United Way East Ontario has been named one of Canada’s top-performing charities, having earned a 4-out-of-4-star rating from Charity Intelligence, and making the independent research organization’s 2019 Top 100 Rated Charities list. Charity Intelligence impartially analyzes the transparency, accountability and cost-efficiency of more than 720 Canadian charities—empowering donors to make informed, intelligent giving decisions.
Our rating puts us in the top 15 per cent of rated Canadian charities, and reflects our efforts to manage donors’ contributions wisely. Whether it’s funds generously donated online, through events, business partnerships, workplaces or more, every donation we receive is put to work in the community where it was raised to help those most in need.
Additionally, United Way East Ontario (formerly United Way Ottawa) made the 2020 MoneySense Charity 100 list, and Maclean’s top 100 list of Canada’s best charities.
We received the following from Charity Intelligence:
“A” for results reporting
✔+ for financial transparency
Understanding our assessment
Charity Intelligence reviews publicly available information on each of the charities it evaluates. This includes everything from audited financial statements to annual reports (here’s ours), tax filings and websites. Each charity is rigorously assessed and those that make the Top 100 list:
- are leaders in reporting to donors—a good sign of accountability,
- are cost efficient with overhead spending averaging 20 per cent, compared to an average of 26 per for all charities Charity Intelligence analyzes,
- need support—none have more than three years of funding reserves,
- are financially transparent.
MoneySense and Maclean’s use data from Charity Intelligence and charity filings with the Canada Revenue Agency to assess charities for their lists.
Our impact: A few highlights
In 2018-19, United Way East Ontario invested $11m into the community to align with our priority goals and community impact initiatives, helping to change the lives of more than 140,000 people across Prescott-Russell, Ottawa, Lanark and Renfrew Counties.
Here’s a snapshot of our impact*:
- 26,733 young people were put on the path to succeed in school and life
- 80% of youth served by United Way-funded addictions programs reduced their use of drugs
- 1,102 job seekers with disabilities found employment
- 3,203 people were supported to become more financially independent
- 62% of seniors who accessed United Way-funded programs reported reduced social isolation
Results like these simply wouldn’t be possible without the generosity and commitment of local donors and partners—people like you, who love where they live and want to make a difference. To see more of our impact from last year, check out our Annual Report.
* In 2017, the four United Ways of Prescott-Russell, Ottawa, Lanark and Renfrew Counties decided to join forces. Today, we operate as one entity: United Way East Ontario.
As we evolve and increasingly see and seize opportunities to work cross-regionally, more data will become available to report on the local needs and investment outcomes in all of the communities we serve. For this reason, for now, many of the facts and stats on this page are Ottawa-specific as it represents our largest investment footprint.
Find out more
To see how we’re putting donations to work across our region, view United Way East Ontario’s Charity Intelligence profile.
