Michigan · Nonprofit
UNITED WAY OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN
UNITED WAY OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN (Michigan) receives grants from 71 organizations whose IRS filings report $32,771,971 to it, the largest being WK Kellogg Foundation ($8,644,292). 47 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $23M
- Funders on record
- 71
- Grants received
- $33M
- Net assets
- $29M
What United Way of South Central Michigan does
Mission
We bring together the people, ideas and resources to lead with our communities and create a flourishing, equitable life for everyone.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Program investments: united way scmi (uwscmi) and its dedicated staff advance the common good by optimizing opportunities for systems change and improvement that address disparities. Areas of focus for investment include, but aren't limited to, financial stability, education, health, and basic needs. Community investments in last fiscal year: battle creek/kalamazoo -- $2,780,430 invested in 60 programs through 59 agency partners. Capital area -- $245,000 invested in 18 programs through 18 agency partners and 3 collaboratives. Jackson county -- $300,000 invested in 19 programs at 17 agencies.
$3,304,223 spentof which $3,304,223 as grants17% of program spendingCommunity impact & initiatives: uwscmi drives systems change and improvement through diverse community partnerships, assessment, advocacy, volunteerism, and collaboration to understand and address community needs collectively and strategically via program partnerships, uwscmi-driven initiatives and measurable outcomes. Examples of impact & initiatives in last fiscal year:program assistance center -- a michigan energy assistance program providing households with direct energy assistance to pay heat and electric bills. Participants complete a needs assessment so they are connected with non-energy assistance services they need. 5,491 households received energy security/self-sufficiency programming or referrals. 3,990 households were served using state funding and funding from consumers energy.volunteer income tax assistance (vita) -- voluntary income tax assistance (vita) is one of uwscmi's core programs, providing free tax preparation services for households earning below $69,000. The vita program operates in five counties in michigan: clinton, eaton, ingham, kalamazoo, and shiawassee. In the 2025 tax season, uwscmi's vita program served 5,400 households, who collectively received…
$5,312,579 spent28% of program spendingDonor designations: uwscmi allows donors to designate gifts to other united ways or other qualifying agencies, further expanding community impact.
$2,206,793 spentof which $2,206,793 as grants11% of program spendingUwscmi also creates 'value-add' within the regional community through its unique position to convene, connect and engage community organizations, institutions and people to create collaborative opportunities to address needs, leverage funding from sources other than annual campaign, and lead collective/shared efforts around education, advocacy and impact.examples in the past fiscal year include:merger in 2022 -- united ways in battle creek/kalamazoo, capital area (lansing and surrounding counties) and jackson county merged to create United Way of South Central Michigan. The merger taps new sources of funding, creates new partnerships, advocates for racial and economic equity more effectively, and takes a bigger role in leading the impact that the individual united ways could not do by themselves. Key accomplishments during 2022 included nearly $26 million in local and regional impact, leading two 21-day equity challenges, building new and diverse partnerships, and earning awards for impact and communication.disaster relief fund -- a regional, evergreen response fund to serve as a vehicle for private and public investment for basic needs in the event of a crisis. This fund was…
$8,423,262 spentof which $8,423,262 as grants44% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $19,246,857.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $22M to $32M (+46%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2023 34% · 2024 54% · 2025 53%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
96% of UNITED WAY OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (80% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Christipher Sargent
President & CEO
Board chair
Stephanie Slingerland
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 14 funders to 44 funders, grant income rose $2.2M → $5.4M.
14 of 71 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 25% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $1.5M from one payer (an institutional transfer, not a grant programme, largest Kellogg Company Twenty-Five Year Employees Fund); $1.2M from 13 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Capital Region Community Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money UNITED WAY OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN raised.
From the IRS filings of UNITED WAY OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 71 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
UNITED WAY OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 26% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
42% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund UNITED WAY OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 33% · 2018 31% · 2019 28% · 2020 46% · 2021 62% · 2022 19% · 2023 33% — broadly stable.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
68% of UNITED WAY OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 66% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
93% of UNITED WAY OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN's grant income comes from Michigan funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $8.1M arriving through sponsors registered in 12 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
UNITED WAY OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN is better cushioned than half of the 490 philanthropy nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 490 philanthropy nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding UNITED WAY OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.8M on record.
- Department of the Treasury$785k
- Department of Housing and Urban Development$650k
- Small Business Administration$307k
- Department of Agriculture$76k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like UNITED WAY OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Michigan
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
87% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
82%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for UNITED WAY OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds UNITED WAY OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN?
- UNITED WAY OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN (Michigan) receives grants from 71 organizations whose IRS filings report $32,771,971 to it, the largest being WK Kellogg Foundation ($8,644,292). 47 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does UNITED WAY OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN have?
- IRS filings report 71 organizations giving $32,771,971 in grants to UNITED WAY OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN, 47 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of UNITED WAY OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN?
- WK Kellogg Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $8,644,292 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like UNITED WAY OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Michigan. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 71 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing