Hey "Care it Forward" Followers!

Thought it was time to give you an update since I’ve been MIA for a while!

I’ll be honest. I haven't had time to volunteer lately because I’m busy planning and organizing a huge day that encourages volunteering - United Way KW's 2nd annual Day of Caring.  This year's event will be even bigger and better thanks to our sponsor, Manulife Financial, and our partner, the Downtown Kitchener BIA.  I don't want to give too much away, but I will say that you won't want to miss the events going on in downtown Kitchener on Wednesday, September 21st.  Check out www.uwaykw.org for more details.

Back to caring it forward...

The importance of caring it forward really hit home when Goderich was recently devastated by a tornado.  We’ve been encouraging you to financially support the folks in Goderich through our text to give campaign.  Here’s another plug – if you can, please text "UCARE" to 45678 to donate $5.00 to those affected by the tornado.

I also want to encourage you to help the folks in Goderich by volunteering.  Simply call 211 and they’ll connect you with volunteer opportunities in that area.  If you do volunteer, be sure to send me your stories and photos so I can share them on my blog!

Until next time, keep caring it forward!

Meg

How we minimize fundraising costs to maximize donor dollars

At United Way KW, we aim to invest as many donor dollars as possible right back into our community. One way we do this is by keeping fundraising costs as low as possible.

Extraordinary volunteer commitment and numerous gifts-in-kind over the years have helped us keep these costs down. While the actual percentage fluctuates as revenue increases and decreases, we strive to keep our year-round fundraising costs at approximately 17%. This is evidenced by the audited financial statements available on our web site, which review the finances of our organization in great detail.

We’re able to keep costs low through opportunities such as:

·       working extensively with volunteers, including our Board of Directors, Finance and Audit Committee, Campaign Cabinet, Community Impact Council and Priority Impact Teams 

·       partnering with workplaces in our fundraising efforts

·       securing sponsorships and gifts-in-kind for events and operations

·       securing not-for-profit discounts from vendors and service providers

·       housing our office in space generously provided by the Marsland family at a significantly reduced cost

·       working continuously to improve the efficiency of our processes

·       incorporating our “Go Green” environmental initiative.

Cathy Snyder

CFO/CAO

Help Us Support the Citizens of Goderich

A message from our CEO, Jan Varner:

The town of Goderich lies disaster-stricken in the wake of an F3 Tornado that hit the community last Sunday. I find it hard to believe that the photos I see online and in the newspapers depict a once-idyllic location so near to my own home. The overwhelming personal and emotional loss suffered by the residents of Goderich extends far beyond the physical damage these images reveal. Like the buildings, their lives, too, need to be rebuilt.

In times such as this, with so many lives uprooted so close to home, we must step up and help each other. Please, put your caring into action. Text "UCARE" to 45678 to donate $5.00 to United Way Perth-Huron and let the citizens of Goderich know we're here to help them thorough this tumultuous time.

For more information, please refer to the media release on the our web site.

Jan

Year-Round Fundraising Efforts Strengthen Community Impact

With summer half over and the fall fast approaching, planning is well underway here at United Way KW for our annual workplace campaign.

I’ve had a few individuals approach me over the past year to inquire why we’re placing increased emphasis on year-round fundraising efforts, instead of just focusing on our popular fall workplace campaign. There are several very good reasons for this shift.

The philanthropy model we’ve used for many years - one based largely on workplace campaigns - limits our ability to raise increased funds. Our community is made up of many diverse types of workplaces and we know some individuals simply aren’t being reached through our traditional workplace campaign efforts. As well, some organizations find that fall just isn’t the right time of year for them to run a fundraising campaign.

So, while our fall workplace campaign continues to be our single largest - and most publicly recognized - method of fundraising, we’re also consciously stepping out of this historical campaign model to engage donors year-round. Through additional practices such as direct mail campaigns, special events, text-to-give, and sponsorship opportunities, we’re working aggressively to diversify revenue sources so we can expand our impact on community issues.

Cathy Snyder
CFO/CAO

Teledyne Dalsa Donates Social Media Student

Community Heroes abound! 
  
Be sure to check out the latest entry in our CEO's blog to learn more about two community heroes at Teledyne Dalsa - Patrick Myles and Neil Humphrey - and the unique program they've developed that's turning their co-op students into community heroes too!

Our 2011 Youth Campaign Chair: Keith Reinhart

Here at United Way KW, we strongly encourage youth to get involved in their community in a meaningful way. Doing so enriches not only their lives, but also the lives of many others.

This year, we’re upping the youth factor of our fall workplace campaign with the addition of a new volunteer position, that of Youth Campaign Chair. We’re thrilled that 22-year-old Keith Reinhart from Kitchener has agreed to be first in tackling this role.

Certainly no stranger to social media, Keith comes to us on the heels of an adventure-filled year as the 2010 Young & Free Ontario Spokesperson, part of a campaign sponsored by Libro Financial to lend a voice to Ontario youth 25 and under, particularly where financial matters are concerned.

A large part of Keith’s role involved blogging, tweeting and creating online videos, and we’re looking forward to him engaging in similar projects on our behalf.

You can learn more about Keith in the latest addition of our REACH newsletter. That's him on the cover, in fact. REACH is available online at http://www.uwaykw.org/.

Our 2011 Campaign Chair: James Chmiel

We’re pleased to announce that James Chmiel, a partner and President of Erb and Erb Insurance, will take on the volunteer role of 2011 Campaign Chair. James takes over the reigns from News570 radio personality Lisa Drew. Lisa set the bar very high with the fabulous job she did last year, but we know James is up to the challenge.

To acquaint you with James a little better, we’ve included a list of the top 10 things we think you should know about him in our latest edition of REACH newsletter. We won’t tell you all 10 right now, but here are the first two to get you started:

1. James was first introduced to United Way in 2003 when he joined Erb and Erb Insurance, one of our long-time supporters. That same year, James worked in the community on our behalf as a sponsored employee, an experience which he calls “phenomenal”.

2. James was named one of Waterloo Region’s 2011 Top 40 Under 40, an honour bestowed upon those individuals considered to be among the top young leaders in our community.

To learn more about James, be sure to check out the latest addition of REACH, available online now at http://www.uwaykw.org/.