United Way of Winnipeg

About United Way of Winnipeg:

Founded in 1965, United Way of Winnipeg (UWWIN) grants funds to local charities to improve lives and build a stronger community in Winnipeg.  UWWIN’s three granting programs are: All That Kids Can Be, Poverty to Possibility, and Healthy People, Strong Communities. In F2018, UWWIN granted $19 million to over 100 non-profit organizations. The five largest grant recipients were: Family Dynamics ($1m), SMD ($990k), NorWest Co-op Community Health ($820k), SEED Winnipeg ($798k), and Boys and Girls Clubs of Winnipeg ($739k).

The charity reports that one in four children in Winnipeg lives in poverty and in Winnipeg’s poorest neighborhoods, up to 40% of students are not graduating. In F2018, the programs funded under the organization’s All That Kids Can Be program affected the lives of 83,100 youth. These programs included 33 youth-serving agencies, 11 counselling and crisis intervention programs, and 23 leadership and mentoring programs. 

According to UWWIN, 50% of people have said that low income is a barrier to finding housing, which has resulted in 1700 homeless people on any given night in Winnipeg. In F2018, UWWIN’s Poverty to Possibility program funded a total of 26 agencies, 16 life and employment skills/social enterprise programs, and asset building, money management and financial inclusion programs. These programs affected the lives of 32,400 Winnipeg residents.

UWWIN reports that more families are struggling both socially and economically. These families rely on services such as family resource centers to provide them with necessities so they can focus on long-term success. In F2018, UWWIN’s Healthy People, Strong Communities program funded 63 agencies, 31 community development programs, ten development programs, 16 life-skills and access-to-resources programs, and 60 counselling, wellness and education programs. These programs helped 211,200 people in F2018.

UWWIN works with Peg, a globally recognized institute for sustainable development to track sustainable development goals (SDGs). Peg tracks key indicators of wellbeing in Winnipeg to help the community track its progress towards the SDGs.

Results and Impact:

In F2017, UWWIN gave $739k (4% of total granting) to Boys and Girls Club Winnipeg (https://www.charityintelligence.ca/charity-details/700-boys-and-girls-clubs-winnipeg) for its five-week camp that seeks to stop summer learning loss. After the program, 92% of students surveyed felt that their math skills had improved. UWWIN funded programs for newcomers to Canada to introduce them to Canadian workplace culture. As a result, 79% of attendees found jobs.

Financial Review:

United Way of Winnipeg is a Canadian Major 100 charity which received donations of $24.5m in F2018. Administrative costs are 3% of revenues and fundraising costs are 18% of donations. For every dollar donated, 79 cents go to its programs. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. UWWIN has funding reserves of $36m which can fund its grants for 18 months.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to United Way of Winnipeg. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on June 3, 2019 by Stefan Tetzlaff.