UNITED WAY OF ILLINOIS VALLEY INC

What UNITED WAY OF ILLINOIS VALLEY INC does

United Way of Illinois Valley Inc is a volunteer-led nonprofit organization affiliated with United Way of America, headquartered in Peru, Illinois (LaSalle County). It operates as a community fundraising and resource coordination hub rather than a direct service provider, mobilizing donations through an annual campaign, corporate Pacesetter pledges (minimum $500), community events (celebrity bartending, Taste of the Illinois Valley, golf outings, holiday raffles), and in-kind contributions. The organization does not develop proprietary technology; its core "platform" is a coordinated funding mechanism that distributes resources to 15 vetted partner agencies across LaSalle County and parts of Bureau and Putnam Counties.

Its service portfolio is built around three interconnected programs: the Annual Campaign Fundraising initiative, the Partner Agency Grant Programs that channel donations to local non-profits addressing abuse prevention, mental health counseling, food assistance, senior services, disability services, and youth development, and the HUSKY Program School Supply Drive, which distributed supplies to 4,509 of 9,339 eligible K-8 students. Funded grantees include LaSalle County CASA, Prairie State Legal Services, Youth Service Bureau of Illinois Valley, Mendota Area Senior Services, Lighted Way Association, Illinois Valley Center for Independent Living, Horizon House, Safe Journeys, the Child Advocacy Center (Dani-Brandon Center for Children), Illinois Valley Food Pantry, Center for Youth & Family Services (Catholic Charities), Bridges Senior Center, and Voluntary Action Center.

The business model is purely donation-based: there are no product sales or fee-for-service revenue streams. Approximately 99% of pledges are retained locally, and an all-volunteer Board of Directors governs allocation decisions supported by roughly 30 Community Investment volunteers. The organization is led by Executive Director Betha Ghighi (promoted from Assistant Executive Director in 2024) and President Madison Coleman, with a 17-member Board drawn from local banking, healthcare, manufacturing, insurance, and education institutions. The 2026 Annual Campaign kicked off September 1 and reached 90.8% of goal, with three new partner agencies added to grant programs for the cycle.

Name

UNITED WAY OF ILLINOIS VALLEY INC

Legal name

United Way of Illinois Valley Inc

Website

https://unitedwayiv.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

United Way of Illinois Valley Inc is a volunteer-led nonprofit in Peru, Illinois that runs an annual fundraising campaign and distributes donations to 15 vetted partner agencies delivering health and human services across LaSalle, Bureau, and Putnam Counties.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Human Services

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Civic and Social Organizations (8134)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Federated Giving Organizations (e.g., United Way-type) (BPAGAKAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Affordable Housing & Community Development (Housing, Community Land Trusts) (BPAGALAC)

Keywords

• Community fundraising campaigns
• Human service programs
• Nonprofit grant funding
• Charitable donation coordination
• Partner agency services

Headquarters

HQ city

Peru

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Annual Campaign Donations: The primary revenue stream comes from annual fundraising campaigns where donations are pooled from individuals throughout the community. Contributions are invested in local partner agencies supporting health and human service programs in the Illinois Valley region.
2. Corporate Pacesetter Contributions: Major corporate donors pledge at least $500 as Pacesetters to kick-start the annual fundraising campaign. These corporate partnerships provide significant early momentum for the campaign year.
3. Fundraising Event Proceeds: Revenue generated from community fundraising events including celebrity bartending events (raised nearly $11,000 at one event), Taste of the Illinois Valley ($1,200 raised), golf outings, and holiday raffles.
4. In-Kind Gifts: The organization receives in-kind contributions including school supplies for the HUSKY Program that serves economically disadvantaged students in area public schools.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

United Way of Illinois Valley is a volunteer-led nonprofit organization that pools charitable donations through annual fundraising campaigns and distributes funds to 15 local partner agencies delivering health and human services across LaSalle, Bureau, and Putnam Counties in Illinois. The organization also directly administers programs such as the HUSKY School Supply Drive for economically disadvantaged students and operates a community resource directory connecting residents with local service providers.

Product overview

United Way of Illinois Valley is a volunteer-led non-profit organization operating as a single integrated service offering rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The organization operates three interconnected programs: an Annual Campaign Fundraising initiative that mobilizes community donations, a Partner Agency Grant Program that distributes funds to 15 vetted non-profit agencies addressing community needs, and the School Supply Drive/HUSKY Program providing educational supplies to economically disadvantaged students. These programs work together to fulfill the organization's mission of improving quality of life by efficiently gathering and distributing community resources to priority health and human service needs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Annual Campaign Fundraising Annual fundraising campaign that mobilizes community donations from individuals and corporations to fund health and human service programs distributed through 15 partner agencies across Bureau, Putnam, and LaSalle Counties.
• Partner Agency Grant Programs Coordinates grant funding to 15 vetted local non-profit partner agencies providing services including abuse prevention, mental health counseling, food assistance, senior services, disability services, and youth development.
• HUSKY School Supply Drive Provides school supplies to economically disadvantaged K-8 students in area public schools who qualify for the federal free lunch program, serving 4,509 of 9,339 eligible students.
• Community Service Directory Online directory connecting community members with vetted local service agencies across categories including abuse prevention, disability advocacy, alcohol and drug assistance, counseling, mental health, financial and housing aid, food and nutrition services, and senior citizen services.

