United Way of Oakville

About United Way of Oakville:

Founded in 1967, United Way Oakville (UWOAK) raises funds for local charities in Oakville. In 2015, it gave money to 33 local charities, funding 54 programs that reach 34,000 people. Its key granting focus is education, poverty and mental health. United Way Oakville also works with the government and unions to tackle community social problems.

UWOAK granted $2.2m to community programs in F2015. No exhaustive list of the funded charities is provided but includes: $323k to Halton Family Services, $218k to Big Brothers Big Sisters Halton, $127k to Distress Centres Oakville, $103k to Radius Children and Youth Services, and $103k to ROCK, an Oakville youth outreach centre. Its funded charities treat children affected by drug and interpersonal abuse. United Way Oakville funded Food for Life Canada that fed 6,000 meals to poor people. United Way Oakville also gave Community Living Oakville $46k that helps house and provide independent living to 118 people with disabilities. United Way Oakville runs a telephone help line, “211.” This help line gives free information and references in multiple languages to community services.

The mental health campaigns create more awareness of mental health issues, especially in children and youth. Since 2012, United Way Oakville ran the “Can You See Me?” campaign to reduce the stigma around mental health. UWOAK reports that 89% of corporate employees now view mental health differently than before.

Donor Advisory: United Way Oakville, United Way Burlington & Greater Hamilton, United Way Halton Hills and United Way Milton have officially merged to form United Way Halton and Hamilton on April 1st, 2017.

Financial Review:

United Way of Oakville is a medium-sized charity which received donations and special event revenues of $4.3m in F2015. Administrative costs are 4% of revenues and fundraising costs are 20% of donations. Total overhead costs come to 24%, which falls within Ci’s reasonable range. UWOAK has funding reserves of $3.9m of which $300k are donor-endowed. Total reserves can cover UWOAK’s annual program costs 1.5 times.

This charity report is an update that is being reviewed by United Way of Oakville. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on June 9th, 2016 by Mirza Ali Shakir.