United Nations FCU’s Lessons From Global Philanthropy

Many credit unions focus on philanthropic initiatives in their local communities, but United Nations Federal Credit Union ($8.9B, Long Island City, NY) casts a wider net.

This year, UNFCU invested $893,750 in 20 grant partners in North America, Africa, and Europe, as well as humanitarian efforts. The grants, which range from $25,000 to $50,000, are made possible by the UNFCU Foundation, an accredited New York-based nonprofit corporation launched in 2015. It was established by the UNFCU with a mission to sustain the path out of poverty through healthcare and education for women and youth.

“UNFCU Foundation works to ensure that all women and youth can live up to their full potential,” says Yma Gordon, the foundation’s executive director. “Given global challenges and setbacks in poverty alleviation, we remain more focused than ever on localizing the UN sustainable development goals. Effective partnerships with our grantees and supporters alike, together with our Global Impact & Inclusion team, make this important work possible.”

In 2024 alone, grant partners’ work spans social entrepreneurships, food industry training, technology training, sustainable agriculture, social reintegration, and mental healthcare. The majority of its grant recipients represent organizations with whom the foundation has forged an established relationship. The provision to consider new grant applicants from charitable organizations with a performance track record also provides the foundation with a means of opportunity and insight.

“We also fund smaller grants through our Strategic Initiatives Fund as a way of partnering in a pilot mode,” says Tanya Sukkari, the foundation’s program manager.

The approach limits the foundation’s risk while allowing it to invest in an unproven organization that shows potential. At the same time, the foundation also works to become acquainted with new applicants to best understand their operations, project scope, evaluation process, and measures of success. This is an essential step in building trust and rapport.

“Just as our credit union provides financial peace of mind to its members, the UNFCU Foundation aims to build on the positive impact created by our support,” adds Gordon. “This means understanding organizations’ project challenges and their resiliency during uncertain economic times.”

UNFCU’s Global Sustainability Program has evolved to encompass more goals, a broader network, and more conversations with industry participants. Learn more in “Sustainability Spurs Industrywide Action At UNFCU.”.

Grantee Vetting

To make applying for a grant easier, the foundation provides a streamlined application online. The virtual process both aligns with standard philanthropic practices and saves applicants time.

To request a grant, established charitable organizations must formally respond to a set of criteria that affirms their status as a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) charitable organization, NGO, or UN system entity. The foundation favors grant applicants that demonstrate alignment with the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals and the mission of the UNFCU Foundation.

To be eligible for a UNFCU Foundation grant, more than 50% of the beneficiaries of the grant money must be women or girls. The foundation focuses its support on strategic locations. In 2024, those countries include Guatemala, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, and the United States.

The foundation hosts in-person meetings and events where grant recipients connect with each other and the broader UN community to share insights and best practices.

Awarding And Reporting

An 11-member advisory council comprising UNFCU employees and a representative from one of the foundation’s corporate sponsors brings a global perspective and a broad range of experience and technical skills to the process.

After being awarded a grant, recipients begin their extensive recordkeeping on supported projects driving positive change.

Grant partners must submit mid-year and full-year reports that provide results against key performance indicators. Their reports can detail the number of women who have completed a program, their accomplishment level, earned degrees or certifications, and obtained jobs, just to name a few examples.

“Beneficiary stories, together with goals and reports on their progress, form the basis for robust evaluation and communication to our supporters,” Gordon says. “In short, our efforts fill needed gaps in funding, and frequently enable projects to expand and enrich more lives. It’s great to hear directly from program managers and the women and youth on the ground about our impact.”

The foundation has tracked the number of women who have participated in digital and life skills programs or received training and secured jobs. UNFCU’s 2023 Impact Report includes foundation grant highlights, from projects helping girls gain accesses to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education to business ventures launched in the climate and agricultural sector. A forthcoming UNFCU Foundation Annual Report will include more about the effectiveness of the programs and fundraising activities last year.

Several years ago, the foundation implemented a multi-year grant for top-tier recipients that have demonstrated success and high productivity in the regions where they operate.

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A Look Forward

Every year yields important lessons the foundation carries forward into the next. In 2025, the foundation will celebrate its 10th anniversary of empowering women and youth
to overcome poverty.

“We are thrilled to build upon our momentum and partner with organizations that are positively changing the trajectory of the most underserved members of society. This creates agency for women and youth to thrive,” Gordon says.

Perhaps none of this would be possible without the guidance from the foundation’s board and deeply-rooted support from the credit union’s leadership, passionate staff, and supporters that include annual sponsors.

“The credit union provides a lot of in-kind support, especially in times of crisis when the need for help is immense,” Sukkari says. “The members trust the foundation to make the right investments when most needed.”

Of course, it’s not just the foundation that makes impactful investments. UNFCU is doing its part to be a responsible global organization, too. Last year, it advanced 14 out of 17 SDGs by all impact initiatives across the organization.

In addition to aligning its global impact with the SDGs as an extension of its service mission, UNFCU launched a United in Sustainability Network to lead a sustainability movement among credit unions. Localizing the SDGs remains at the center of its influence on the credit union industry.