Coordinated Funding

About the Program

Category: Human Services (Best in Category)

Year: 2015

The Washtenaw Coordinated Funder Partnership is a collaboration of the Office of Community & Economic Development (representing Washtenaw County, the City of Ann Arbor, and the Washtenaw Urban County), the United Way of Washtenaw County, the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, and the RNR Foundation. This public-private collaborative funding model seeks to better coordinate funding of human service programs in Washtenaw County around five shared priorities: safety-net health and nutrition, housing and homelessness, aging, early childhood, and school-age youth. By agreeing to coordinate the leadership and funding of the region’s human service programs, the Washtenaw Coordinated Funder Partnership made a commitment to maximizing their community impact. Since the beginning of Coordinated Funding investment in the fall of 2010, these six funders have combined nearly $20 million through three investment strategies: program operations funding ($17 million), capacity building grants ($870,000), and planning and coordination (i.e. systems building) support ($1.2 million). These three distinct components were designed to prevent gaps and reduce redundancies in services while streamlining application and reporting procedures for grantees. This effort involves better sharing of information among the six funders, closer work with local nonprofits to establish common community goals, and increased cooperation in funding decisions.