United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut.

Please note that designated gifts are not monitored by United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut.

I would like to designate my gift to a specific agency, but I do not know the designation code.

We can look up the designation code in our database and provide it to you. However, if we are unable to locate a designation code for your agency, we will research your agency and create a code upon receiving your pledge card. Any information you can provide about your agency is helpful.

How will I be acknowledged by the agency?

By checking the box that reads: “Please check here if you want to be acknowledged by the organization to which you have directed a gift.”

The agency that you designated to will receive a report that lists your name and gift amount. If this box is left unchecked we will pass along the gift, but list you as anonymous.

Does United Way charge a fee for contributions designated to agencies?

Yes, contributions directed to organizations through United Way are subject to a 10 percent fee (includes administration and fundraising costs), capped at $100 per directed gift (assessed on a pro-rata basis upon gift proceeds received).

How do you calculate the amount paid out to the agencies I chose?

United Way pays when your gift is received from you or from your employer via payroll deductions. For payroll deduction gifts, collections are tracked when provided by the employer. When donor detail is not provided on payroll payments, payments are applied proportionately to all payroll donors for that company.

Contributions will be distributed directly to designated organizations on an ongoing basis if proceeds and pledge details are received by United Way on or before the end of the month preceding payout.

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Please note: This information is geared toward organizations that receive United Way Community Investment funding.

What are these reports?

• “Designations” report provides information relative to the check you have received.  This would include the pledge amount by donor, any fees withheld, amount previously paid, percent paid to date, collected proceeds as of the cutoff date located on the top of the report, and net check amount.
• “Donor Details” report provides a list of the donors with their contact information (if they wish to be acknowledged) and their total pledge to your agency.

Once within our portal, click on reports, then select the drop down list of reports to review the various reports applicable to your agency.

When setting up my account on the agency portal, do I have to type the entire URL provided on the letter (if applicable) attached to the first check (since this service started)?

Yes.  Each URL is uniquely attached to every agency and must be typed exactly (including the https://) for the first time on the portal only.  Remember to type this URL into either Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome browsers (sometimes doesn’t work on Internet Explorer)

After typing in the URL, it says page not provided, why?

This is most likely because there is an error when the URL was typed in, most commonly the “s” was omitted by accident in the https://

When setting up my account, it gives me an error, but doesn’t specify what it’s for, why?

This is most likely due to browser settings not displaying the error message properly, but the most common issue is when a user tries to create a password that does not follow the following three rules: Must have a capital letter, must have a number, and must have a symbol (!For example).  Good password example: Password1!

It says I successfully created my account and have been waiting for approval for an extended period of time, why?

This may be because the registration was not done through the URL on the letter, or was completed on an invalid version of Internet Explorer.  In this scenario the account never fully completes registration, and no approval is visible on our end.

If you think this happened to you, email us and we will resolve it for you.

After my account is set up, where do I go to login in the future?

You can follow this link to access the login page after your account is set up: https://uwcnct.stratusliveportal.com/

I do not see a report for a specific check under my reports, why?

This may be because it is dated prior to July 2013, or is due to an account merge that needs to take place on our end between sub groups of an agency.  Provide us (agencyportal@unitedwayinc.org) with the payee name and amount on the check, and we will be able to help.

Why do we receive more than one form of payment at times?

Due to state regulation for the State of Connecticut Campaigns, payouts must be paid to agencies separately from all other donor designations from the regular United Way Campaign.  As such, there may be times where you receive multiple forms of payment from United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut (UWCNCT) for donor designations:

• HA’ – Hartford Campaign (this is money raised from Companies within our 40 town region)
• STATE – CT State Employees Campaign
• ‘OOA’ – Other Regional and National Workplace  Campaigns (with headquarters located in Connecticut, such as The Hartford Financial Services, Northeast Utilities,  The Phoenix, Pratt & Whitney and Travelers)

Why didn’t we receive a check?

We distribute funds based on collection from donors and companies.  If, no funds have been collected from the donor or company no check will be distributed.  As donors fulfill their pledges and we receive the funds, we will pay them out.

How do you calculate the amount of the check?

UWCNCT pays based upon actual collections from donors and companies.  For payroll deduction gifts, collections are tracked by donor level when provided by their employer. When donor detail is not provided on payroll payments, the payments are applied proportionately to all payroll donors for that company.

The amount that is due to your agency also depends on the timing of payments received by the donor/company.  UWCNCT uses a cutoff date on or before the end of the month preceding payout.

How does pledge loss affect proceeds paid to my agency?

As stated above, UWCNCT pays out designations based on collections. Typically, we do not receive 100% of pledges.  Pledges are voluntary and are not a legal binding promise.  UWCNCT recommends your agency takes this into consideration when doing the accounting for donor designations received from UWCNCT.

Why are some gifts paid in full and others not?

When the donor is making their pledge they are given a few options on how they would like to pay their pledge. They can make one payment via cash, check, credit card, stock or elect payroll deduction through their employer. If the donor pays their gift in full you would only receive one payment on behalf of that donor. However, if they elect payroll deduction, depending on the payment frequency by their employer, you may receive a portion of their gift at each scheduled payout (see above schedule).

Why are fees being taken out of the pledge? How are they calculated?

UWCNCT collects a 10% administration fee on donor designated gifts. The fee is capped at $100 per designated gift.  Any such fees that are taken from donor-designated gifts are done so ratably upon collected proceeds.

How should I thank the donor?

Please acknowledge the gross amount of the pledge directly to the donor. Do not acknowledge the payment amount. Please do not acknowledge UWCNCT. If the donor wishes to remain anonymous we cannot forward their information to you.

Why would I receive designation checks from other United Ways?

Some local companies report to a main corporate office that is located outside the Greater Hartford region. The United Way local to that main office would be the processor of the campaign information.

Questions? Please e-mail: agencyportal@unitedwayinc.org

No phone calls please.