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Home > Help Us > Donations
Giving Page
You can donate to House of Friendship electronically through Canada Helps, a secure donation portal established for the purpose of facilitating e-donations.
When donating to us through Canada Helps, you immediately receive a receipt electronically from them with the notation that the donation is to House of Friendship. The funds are flowed to our bank account (less credit card fees) by direct deposit within three business days from when it is received by Canada Helps.
We are pleased to be able to offer this donation option and are confident that it is a safe, reliable way to donate. If you have any concerns or questions please contact us. |
House of Friendship is supported by churches, community groups, businesses, individuals and all levels of government. We depend on over $960,000 in direct donations annually to assist less fortunate members of our community. We are a member agency of United Way of Kitchener-Waterloo & the Townships of Wellesley, Wilmot & Woolwich and receive an annual grant of just over $316,000.
Donations can be made to our general operating fund (to be used where needed) or can be designated to specific programs, events or projects.
We welcome contributions through cash, cheques, credit card (Visa or Mastercard) or electronically through Canada Helps (see 'donate now' in upper right of this screen). We also have pre-authorized donations where your contributions can be made either by automatic debit to your bank account or by a monthly charge to your credit card.
To make a donation, you can stop by House of Friendship (the Charles Street Men's Hostel is open 24-hours a day) or phone or mail to the address below.
House of Friendship is a registered charity and can issue charitable tax receipts (CRA Charitable number 10749-3892-RR0001).
Please be aware that House of Friendship does not canvas door-to-door for donations.
Text SHARE to 41010 to donate $5* to House of Friendship
How can I use my cell phone to make a donation? Text SHARE to 41010, reply to the confirmation message with a text stating YES and a one-time donation of $5 will be added to your mobile phone bill or deducted from your prepaid balance.
Why do I need to text back the word YES to complete the transaction? Texting the word YES will confirm your donation and will help prevent fraud and errors.
How much does this cost? Any donation you initiate will be chared at $5 Canadian and added directly to yoru wireless bill or deducted from your prepaid balance. You can donate up to a maximum of $30 per month via your mobile device (a maximum of 6 x $5 donations). No messaging fees apply to your donation -you will be charged only $5 for the donation. Wireless carriers have waived all fees for mobile donations; the carriers pass 100% of your $5 donation through to the Mobile Giving Foundation, who then passes 100% of it to House of Friendship.
How are donations billed? All donations are billed and payable to your mobile service provider. The service is available on most carriers. Donations are collected for the benefit of House of Friendship by the Mobile Giving Foundation and subject to the terms found at www.mobilegiving.ca.
House of Friendship's mobile giving program has been setup in partnership wiht ZipGive and The Mobile Giving Foundation. The Mobile Giving Foundation Canada (MGF-C) was founded in 2009 by verterans of teh wireless industry, in partnership with the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) and the support of the Canadian wireless operators who wanted to harness the immense power of wireless communications to empower individuals to support their favourite causes.
The Mobile Giving Foundation Canada serves as the "glue" between charities, the wireless industry and wireless users in Canada. MCF-C processes and approves applications from Registered Charities wishing to use wireless technology in their communication and fundraising activities because they know it is crititcal to have a trusted third party - in this case MGF-C - to affirm the quality and integrity of registered charities using this technology to solitic contributions. For more information visit www.mobilegiving.ca
Who can see my mobile number when I make a text donation? Your mobile number is kept confidential and it will not be shared with or used by anyone without your permission.
Will I start receiving text alerts from House of Friendship once I make a text donation? You will NOT receive text alerts from House of Friendship after making a text donation to this campaign; you will only receive text alerts if you opt-in.
How do I request a tax receipt for my text donation? You can request a tax receipt by emailing - support@mobilegiving.org or by visiting www.mobilegiving.ca
How can I share the news about this text-to-give program with my friends? Send a text message to your friends saying, "Hey! Text SHARE to 41010 to donate $5 to help raise funds for House of Friendship."
* House of Friendship's SHARE mobile giving program is Empowered by:
Getting a Return on your Charitable Investment
Media reports have indicated that some charitable organizations spend a high percentage of each donated dollar they receive on administration and fundraising. This is a concern to donors who want assurance that their donation is making a difference in someone’s life.
In the November 21, 2002 edition of The Record, Ernie Ginsler, an organization development consultant and former Executive Director of the K-W Social Planning Council, wrote a Second Opinion piece advising donors to “Ask questions of charities before you donate your money.”
After listing a series of good questions to ask, Ginsler concludes with the comment that “a quick search of a few of our better known (local) charities on the (CRA website) found that they spent the vast majority of their income doing what is charitable.” At the top of his list was House of Friendship, spending 86 percent of our budget on program and 14 percent on administration (including fundraising). We currently calculate our cost of administration to be in the range of 18% percent reflecting increased legislated administrative demands in the areas of human resources (workplace policies, health and safety, etc.) and finance (financial record-keeping, receipting, etc.).
At House of Friendship we have always been aware that one way we can maximize your donations is by minimizing our expenses. We are able to do this through effective expenditure control but also because we receive so many in-kind (non-monetary) donations of things like food, clothing, and other items of all kinds. We estimate the value of these in-kind donations (including volunteer labour conservatively valued at $10 per hour) to be $2.5 million annually.
We are blessed with a very faithful group of donors. We are not always able to thank you individually or recognize your contributions publicly as much as some agencies do. However, when you give to House of Friendship you can be assured that we are always striving to be good stewards of your donations and with our proven track record of over 70 years of community service you are getting the best possible return on your donated dollar. Thank you for your continuing support.
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