United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona
ActivePhilanthropy & Voluntarism
About United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona
Building a thriving community by uniting people, ideas and resources so every child receives a high-quality education from birth to career, every adult has the opportunity to thrive financially and in the workplace, and every older person can retire and age with dignity and independence.
Focus Areas
educationfinancial wellnesshealthy livinghousing stabilityhomelessness servicescommunity convening211 referral services
Who They Fund
unspecified/non-targeted populationnonprofit organizations (general)
Funding Style
unrestricted/general operating supportflexible funding
About United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona
United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona Inc gives through a community-impact model built around education, financial wellness, healthy living, and housing stability and homelessness. Its largest recent grants in the data go repeatedly to Casa De Los Ninos, including $1,696,486 in 2023, $1,585,801 in 2024, and $1,098,771 in 2025, all listed as general use. That pattern sits alongside other large general-use awards to partners such as Easter Seals Blake Foundation, Child & Family Resources - Tucson, and Sunnyside Unified School District. The foundation’s priorities are organized around broad community conditions rather than a single service line, and the grant list shows that approach in practice: support reaches child and family services, schools, literacy work, aging services, and housing-related partners. The active program list also shows a dedicated Community Impact Fund, which allocates resources to partner organizations, collaborative partnerships, and community programs aligned with United Way’s strategic priorities. Across the recent grants provided, the work is concentrated locally in Tucson and Southern Arizona, with a strong emphasis on general operating support and partner funding rather than one-off project awards.
What United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona Funds
In education, the foundation supports both early learning and school-age success. Recent grants include $540,724 in 2025 to Sunnyside Unified School District, $299,859 in 2025 to Literacy Connects, and $152,431 in 2024 to Make Way for Books, all marked general use. The grant list also includes $145,000 in 2024 and $145,000 in 2023 to Early Childhood Development Group (ecdg), showing repeated support for early childhood work. Financial wellness appears through community partners as well, including $225,046 in 2025 to Goodwill Industries - Tucson for general use. Housing stability and older-adult housing are reflected in $153,043 in 2025 to Pima Council on Aging and $168,384 in 2025 to Catholic Community Services - Tucson, both consistent with the foundation’s housing and aging priorities.
How United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona Gives
The grant size distribution centers on mid-sized awards: the p25 is $8,090, the median is $17,687, and the p75 is $57,720. The recent-grants list also shows a smaller number of much larger general-use partner awards, including several in the hundreds of thousands. Recurring support is a clear pattern: Casa De Los Ninos, Child & Family Resources - Tucson, Easter Seals Blake Foundation, Sunnyside Unified School District, Goodwill Industries - Tucson, and Pima Council on Aging all appear in multiple years. The foundation’s structure is community-based and partner-oriented, with funding described as general-use, community investment, and nonprofit partner support. The active programs indicate broad eligibility within strategic priorities, while the website materials note that the core partner-funding model does not publish a public open application.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$6.8M
Total Assets
$22.1M
Total Revenue
$12.8M
Total Expenses
$15.1M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $8K and $58K, with a median of $18K.
25th Percentile
$8K
Median
$18K
75th Percentile
$58K
Geographic Reach
Local12 states funded
About 92% of grants go to recipients in AZ.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
TONY PENN
Accepts unsolicited proposals
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