Raised hands of volunteer people holding a heart.

United Way Workplace Campaign

When we work together, anything is possible. 
Oct. 1 – Dec. 15.

50/50 tickets now available!

Feeling lucky? Here’s your chance to win big while making a difference! Enter UCalgary’s 50/50 raffle, where half the jackpot goes to one lucky winner and the other half directly supports the United Way’s impactful community programs. Last year’s winner took home over $7,000!

Our commitment to Calgary

We all feel the effects of inflation. Every time we make a purchase, we are reminded of the rising cost of essential goods and services. When an individual or family can’t afford the basic needs for survival, it creates a ripple through every aspect of their lives.

The United Way and the University of Calgary are working together to tackle issues like the inflation crisis through the lens of four key outcomes: Socioeconomic Well-being, Mental Health, Social Inclusion and Healthy Relationships. 

One hundred per cent of your donation goes to United Way’s Community Impact Fund which provides stable funding to more than 120 agencies, ensuring Calgarians can access services and supports when and where they need them. Check out United Way's Impact Calculator to see how far your investment will go in your community.

With your help, UCalgary is aiming to raise $370,000 for the United Way this year. Through your donation, you are choosing to invest in programs and collaborations that provide vital services available to all Calgarians. 

Hope is in your hands.

Help us reach our goal of $370,000

 

Raised in 2023: $376,540

Why donate to United Way?

Your investment with United Way stays local and is strategically invested right where you live, work, and raise your family. Donations go toward addressing immediate needs and supporting long-term solutions through organizations and programming like: 

Your gift improves lives: it ensures people in our community have access to the supports they need the most, when and where they need them. Your investment helps people overcome poverty, helps kids succeed, and strengthens neighbourhoods. We believe that these are critical components to realizing our vision of a resilient and caring community where everyone thrives. 

United Way is committed to a rigorous measurement process with annual reporting, and they generate high return on community investment. UWCA has one of the lowest fundraising costs in Canada. United Way estimates fundraising and related operating costs to be 14% to 16%. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) considers 35% to be an acceptable standard. Click here to learn more about informed giving with United Way.


Leadership Giving

Leadership Giving plays a vital role in our United Way Campaign, with donations between $1,200 and $9,999 making a significant impact. These contributions directly support essential programs across Calgary and surrounding areas, helping to reduce poverty, empower youth, and strengthen our communities.

Leadership donations made between October 1 and December 15 are ELIGIBLE TO WIN one of the following prizes:

  • A VIP Dinos Season Pass for two
  • A four-month Active Living Membership (2 available)
  • Six months of FREE on-campus parking (If the winner has an active permit, payroll deductions will be paused from ~Dec 1, 2024, to May 31, 2025)

Here are a few compelling reasons to consider making a Leadership donation:

  • Maximize your tax benefits – Your donation qualifies for tax credits, significantly reducing your net cost. For example, a $1,200 donation costs approximately $550 after tax, or just $24 per pay period! 
  • Double your impact – New Leadership donations of $1,200+ or first-time donations of $10,000 will be matched dollar-for-dollar, amplifying the impact of your gift towards United Way’s critical initiatives.
  • Grow your gift, grow your impact – If you increase your donation this year, any additional amount will be matched. For instance, if you gave $1,200 in 2023 and increase it to $1,300 in 2024, the extra $100 will be matched.
  • New Gift of Securities match – First-time Gifts of Securities of $1,200+ will also be matched, up to $2,500, making this a great way to maximize your contribution.
  • See the difference you’re making – Use the United Way Impact Calculator to visualize how donations of $1,200 and above transform lives in our community.

Meet the people whose lives have been improved thanks to your support.

Through your donation, you are choosing to invest in programs and collaborations that provide vital services available to all Calgarians. United Way continues to make lasting impact in our communities by taking dollars raised and strategically investing in collaborations, change initiatives and agency partners that strengthen our city.


Featured events

Coming soon! Contact your United Way cabinet representative if you have ideas for any exciting fundraising opportunities.

A stack of books sitting on a table with the caption LCR's United Way Book Sale Nov. 26-27

LCR's United Way Booksale!

LCR is selling donated books, puzzles, games, and holiday cards in support of the United Way. 

Date: November 26-27

Time: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. 

Location: Lobby of the Taylor Family Digital Library (TFDL)

Anyone can attend!

