The annual United Way Awards honor outstanding donors, volunteers, businesses and agency partners for their hard work and commitment to our community. The 2007 winners will be unveiled next spring, and recipients will be honored at our annual Community Celebration on June 27, 2008. Please note that the applications are due by February 1, 2008.

Community Spirit Award

The Community Spirit Award is the highest tribute United Way pays to the organization that best exemplifies the spirit of caring for the people of our community through its corporate social responsibility efforts through United Way. This selection is made from those organizations demonstrating excellence across the five Pillars Awards.

To be considered for a Community Spirit Award complete applications for all five Pillar Awards. Two Community Spirit Awards are awarded each year—one to an organization with 250 or more employees and one to an organization with 250 or fewer employees.

Pillar Awards

The United Way Pillar Awards recognize organizations that excel in specific areas of their support to United Way: Corporate Support, Employee Support, Leadership and Tocqueville Giving, Volunteerism and Communications. Candidates are free to apply for one or more Pillar Awards.

Corporate Support Pillar
The Corporate Support Pillar recognizes the organization that best aligns its philanthropic goals around strengthening our Chicagoland community and demonstrates it commitment by providing generous financial and/or in-kind support to United Way.

Employee Support Pillar
The Employee Support Pillar recognizes the organization that best provides employees ample opportunity to invest in their community and the people in it by contributing to United Way.

Leadership Giving and Tocqueville Pillar
The Leadership Giving and Tocqueville Pillar recognizes the organization whose employees demonstrate extraordinary generosity through contributing Leadership ($1,000+) and Tocqueville ($10,000+) gifts to United Way.

Volunteerism Pillar
The Volunteerism Pillar recognizes the organization that best promotes, encourages and supports its employee’s involvement in our community through hands-on volunteerism through United Way.

Communications Pillar
The Communications Pillar recognizes the organization that strategically and effectively raises visibility and awareness through outstanding communication to employees about the impact United Way makes in the Chicagoland community.

Leo Perlis Labor Participation Award

The Leo Perlis Labor Participation Award recognizes the local union that excels in their support of and involvement in United Way to ensure the success of a workplace campaign. Named after the former Director of the National AFL-CIO Community Service Program who was extremely instrumental in forging United Way’s earliest partnerships with organized labor.

Frances Wisebart Jacobs Award

*Campaign Leader (CL) formerly named Employee Campaign Coordinator (ECC)
Named after one of the founders of the national United Way movement, the Frances Wisebart Jacobs Award recognizes the individual who works in a most exemplary way during their workplace campaign and throughout the year, to educate and inspire employees to invest in their community through United Way.

Diversity Award

The Diversity Award recognizes the organization that best demonstrates its commitment to create an inclusive and flexible workplace that enables individuals to embrace their diversity, richness of backgrounds and varying perspectives. The winning organization also supports, promotes, implements it own diversity initiatives or events, and when appropriate incorporates the United Way Diversity programs throughout its workplace campaign.

Growth & Innovation Award

The Growth & Innovation Award recognizes the organization that best demonstrates creativity and forward-thinking activities in its campaign efforts, generating an increase of at least 10% in fundraising totals over the previous year by incorporating United Way Best Practices and/or developing entirely new strategies.

Great Beginnings Leadership Award

The Great Beginnings Leadership Award recognizes the organization that runs a most exceptional first or second-time employee fundraising campaign, incorporates at least one United Way Best Practice, obtains and/or maintains a high participation rate and achieves outstanding results. Organizations that re-engage with United Way after a two-year or more absence also qualify for the Great Beginnings Leadership Award.

Highly Innovative Project Award

The Highly Innovative Project Award recognizes the United Way funded project (could be a program or initiative) that takes a unique approach to addressing a persistent or emerging issue in their community in 2007.

Outstanding Leadership in Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Award

The Outstanding Leadership in Continuous Quality Improvement Award recognizes the partner agency that has been a leader in implementing a CQI system within their program/agency.

Outstanding Agency Partners of the Year Award

The Outstanding Agency Partner Award recognizes two agency partners—one with an annual budget of $5,000,000 or more and one with an annual budget of less than $5,000,000 - that have taken full advantage of United Way resources and acted as valuable and collaborative partners in advancing the United Way mission.

Outstanding Volunteer of the Year Award

The Outstanding Volunteer Award recognizes United Way volunteers whose work has gone beyond the defined requirements and resulted in groundbreaking achievements towards the advancement of the United Way mission during 2007. (Volunteers from all areas of United Way are eligible for nomination.)

David Yancy Ambassador Award

The David Yancy Award recognizes the Agency Ambassador who has been devoted and effective at educating others about United Way and its impact in the community through presentations, agency tours and/or exhibits during the United Way campaign. No applications necessary.

Million Dollar Corporate Gift Award

The Million Dollar Corporate Gift Award recognizes generous companies that contribute $1 Million or more to United Way through their loaned executive, corporate gift and endowment contributions. Awards are based on information obtained from the organizations campaign final report. No application necessary.

#1 Tocqueville Society Company Award

The Tocqueville Society Company Award recognizes the top organization that contributes the most in Tocqueville giving. The award is based on information obtained from the organizations campaign final report. No application necessary.

Top 25 Corporate Citizens Award

The United Way Top 25 Corporate Citizen Awards recognize 25 companies and their employees that contribute the most dollars to United Way through corporate and employee gifts, special events, grants, sponsorships, the endowment and loaned executive program participation during their annual campaign. Awards are based on information obtained from organization campaign final reports. No application necessary.

Member United Way Top Corporate Citizen Award

The Member United Way Top Corporate Citizen Award recognizes member-managed companies and their employees that contribute the most dollars to United Way through their participation in at least two of the following areas – corporate, employee, special events and the loaned executive program. There will be a separate Top Corporate Citizen listing (5 max.) for each of the following Member United Ways: DuPage, Evanston, Far Northwest, Naperville, North Shore, North Suburban, Northwest Suburban, Oak Park/River Forest/Forest Park, South-Southwest Suburban and West Suburban. Awards are based on information obtained from organization campaign final reports. No application necessary.

Honor Roll (Corporate & Employee)

The United Way Corporate and Employee Honor Rolls recognize the impact of corporate, employee, special events and loaned executive support in the community. Recognition based on information obtained from organization campaign final reports. No application necessary.