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Home > Help Us > Donations
Operating Donations
You can donate to House of Friendship electronically through Canada Helps, a non-profit organization 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 $775,000 of 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 more than $300,000.
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 come directly to the House of Friendship (the Charles Street Men's Hostel is open 24-hours a day) phone or mail to the address below. House of Friendship is a registered charity and donors receive an official income tax receipt (CRA Charitable number 10749-3892-RR0001).
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 had previously calculated our cost of administration to be in the range of 12-15 percent. Given that there are various ways of accounting for these costs, our own assessment concurs with Ginsler’s calculation.
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 67 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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