Women in Need Society of Calgary

About Women in Need Society of Calgary:

Founded in 1992, Women in Need Society of Calgary (WINS Calgary) provides basic necessities to women in poverty and their families. The organization is dedicated to serving women in low-income situations, including: women in transition to and from shelters, single mothers and their children, women leaving abusive relationships, women experiencing mental and physical disabilities, new immigrants, the working poor, elderly women living in poverty, and those on income assistance. WINS Calgary collects donated goods for its Thrift Stores, with the revenues from the store directed towards its Free Goods Referral program and its Family Resource Centres. WINS Calgary reports that it diverted 992,698 pounds of landfill through its recycling program in F2015.

WINS Calgary’s Free Goods Referral program gives women in need access to basic items (e.g. clothing, housewares, furniture) through its thrift retail stores. In F2015, over 70 community agencies referred 6,500 adults and 5,500 children to the program. WINS Calgary provided items valued at $483,000, up 5% from F2014.

WINS Calgary’s Family Resource Centres serve as community hubs, providing families access to essential programs, services and resources to support wellbeing. Its services include agency referrals, public access computers and employment supports. Its programs include ESL classes, parenting workshops, kid’s clubs and family engagement sessions. In F2015, its 6 centres provided 12,062 services and programs to 1,800 individuals. The charity reports that its Centres’ attendance rates have doubled from F2014. WINS Calgary also reports that 88% of its Centres’ clients believe that the Centre helped them take care of themselves.

Women in Need Society of Calgary also has an Employment program which provides training and support to women through work placements in WINS thrift stores and sort facility.

Financial Review:

Women in Need Society is a small charity, with donations of $875k and goods in kind donations of $156k in F2015. Its administrative costs are 5% of revenues and its fundraising costs are 10% of donations. For every $1 donated to the charity, 86 cents is put towards its programs, falling within Ci’s reasonable range. The charity’s funding reserves of $1.3m result in a program cost coverage ratio of 34%. This means that it can cover 4 months of its annual programs using its existing reserves.

This charity report is an update that is being reviewed by Women in Need Society. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on August 12, 2016 by Lynn Tay.