United Way of Southeast Mississippi is a local nonprofit organization that strives to make a positive impact in Forrest, Lamar, Marion, and Perry Counties. By providing funds to partnering agencies, United Way addresses community issues in the impact areas of education, economic mobility, health, and support services. With the help of many dedicated volunteers, we work to use the community’s donations as effectively as possible to meet the needs of our area.
We encourage everyone to join us in our efforts to LIVE UNITED.
Our Mission
Cultivate partnerships in our community to improve lives through education, economic mobility and healthy living.
Our Vision
United Way of Southeast Mississippi will be the catalyst for change, transforming the quality of life in our community.
Funds Distribution
The Community Impact Committee is comprised of about 35 volunteers representing a cross section of the community. The committee assesses how local non-profit agencies are meeting the community’s needs in the areas of education, economic mobility, health and support services. After carefully reviewing grant applications and conducting in-person interviews, the committee evaluates the most effective way to distribute United Way funds to the agencies that have applied. It is the committee’s responsibility to ensure that each donor’s campaign contributions are invested in closely-monitored local programs.
To view details about how much funding is provided to the agencies, view our most recent annual report.
Designated Donations
Donations designated to specific agencies are allocated by separate stream funding. This means that the designations, less applicable campaign expenses, are paid directly to qualified agencies.
Donor Privacy Policy
Your privacy is important to us. We believe that you should have control over who receives the personal information you provide to us as a donor (such as your name, address, zip/postal code, e-mail address, telephone number). We will not sell, share or trade our donors ‘names or personal information with any other entity, nor send mailings to our donors on behalf of other organizations. To the extent any donations are processed through a third-party service provider, our donors’ information will only be used for purposes necessary to process the donation. Sensitive data, such as credit/debit card numbers, are processed using industry standard security measures. United Way of Southeast Mississippi will hold all information obtained from or about donors in strictest confidence. When anonymity is requested on a current pledge or gift, we do not publish names, amounts or gift conditions, with the exception of requests for information by government agencies and courts, and all legally required tax and regulatory findings. If a donor’s gift is designated to another charity, we provide the name, contact information, and amount of the donation to that charity unless the donor requests anonymity on the current pledge form.
