The Shawano Area United Way is aiming to get $100,000 during its 2026 campaign in hopes of helping out some community nonprofits.
United Way is already 15% of the way to the goal, according to Uriah Williams, executive director. However, the local organization has set $100,000 goals for the last few years and not quite reached them. Williams said the 2025 campaign brought in $89,000.
Getting $100,000 means that half of it would go to the nonprofits seeking funding, while the rest would go toward keeping existing United Way programming going, according to Williams.
“It’s a pretty doable goal, I think,” he said. “It just requires the community support to make it happen.”
The 2026 campaign has been in full swing for several weeks with fundraisers and other projects, and it will continue through Dec. 18, Williams said.
To help encourage people to open their wallets and purses, United Way is making a number of social media posts each week and sending press releases to area media letting people know what it is doing.
“We have a videographer who we worked with this year each Friday, and we’re highlighting another partner agency that we helped fund this year,” Williams said. “We do interviews with them, and we talk about what United Way services provide.”
United Way will be sharing campaign updates on Saturdays showing how far along fundraising is going, according to Williams.
“In addition to our social media campaign, we are sending out articles to our media partners,” he said.
For those who might need a little time to come up with donations, Giving Tuesday might be the day to send them in, according to Williams. Thrivent Financial will be matching donations for United Way on that day, Dec. 1.
“That’s a pretty significant match that Thrivent is doing while encouraging donors,” Williams said. “So, if they want to wait until after Thanksgiving, on Dec. 1, giving through Thrivent is a good idea.”
The more people can give, the better, Williams is recommending, as the total requests from nonprofits are up 37%. Last year, nonprofits sought $103,000 combined from United Way, while this year’s requests top $142,000.
“They’re from about 20 different agencies,” Williams said. “It’s a big ask that the nonprofit community sends our way, and we can’t fund those unless we have the funding from the community to support them. When you donate to United Way, you’re not supporting just one nonprofit. The donations support quite a few.”
Williams added that 14 nonprofits were helped from 2025 funds totaling $43,000, meaning that United Way was not able to fund even 50% of the requests.
Funding for the agency itself, however, is needed more than ever, as well. Williams noted that the local United Way has taken on a more regional leadership role.
United Way has formed a food coalition to address systemic and root causes of food insecurity. Williams said that coalition meets quarterly.
“Currently, we’re working on some emergency management planning,” he said. “We’re thinking about, God forbid, a tornado happening like in Menasha here; but how do we prepare for it from a food standpoint to make sure everybody gets to eat?”
United Way has also started a housing coalition to address affordable housing in Shawano and Menominee counties. Williams said it’s not a role United Way has taken on previously in the area, but it’s logical that the benevolent organization takes on the task.
“That has been a fascinating role to play,” Williams said. “We have representatives from the city of Shawano, Shawano County government, various nonprofits in the area. We’ve had a couple of developers and a Realtor come, so we have a multi-sector effort addressing how we provide equitable housing for all people.”
The housing coalition plans to develop a strategic plan for three to five years that is expected to be completed in September 2027.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
