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United Way Inc at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

United Way Inc

United Way of Southern Maine (UWSM) improves lives by mobilizing the caring power of our communities.

$4.2M
Granted FY2025still arriving
78
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$518k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Health$9.7MCommunity Improvement$9.6MHousing & Shelter$5.4MHuman Services$5.2MYouth Development$5.2MPhilanthropy$4.5MEducation$2.8MCrime & Legal$1.6MOther$0
02FY2025 · 78 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 78 grants below total $3,448,012, the rows itemized in this filing. The $4,241,753 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $793,741 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k17 grants · $116k
  • $10k–50k43 grants · $895k
  • $50k–250k17 grants · $1.9M
  • $250k+1 grant · $518k
$20,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$19M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
The Opportunity Alliance$518,397
2-1-1 Maine Inc$221,642
Children's Odyssey$189,583
Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine$176,296
Youth & Family Outreach$156,477
Catherine Morrill Day Nursery$142,137
York County Community Action$138,618
Preble Street$131,718
Southern Maine Workforce Initiative$99,600
Spurwink$93,000
Day One$92,563
United Way of Mid Coast Maine$86,641
Milestone Recovery$76,139
Catholic Charities Maine$71,520
Quality Housing Coalition$65,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–25, $4.5M) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 17% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Community Action Partnership of Strafford County: $31k → 9%York County Community Action: $151k → 9%York County Community Action: $139k → 9%York County Community Action: $129k → 9%York County Community Action: $121k → 9%Regional Transportation Program: $72k → 7%Caring Unlimited: $35k → 9%Regional Transportation Program: $71k → 7%York County Community Action: $34k → 9%Regional Transportation Program: $49k → 7%Caring Unlimited: $32k → 9%Penquis CAP Inc: $54k → 15%Penquis CAP Inc: $48k → 15%Penquis CAP Inc: $41k → 15%Frannie Peabody Center: $43k → 7%Frannie Peabody Center: $41k → 7%Frannie Peabody Center: $39k → 7%Frannie Peabody Center: $36k → 7%Regional Transportation Program: $35k → 7%Regional Transportation Program: $35k → 7%Regional Transportation Program: $34k → 7%Frannie Peabody Center: $31k → 7%Frannie Peabody Center: $30k → 7%Kennebec Valley Community Action Program: $58k → 12%Kennebec Valley Community Action Program: $40k → 12%Kennebec Valley Community Action Program: $34k → 12%Freeport Community Services: $115k → 7%Freeport Community Services: $36k → 7%Freeport Community Services: $34k → 7%Freeport Community Services: $30k → 7%Maine Immigrants Rights Coalition: $384k → 7%Maine Immigrants Rights Coalition: $200k → 7%Catherine Morrill Day Nursery: $154k → 7%Catherine Morrill Day Nursery: $142k → 7%Catherine Morrill Day Nursery: $71k → 7%Catherine Morrill Day Nursery: $71k → 7%Catherine Morrill Day Nursery: $71k → 7%Catherine Morrill Day Nursery: $70k → 7%Catherine Morrill Day Nursery: $67k → 7%Catherine Morrill Day Nursery: $67k → 7%Learning Works: $65k → 7%Catherine Morrill Day Nursery: $62k → 7%Learning Works: $51k → 7%Learning Works: $45k → 7%Mayo Street Arts: $40k → 7%Gateway Community Services Maine: $37k → 7%Gateway Community Services Maine: $34k → 7%Learning Works: $31k → 7%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$47M · 126 repeat orgs$676k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +39% since the first grant, against +18% for those funded once.

126 repeat relationships: 65 still active in FY2025, 61 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

126
32

Total granted

$47M
$606k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+39%
+18%

Still filing today

87%
78%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $70k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesHealthEducationYouth DevelopmentPhilanthropyFood & NutritionOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • PS
    PREBLE STREET
    9× · 2017–2025 · $4.2M · revenue +182%
  • BG
    Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine
    9× · 2017–2025 · $2.3M · revenue +341%
  • 2M
    211 Maine Inc
    9× · 2017–2025 · $1.5M · revenue +37%

