Registered non-profit organizations looking for funding and support can now apply to become a United Way Estevan member agency. Applications for the 2026 funding cycle are open, with a deadline of April 24.
To qualify, organizations must be registered charities that fit one of United Way’s three focus areas.
“Our three focus areas that we fund are bringing people from poverty to possibility, helping kids be all that they can be, and also building safer and healthier communities,” said executive director Heidi Hesselink. “Also, we need completed financial documents, a budget of the project so that we know what the money is going to be spent on, and just a little bit more information about the organization itself.”
Applications are accepted once per year, with those submitted in April considered for funding the following year.
“We take member agency applications once per year. We also do some community impact funding for shorter projects,” Hesselink said. “That community impact funding is available to organizations that are not necessarily a registered charity, and those projects and partnerships develop throughout the year.”
Current member agencies vary in type, including St. Joseph’s Hospital Auxiliary and the Estevan Public Youth Centre.
“It’s quite a variety of community organizations that apply for member agency. As long as they are meeting our three focus areas, we will take an application,” Hesselink said.
There is no set number of approved agencies.
“We base our member agency applications or approve our member agency applications based on the amount that we think we can raise at the telethon,” she said. “We will take as many applications as we get, then review them, rate them and then decide how much each member agency will get of the amount that we think we can raise at the telethon.”
Hesselink said United Way Estevan and its member agencies work together to make the community as strong as possible.
“When we partner with these member agencies, that means that we also support them through our social media, we expect them to come to the telethon to share with the community what it is they do, and we work in any way that we can with those agencies throughout the year.”
Those local non-profits interested in applying can request an application by contacting admin@unitedwayestevan.com.