Quantifiable outcome

• 40,000+ people positively impacted by UW IV Services
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• LaSalle County CASAcoreOthersCourt Appointed Special Advocates program that advocates for the best interests of abused and neglected children in the LaSalle County court system. Located at 707 E. Etna Road, Ottawa, IL. 61350.
• Prairie State Legal ServicescoreOthersNon-profit legal services program helping low income persons resolve legal problems impacting basic human needs. Located at 1021 Clinton St., Ottawa, IL.
• Youth Service Bureau of Illinois ValleycoreOthersHelps young people and families succeed by serving them in their home, school and community. Provides supervised development and educational programs to infants and grade school aged individuals. Located at 424 W Madison St., Ottawa, IL.
• Mendota Area Senior ServicescoreOthersProvides needed transportation services to elderly citizens in rural areas of ten townships in LaSalle County. Located at 1901 Tom Merwin Drive, Mendota, IL. 61342.
• Lighted Way AssociationcoreOthersValues each student as an individual, strives to improve quality of life for students with disabilities and integrates students into their community. Located at 941 Sixth Street, LaSalle, IL. 61301.
• Illinois Valley Center for Independent LivingcoreOthersEnlightens persons with disabilities and their families about their rights; empowers persons with disabilities to assume maximum responsibility to realize their potentials. Located at 18 Gunia Dr., LaSalle, IL. 61301.
• Horizon HousecoreOthersProvides respite to prevent institutionalization, gives families a break from ongoing care of special needs family members. Located at 2000 Plank Road, Peru, IL. 61354.
• Safe JourneyscoreOthersSexual assault services and domestic violence services including crisis line, emergency shelter, advocacy, supportive counseling and prevention education. Located at PO Box 593, Streator, IL. 61364.
• Child Advocacy Center (Dani-Brandon Center for Children)coreOthersLaSalle County's Children's Advocacy Center focused on minimizing trauma to and supporting safety of child victims of sexual and/or serious physical abuse. Located at 1521 LaSalle St., Ottawa, IL. 61350.
• Illinois Valley Food PantrycoreOthersProvides food and material assistance in kind to persons or families unable to provide for their basic requirements. Located at 136 Marquette St., LaSalle, IL. 61301.
• Center for Youth & Family Services (Catholic Charities)coreOthersCatholic Charities Counseling Program helps community members improve their relations and ability to function in their roles at home, work, school or community through affordable counseling services. Located at 815 Second St., LaSalle, IL. 61301.
• Bridges Senior CentercoreOthersProvides older people and caregivers with education, recreation programs, classes, information, assistance, help with forms and outreach. Located at 628 Columbus St., Ste 203, Ottawa, IL.
• Voluntary Action CentercoreOthersSupports community needs through nutrition and transportation programs operating in DeKalb, Kendall, LaSalle, Bureau, and Putnam Counties, IL. Located at 1840 St. Vincent Avenue, LaSalle, IL. 61301.
• United Way of AmericacoreOthersNational affiliation providing membership benefits. Local dues are only 1% of amount raised locally, in return for benefits worth many times more than the small investment.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• United Way of Central Illinois: Decatur/Springfield-area United Way affiliate with a multi-county service area and the same partner-agency grant distribution structure, directly comparable as a regional Illinois UW peer.
• Heart of Illinois United Way: Peoria-based United Way affiliate covering a multi-county central Illinois region with the same community-investment volunteer model and partner-agency grant programs.
• United Way of Champaign County: A mid-size Illinois United Way affiliate running the same annual campaign / partner-agency funding model for Champaign County, structurally and operationally comparable to UW IV.
• United Way of Danville Area: Vermilion County United Way affiliate operating a near-identical annual campaign and partner-agency funding model in a comparable rural/small-city Illinois market.
• United Way of Kankakee County: Small Illinois-based United Way affiliate that runs an annual campaign, partner-agency grants, and volunteer-led community investment process comparable in scale and structure.
• United Way of McLean County: Bloomington-Normal United Way affiliate operating the same annual campaign / community-investment funding framework for a similarly-sized Illinois county footprint.

Broad incumbents

• United Way of America (parent network): The national United Way federation of which UW IV is an affiliate; provides the brand, infrastructure, and 1% dues-funded services that local affiliates like UW IV rely on.

Emerging players

• Community Foundation of the Illinois River Valley: Local LaSalle/Ottawa-area community foundation that competes for charitable dollars in the same Illinois Valley geography, with an endowment-based grantmaking model rather than annual campaigns.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/UnitedWayIV
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/united-way-of-illinois-valley-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about UNITED WAY OF ILLINOIS VALLEY INC