Kentucky · Nonprofit
UNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN KENTUCKY INC
UNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN KENTUCKY INC (Kentucky) receives grants from 45 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,551,334 to it, the largest being THE BLACKBAUD GIVING FUND ($437,779). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 55% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.2M
- Funders on record
- 45
- Grants received
- $2.6M
- Net assets
- $4.0M
What United Way of Southern Kentucky Inc does
Mission
To be the leader in bringing together the resources to build a stronger, more caring community.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Fund distribution:united way of southern kentucky's fund distribution process allocated $1,046,109 to programs serving the 10-county service area. Funding was awarded to more than 50 programs impacting united way of southern kentucky's seven priority focus areas of education: kindergarten readiness, college & career readiness; income: workforce development; health: access to affordable health care, safe home & community; safety net: access to basic needs and transportation. This volunteer-driven process concentrates on a program's ability to address the root cause of issues rather than treating the symptoms. In addition to the fund distribution program, a hallmark of united way, an additional $32,634 in donor directed contributions were processed and distributed.
$1,125,788 spentof which $1,046,109 as grants51% of program spendingKindergarten readiness:in order to ensure children have the skills needed to enter kindergarten ready to learn, united way continued the kindergarten readiness campaign that started in 2016/17 to help educate parents about how to better prepare their children for day one of kindergarten. As part of this effort, united way encourages parents to read, play, count, and log off with their children. Parents can log onto the united way microsite mychildisready.com to find information to determine if their child is kindergarten ready and if not, how they can adapt everyday activities to increase the level of their child's readiness. Another critical component in united way's work in early childhood education is the expansion of an additional born learning trail, and united way continues to expand its efforts to enroll eligible children in the dolly parton imagination library program. Since united way began the management and facilitation of the program in 2011, more than 798,368 books have been distributed; between july 2024 and june 2025 a total of 108,835 books were distributed.
$506,478 spentof which $200,000 as grants$500,166 earned by the program23% of program spendingSouthern kentucky 2-1-1:in july 2024 southern kentucky 2-1-1 completed its ninth year of information and referral services to the residents of the allen, barren, butler, edmonson, hart, logan, metcalfe, monroe, simpson and warren counties. In january 2021 text services became available, adding another way those in need could reach out to 2-1-1. In fy2025, southern kentucky 2-1-1 provided more than 9,421 contacts with information about utility assistance, food pantries, rent assistance, emergency shelter, childcare, employment, transportation, and clothing, and more. Contacts via telephone or text are answered 24/7/365, and our online public search about available services can be accessed through www.navigateresources.net/uwsk/. In january 2025, southern kentucky 2-1-1 became the service provider for the central kentucky counties of hardin, breckenridge, grayson, larue, and meade. The opening of southern kentucky 2-1-1 in july 2016 made information about community services available to more than 60% of kentuckians, and in 2021, 2-1-1 services became available state-wide. Since opening, a total of 68,693 contacts have come into the center.
$454,730 spent$408,811 earned by the program21% of program spendingUwsk coordinates many direct impact services to our communities. In the 2024/25 fiscal year $122,265 was distributed to area organizations in flexible support grants for one-time requests that are outside of our annual fund distribution process. Additionally united way held annual feed the need food drive and day of caring events, and worked to continue public awareness of the importance of early childhood education.
$110,063 spentof which $143,897 as grants$36,851 earned by the program5% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,197,059.
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 2021 to 2022, from $4.6M to $6.8M (+48%).
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: 2021 5% · 2022 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
62% of UNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN KENTUCKY INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (82% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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
Debbie Hills
President/CEO
Board chair
Milli Mcintosh
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 14 funders, grant income rose $15k → $347k.
12 of 45 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 55% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of UNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN KENTUCKY INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 45 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 SOUTHERN KENTUCKY INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 17% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
67% 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 SOUTHERN KENTUCKY INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 67% · 2018 67% · 2019 84% · 2020 42% · 2021 18% · 2022 15% · 2023 59% — diversifying over time.
“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
64% of UNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN KENTUCKY INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 47% 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
55% of UNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN KENTUCKY INC's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $1.1M that is directly attributable, 94% of it comes from funders outside Kentucky, across 19 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.4M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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 SOUTHERN KENTUCKY INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 1,645 philanthropy nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,645 philanthropy nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like UNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN KENTUCKY INC
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 Kentucky
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
78% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
94%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for UNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN KENTUCKY INC: 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 SOUTHERN KENTUCKY INC?
- UNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN KENTUCKY INC (Kentucky) receives grants from 45 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,551,334 to it, the largest being THE BLACKBAUD GIVING FUND ($437,779). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 55% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does UNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN KENTUCKY INC have?
- IRS filings report 45 organizations giving $2,551,334 in grants to UNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN KENTUCKY INC, 21 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of UNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN KENTUCKY INC?
- THE BLACKBAUD GIVING FUND is the largest funder on record, with $437,779 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like UNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN KENTUCKY INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Kentucky. 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 45 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