Funded once

  • TM
    The Maine Behavioral Health Foundation
    one grant, 2017 · $100k · revenue -72% · 92% of their budget
  • CE
    COASTAL ENTERPRISES INC
    one grant, 2024 · $100k · revenue -50%
  • UW
    UNITED WAY OF NORTHERN NEW JERSEY INC
    one grant, 2023 · $90k · revenue +7%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Maine Council on Aging

A broad multi-disciplinary network that works to ensure we can all live healthy, engaged, and secure lives as we age in our homes and communities. With the voices of people with lived experience, we work on policy issues related to…

Unclassified
2
Penobscot Community Health Center

Penobscot Community Health Center (PCHC) is a non-profit organization incorporated in 1997 that is governed by a Board of community volunteers and is the largest Federally Qualified Health Center in Maine. PCHC is driven by its mission…

Health
3
Eastern Area Agency on Aging

It is the mission of Eastern Area Agency on Aging to be the best source of information, options, and services for seniors, adults with disabilities, and caregivers.

Human Services
4
Maine Needs Inc

We strive to help individuals and families in Maine meet their basic, material needs by providing donated clothing, hygiene products, household items, and other necessities. We focus our work on those starting life over from scratch:…

Human Services
5
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Maine Inc

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Maine creates, finds and supports programs that directly improve the health and well being of children statewide; provides affordable home away from home lodging which increases access to medical care for…

Health
6
Penobscot Bay Medical Center

Penobscot Bay Medical Center (PBMC) is an acute care hospital that offers inpatient and outpatient care, diagnostic, therapeutic and rehabilitative services, patient and community education, and a full range of specialty services through…

—
7
Community Health and Counseling Services

Providing Adult, children, and family mental health and social services. Providing home health and hospice services.

Health
8
Maine Pretrial Services

Provide low-income defendants assistance in obtaining pretrial release and supervision.

—
9
Maine GearShare

To provide access to outdoor gear and know-how through a collaborative, equity-centered approach.

Recreation & Sports
10
Maine Equal Justice Partners

Maine Equal Justice is a nonprofit legal aid and economic justice organization working to increase economic security, opportunity and equity for people in Maine.

Crime & Legal
11
Community Health and Nursing Services

Community Health and Nursing Services (CHANS) provides home health andcommunity health promotion services in Brunswick, Bath, andsurrounding communities.

Health
12
Maine Donor Alliance Fund

To build a permanent and powerful progressive movement in Maine. We will promote a healthy, just, equitable democracy through research, engagement, and education of Maine's citizens. We will engage in democracy expansion, voter engagement,…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Center for Grieving Children; the most unlike its peers is Portland Seamens Friend Society. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

148 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 148 of the 164 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

7
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
47
Early backer (in before they grew)
140/148
Grantees still filing
111/148
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

The Opportunity Alliance: $4,872,730 · OtherThe Opportunity AllianceCatholic Charities Maine: $3,493,773 · OtherCatholic Charities MaineCity of Portland: $2,153,452 · OtherCity of PortlandMaine Behavioral Healthcare: $2,118,337 · OtherMaine Behavioral Healthcare+66 more: $9,107,877 · Other+66 morePREBLE STREET: $4,194,908 · Human ServicesPREBLE STREETCatherine Morrill Day Nursery: $774,047 · Human ServicesCatherine Morrill Day …MAINE IMMIGRANTS' RIGHTS COALITION: $632,083 · Human ServicesMAINE IMMIGRANTS' RIGH…YORK COUNTY COMMUNITY ACTION CORPORATION: $615,947 · Human ServicesYORK COUNTY COMMUNITY …THROUGH THESE DOORS: $578,368 · Human ServicesTHROUGH THESE DOORSFREEPORT COMMUNITY SERVICES: $536,709 · Human ServicesFREEPORT COMMUNITY SER…REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM: $322,139 · Human Services+31 more: $1,746,965 · Human Services+31 moreDAY ONE: $1,526,007 · HealthDAY ONE211 Maine Inc: $1,513,895 · Health211 Maine IncMaineHealth Services: $1,097,713 · HealthMaineHealth Service…Northeast Hearing & Speech Center Inc: $730,092 · HealthNortheast Hearing &…MILESTONE RECOVERY: $592,054 · HealthMILESTONE RECOVERYCOMMUNITY DENTAL: $430,590 · HealthCOMMONSPACE: $429,128 · HealthTRI-COUNTY MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES: $338,019 · HealthMORRISON CENTER: $324,363 · Health+17 more: $1,467,356 · Health+17 moreBoys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine: $2,310,985 · Youth DevelopmentBoys & Gi…THE CENTER FOR GRIEVING CHILDREN: $909,960 · Youth DevelopmentTHE CENTE…My Place Teen Center Inc: $330,284 · Youth DevelopmentMy Place …+5 more: $293,084 · Youth Development+5 morePINE TREE LEGAL ASSISTANCE INC: $737,211 · Crime & LegalIMMIGRANT LEGAL ADVOCACY PROJECT: $369,674 · Crime & LegalLEGAL SERVICES FOR MAINE ELDERS INC: $327,198 · Crime & LegalAROOSTOOK COUNTY ACTION PROGRAM: $151,975 · Crime & Legal+1 more: $23,619 · Crime & LegalFRIENDS OF PORTLAND ADULT EDUCATION: $629,610 · EducationChildren's Odyssey: $375,060 · EducationEducate Maine: $156,611 · EducationHand in Hand Mano en Mano: $153,505 · EducationMAINE ASSOCIATION FOR THE EDUCATION OF YOUNG CHILDREN: $78,225 · EducationPortland Public Library: $75,380 · Education+4 more: $88,695 · EducationUnited Way Inc: $815,497 · PhilanthropyHEART OF MAINE UNITED WAY: $272,689 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF KENNEBEC VALLEY: $172,947 · PhilanthropyFoundation for Portland Public Schools: $124,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF NORTHERN NEW JERSEY INC: $90,000 · Philanthropy+2 more: $61,275 · Philanthropy
Other$21,746,169Human Services$9,401,166Health$8,449,217Youth Development$3,844,313Crime & Legal$1,609,677Education$1,557,086Philanthropy$1,536,408

