CONSIDER THIS UNIQUE VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY. SHARE YOUR EXPERTISE, BE PART OF A SHORT TERM, HIGH LEVEL TEAM AND HELP IMPACT CHANGE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
United Way of Thurston County and the Thurston County Health and Human Services Council (HHSC) have created the Community Investment Partnership (CIP). The partnership was formed to increase impact around targeted community social and health priorities by combining financial resources.
By coordinating public and private resources the CIP will:
- Amplify our impact and focus our results around common goals
- Create incentives for service coordination
- Increase efficiencies for both non-profit service providers and funding organizations
- Support common performance reporting and continuous improvement
The Community Investment Partnership will release an RFP in February 2015 requesting grant proposals from interested and eligible nonprofit organizations.
Non-profits applying for Community Investment Partnership grants provide programs that advance the common good for Thurston County residents in the following goal areas:
- Promote financial and residential stability
- Prepare children and youth to be resilient, to learn and to succeed
- Improve people’s health and healthy behaviors
Volunteers are needed to serve on Citizen Review Panels
Responsibilities
We are seeking dedicated volunteers to join one of three rating, ranking and performance review panels that focus on the priority goal areas for the entire grant process. Each panel will be co-chaired by two members of the CIP Steering Committee.
To fully engage in the process, each panelist must:
- Attend an orientation meeting
- Attend four to six meetings for debriefing, collaboration and funding recommendations
- Conduct interviews with grant applicants
- Access grant applications from a website
- Read, evaluate and rate each application
- Collaborate with other panel members
- Comply with the CIP ethics code which includes conflict of interest, confidentiality and non-discrimination policies
Time Commitment
Panel members will be required to attend an orientation and commit to approximately 20 hours in April and May 2015. Each panel will meet four to six times in the late afternoon – early evening period in the Olympia area. Grants are read outside of meeting times. Panels will convene once after six months to track grantee’s success and ensure grant guidelines are being met.
Desired Qualifications
- An interest in the welfare of our community and a desire to create change through strategic investments in local programs.
- Some knowledge and interest in the goal areas above.
- An ability to be open minded and unbiased, considering each program application equally and fairly.
- The ability to articulate questions and opinions in an engaging and non-confrontational manner.
An orientation will be provided to help volunteers understand the priority goal areas and how to use the tools to effectively and fairly evaluate grants.
To Apply
To apply as a Community Investment Partnership volunteer, please send your contact information and a short cover letter responding to the three questions below. Send both to Sara Kukkonen at skukkonen@unitedway-thurston.org by January 30, 2015.
Please tell us:
- What interests you about serving as a Community Investment Partnership volunteer?
- What skills or expertise do you bring to a funding panel?
- Which of the three priority goal areas below interest you the most and why?
- Promoting financial and residential stability
- Preparing children and youth to be resilient, to learn and to succeed
- Promoting health and healthy behaviors
Thank you for considering joining us in this exciting community endeavor! Please contact Sara Kukkonen (email above) if you have any questions or comments.
