VtSHARES

VtSHARES

Vermont State Employees Workplace Giving Campaign

Every year, Vermont’s State Employees give hundreds of thousands of dollars to Vermont’s nonprofits. Since 1978, these donations have totaled nearly $11 million dollars!

Green Mountain United Way works with a committee of State employees and United Ways around the state to organize this fundraising campaign each year. The campaign offers employees with the State of Vermont the opportunity to designate payroll deduction donations to nonprofit organizations serving Vermonters, including United Ways around the state and their partners.

Each United Way, called an “Umbrella organization,” oversees the nonprofit organizations in their coverage area. United Way of Windham County acts as the Umbrella organization for nonprofits headquartered in and serving Vermonters within Windham County.

How to Apply

Application Dates

Nonprofit organizations must apply each year to participate in the program. The nonprofit application follows this schedule each year:

  • April 1 through May 15: Application is open for nonprofits to apply. The application is an online form. When the application is open, the link to the application will be posted below.

  • July: Nonprofits are notified of their approval.

  • Late October / early November: The campaign runs in the last week of October and first week of November, every year.

Eligibility Criteria

A committee reviews each application. To be eligible to participate, nonprofits must:

  • be a registered 501c3 nonprofit,

  • have been in operation for at least two years,

  • serve Vermont, and

  • be in good standing with the Secretary of State.

Application Process

Every year, each nonprofit must apply by completing the following:

  1. The VtSHARES online application form.

  2. Compliance form. This form needs to be downloaded, filled out, and emailed to Sarah Galbraith at sgalbraith@gmunitedway.org.

  3. For nonprofits that did not participate in the previous year, please email your letter from the IRS showing federal tax-exempt status to Sarah Galbraith at sgalbraith@gmunitedway.org.

  4. Good standing with the Secretary of State. Make sure your listing is current and in good standing before applying.

  5. Submit a story and photo (optional). The online form invites nonprofits to submit a story about that demonstrates the impact of your organization’s work. A photo may also be submitted by emailing one to Sarah Galbraith at sgalbraith@gmunitedway.org.

Results and Payout Schedule

Nonprofits will receive their results and payments from their Umbrella United Way, which is the United Way that serves their region. They are:

  • Green Mountain United Way: Bennington, Caledonia, Essex, Orange, Orleans, and Washington counties

  • United Way of Northwest Vermont: Franklin and Grand Isle Counties

  • United Way of Addison County

  • United Way of Lamoille County

  • United Way of Rutland County

  • United Way of Windham County

Each United Way operates on a different schedule. Any nonprofit can always reach out to their Umbrella United Way to learn more about their schedule.

For those served by United Way of Windham County, the payment schedule is following:

  • Donations are collected during the calendar year following the campaign; for a campaign in October/November 2024, the donations are collected from January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025.

  • Designation letters are sent in the spring each year. Following with the example here, they would be sent in April 2025. These letters include the total donation amount, the administrative fees, quarterly payment amount and donor information, where provided (some do choose to be anonymous).

  • Payments are made in quarterly amounts, as funds are received by the employer beginning that Spring into the following fall/winter. In the example used here, payments would be made in November 2026, January 2027, March 2027, and May 2027.

Administrative Fees

Green Mountain United Way coordinates this program with support from the State of Vermont, other United Ways, and a small administrative fee of 0.76% deducted from each payment to each nonprofit. United Way of Windham County does not deduct administrative or processing fees from designation payments to nonprofits.