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetPREBLE STREET: $4,194,908 over 9y, 4.0% of budgetBoys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine: $2,310,985 over 9y, 15% of budgetDAY ONE: $1,526,007 over 9y, 4.9% of budget211 Maine Inc: $1,513,895 over 9y, 16% of budgetMaineHealth Services: $1,097,713 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR GRIEVING CHILDREN: $909,960 over 9y, 12% of budgetUnited Way Inc: $815,497 over 6y, 2.2% of budgetCatherine Morrill Day Nursery: $774,047 over 9y, 10% of budgetPINE TREE LEGAL ASSISTANCE INC: $737,211 over 9y, 1.4% of budgetNortheast Hearing & Speech Center Inc: $730,092 over 9y, 4.7% of budgetYOUTH AND FAMILY OUTREACH: $663,095 over 9y, 12% of budgetMAINE IMMIGRANTS' RIGHTS COALITION: $632,083 over 5y, 10% of budgetFRIENDS OF PORTLAND ADULT EDUCATION: $629,610 over 4y, 93% of budgetYORK COUNTY COMMUNITY ACTION CORPORATION: $615,947 over 9y, 0.5% of budgetGoodwill Industries of Northern NE: $613,206 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetMILESTONE RECOVERY: $592,054 over 7y, 2.7% of budgetTHROUGH THESE DOORS: $578,368 over 9y, 4.3% of budgetFREEPORT COMMUNITY SERVICES: $536,709 over 9y, 13% of budgetUNITED WAY OF MID COAST MAINE INC: $530,835 over 9y, 9.5% of budgetYoung Mens Christian Association of Southern Maine: $493,822 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetAVESTA HOUSING DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $453,858 over 7y, 1.0% of budgetSpurwink Services Inc: $444,800 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY DENTAL: $430,590 over 8y, 2.3% of budgetCOMMONSPACE: $429,128 over 8y, 4.7% of budgetPORTLAND SEAMENS FRIEND SOCIETY: $427,933 over 8y, 97% of budgetMaine Association for New Americans: $427,224 over 5y, 16% of budgetPORTLAND HOUSING DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $408,413 over 7y, 7.1% of budgetChildren's Odyssey: $375,060 over 2y, 4.9% of budgetIMMIGRANT LEGAL ADVOCACY PROJECT: $369,674 over 9y, 3.6% of budgetBig Brothers Big Sisters of Southern ME: $360,269 over 7y, 18% of budgetUnited Way of York County: $343,111 over 5y, 21% of budgetTRI-COUNTY MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES: $338,019 over 9y, 0.5% of budgetMy Place Teen Center Inc: $330,284 over 9y, 8.6% of budgetLEGAL SERVICES FOR MAINE ELDERS INC: $327,198 over 9y, 2.6% of budgetMORRISON CENTER: $324,363 over 7y, 0.6% of budgetREGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM: $322,139 over 7y, 1.2% of budgetPENQUIS CAP INC: $275,328 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetHEART OF MAINE UNITED WAY: $272,689 over 9y, 2.3% of budgetA Company of Girls: $256,228 over 8y, 30% of budgetKENNEBEC VALLEY COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAM: $250,885 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetSEXUAL ASSAULT RESPONSE SERVICES OF SOUTHERN MAINE: $244,416 over 9y, 5.1% of budgetLEARNINGWORKS: $239,334 over 6y, 2.5% of budgetAMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTHEAST INC: $236,349 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetCommunity Concepts Inc: $228,703 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetWayside Food Programs: $219,446 over 8y, 6.4% of budgetPortland Community Health Center: $214,957 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetIn Her Presence: $197,164 over 4y, 14% of budgetPlanned Parenthood of Northern New England Inc: $195,210 over 9y, 0.2% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds PREBLE STREET ↗
  • Who funds Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine ↗
  • Who funds DAY ONE ↗
  • Who funds 211 Maine Inc ↗
  • Who funds MaineHealth Services ↗
  • Who funds THE CENTER FOR GRIEVING CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds United Way Inc ↗
  • Who funds Catherine Morrill Day Nursery ↗
  • Who funds PINE TREE LEGAL ASSISTANCE INC ↗
  • Who funds Northeast Hearing & Speech Center Inc ↗
  • Who funds YOUTH AND FAMILY OUTREACH ↗
  • Who funds MAINE IMMIGRANTS' RIGHTS COALITION ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF PORTLAND ADULT EDUCATION ↗
  • Who funds YORK COUNTY COMMUNITY ACTION CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds Goodwill Industries of Northern NE ↗
  • Who funds MILESTONE RECOVERY ↗
  • Who funds THROUGH THESE DOORS ↗
  • Who funds FREEPORT COMMUNITY SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF MID COAST MAINE INC ↗
  • Who funds Young Mens Christian Association of Southern Maine ↗
  • Who funds AVESTA HOUSING DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds Spurwink Services Inc ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY DENTAL ↗
  • Who funds COMMONSPACE ↗
  • Who funds PORTLAND SEAMENS FRIEND SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds Maine Association for New Americans ↗
  • Who funds PORTLAND HOUSING DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds Children's Odyssey ↗
  • Who funds IMMIGRANT LEGAL ADVOCACY PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern ME ↗
  • Who funds United Way of York County ↗
  • Who funds TRI-COUNTY MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds My Place Teen Center Inc ↗
  • Who funds LEGAL SERVICES FOR MAINE ELDERS INC ↗
  • Who funds MORRISON CENTER ↗
  • Who funds REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Sam L Cohen FoundationMaine Community Found…John T Gorman Foundat…Elmina B Sewall Found…Maine Health Access F…Saco & Biddeford Savi…Bangor Savings Bank F…Fisher Charitable Fou…Simmons Foundation - …Stephen & Tabitha Kin…Davis Family Foundati…Good Shepherd Food Ba…
Sam L Cohen FoundationME151.8× affinity74 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Sam L Cohen Foundation · Maine Community Foundation Inc · John T Gorman Foundation · Elmina B Sewall Foundation · Maine Health Access Foundation Inc · Saco & Biddeford Savings Charitable Foundation · Bangor Savings Bank Foundation · Fisher Charitable Foundation · Simmons Foundation - PerkinsThompson · Stephen & Tabitha King Foundation Inc · Davis Family Foundation · Good Shepherd Food Bank

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization United Way Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from United Way Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Children's Hospital Corporation: 10% of income from government
  • Washington County Community Action Council Inc: 7% of income from government
  • United Way of Northern New Jersey Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Planned Parenthood of Northern New England Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
51report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 164 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on United Way’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home