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.
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:
The VtSHARES online application form. When the application is open, the link to the online form will be posted here.
Compliance form. This form needs to be downloaded, filled out, and emailed to Sarah Galbraith at sgalbraith@gmunitedway.org. When the application is open, the downloadable form will be linked here.
In good standing with the Secretary of State. Make sure your listing is current and in good standing before applying.
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 Green Mountain United Way, 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.
Donations are collected in full, and our financial “books” are closed in line with our fiscal year, meaning June 30 of the year following the completion of donation collection. In the example of an October/November 2024 campaign, the books are closed June 30, 2026.
Designation letters are sent in August each year. Following with the example here, they would be sent in August 2026. These letters include the total donation amount, the administrative fees, quarterly payment amounts and dates, and donor information, where provided (some do choose to be anonymous).
Payments are made in equal quarterly amounts beginning that fall into the following spring. 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.
Retirement and Termination
In the event that a State Employee retires or leaves their job, Green Mountain United Way will fulfill their pledged donation amount. This is a significant liability, and is why we collected funds in full before we begin making payments.
