What is United Co-op Appeal

It’s a workplace giving program that raises funds for cooperative development through payroll deductions at cooperatives and cooperative organizations that make UCA available to their employees.  Since it was established in 1992, it has raised over $1.5 million dollars for cooperative development organizations.

How does it work?

In some cooperative organizations UCA may be the only workplace giving program that’s available to employees.  In other organizations UCA will be offered in combination with another workplace giving program like United Way, America’s Charities, etc.  Like all workplace giving programs, a campaign is held in the Fall of each year to collect pledges for contributions that will be deducted from employee paychecks through the following calendar year.  All organizations hosting the campaign send checks to CDF on a periodic basis for the amounts collected throughout the calendar year from their employees’ payroll deductions.  CDF then disburses the contributions to recipient groups based on the pledges made in support of each organization.

What % of the funds raised are available to recipient organizations?

100% of every dollar contributed goes to recipient organizations thanks to both the generosity of the Nationwide Insurance Foundation and the Cooperative Development Foundation.  Nationwide Insurance Foundation provides CDF with a grant to cover most of the administrative costs and CDF has waived its administrative fee and covers any additional costs associated with the UCA campaign.

Who is Eligible to be a UCA Recipient Organization?

All organizations engaged in cooperative development that are a 501(c)(3) non-profit, as well as organizations engaged in cooperative development that do not yet have that status but have a fiscal agent that is a qualified 501(c)(3) non-profit.

What are the requirements to participate in UCA?

There is no fee for participating, but there are three basic requirements:

1. All recipient organizations must complete the UCA application;
2. All recipient organizations must offer the UCA campaign to their own employees; and,
3. All recipient organizations must recruit a minimum of 5 organizations to host the UCA campaign (CDF will assist as much as possible once the recipient organization makes the initial contact with the 5 organizations).

Why should you participate in the UCA campaign?

• It’s a source of unrestricted funds.  As you know, it gets harder every day to find sources of contributions that aren’t restricted for specific uses.  The contributions you receive from the United Co-op Appeal campaign are totally unrestricted.  You can use them to cover operational costs or whatever other funding priorities you have.
• You can leverage contributions for your own organization.  The more organizations you recruit who are familiar with your work, the higher the likelihood that you will receive a larger share of the total funds raised for UCA.  The total amount you receive is based on total dollars received in both “designated” and “undesignated” contributions.  “Designated” contributions are the dollars pledged specifically to your organization; “undesignated” contributions are those that are pledged to the overall campaign for distribution among the recipient groups.  The undesignated funds include a $15,000 contribution from Nationwide Insurance Foundation. The proportion you receive of “undesignated” funds is the same percentage as your pledges represented in the total “designated” pot.  So, the more work you do to secure “designated” contributions, the more you’ll also receive in the distribution of “undesignated” funds.
• It’s also an opportunity to get more visibility for your organization and the work you do.  The UCA campaign materials will be distributed to all host organizations and they also will be posted on the CDF website.