For more info contact Julia Guy.

Hands holding auction bidding signs

Faculty of Nursing Silent Auction

Our faculty has lots of different donated things to bid on, puzzles, movie passes, cooler bags, assorted packages of goodies. 

Date: October 30 - November 5 

Anyone can attend! 

Register to bid here.

For more info contact Judith Berzins.

hand sifting through books in crate full of books

CSM Annual United Way Used Book Sale

Used book sale.

Date: Nov 26-27 

Time: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Location: HRIC Atrium, Foothills Campus

Anyone can attend!

Sign up to volunteer for this event.

For more info contact Alyssa Ly.

Animated graphic of market vendors

CSM Annual United Way Market Day

Join us at the HRIC Atrium for early holiday shopping with over 25+ local vendors

Date: Wednesday, November 28

Anyone can attend!

Sign up to volunteer for this event.

For more information contact Alyssa Ly.

Image of various pastries made of chocolate and icings with hands reaching in to grab them

Donut and Make a Difference

The Office of the Registrar is hosting a Bake Sale. 

Date: Thursday, November 7 

Time: 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. 

Location: HNSC 2nd Floor 

Anyone can attend!


Featured news

UCalgary launches 2024 United Way Workplace Campaign

Tackling food security and mental health: Campus Food Hub strengthens student resilience. Donations welcomed Oct. 1 to Dec. 15

UCalgary comes together to help United Way raise more than $370,000 for communities in need

Celebrating the generosity of our campus community during the 2023 United Way Workplace Campaign

Public installation aims to foster social inclusion and connection in downtown Calgary

Researchers at School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape discuss Strata Project

UCalgary researchers explore dynamics of food insecurity as costs of living continue to rise

Research from Dana Olstad and Inara Lalani shows how socio-economic well-being can affect food security and overall health

Prof explores the importance of healthy relationships for community wellness

Deinera Exner-Cortens discusses her research on fostering healthy relationships and the creation of spaces for belonging

United Way partnership highlights UCalgary researcher's work in enhancing mental health support for youth

Social Work prof Alan McLuckie defines pathways for early mental health intervention


Grow Your Impact

When you increase your gift this year, the growth portion of your gift will be matched, improving even more local lives and ensuring kids, families and individuals have access to support when they need it.

Donate Now

Have questions?

Have questions about tax receipts? Where to direct your donation? How to donate? We can help! Check out our list of frequently asked questions and get the answers.

View FAQs

Campaign Toolkit

This toolkit gives campaign ambassadors information and tips on how to use all the campaign materials and will help support a successful campaign journey.

View the toolkit


Frequently asked questions

For faculty and staff: To donate, visit our donation link at the top of this page and log in using your UCalgary email address and password. Once you're logged in, you can select your donation amount and frequency, as well as your payment method, and where to direct your donation. 

For everyone else: To donate, visit United Way of Calgary and Area's donation website and when prompted indicate your donation is part of the "University of Calgary" workplace campaign.

 

Since 1940, United Way of Calgary and Area has been dedicated to making our city a great place for everyone. United Way focuses on strategic areas that are critical to long-term sustainable change in our city. Through the Community Impact Fund, United Way invests in programs, collaborations and initiatives, which connect Calgarians with opportunities that help them thrive. To see a full list of agency partners, please visit United Way’s website.

Your investment with United Way will stay local and be strategically invested right where you live, work, and raise your family. Your investment directly supports those who need it most. United Way’s focus areas address the critical social issues facing our community, and United Way is committed to a rigorous measurement process with annual reporting. Find more details on United Way's funding process.

The modern United Way of Calgary and Area is a social impact organization that focuses on prevention, early intervention, and long-term systems change—changing the systems that create inequity. Our work involves bringing together groups of experts and community members to imagine and develop a network of care that is compassionate and tailored to the needs of individuals and families. Collaborating with different groups, such as government, other non-profit organizations and funders, corporations, Indigenous Elders, and others maximizes all our strengths to ensure we find new approaches to care for the most vulnerable in our community. We can act more comprehensively and partner on a broader scale to solve these issues by not only funding differently, but also by working together in new and innovative ways.

To keep pace with our changing world, United Way designs innovative and transformative solutions, collaborates on systems change, focuses on the person in need, and incorporates diversity, equity, and inclusion into everything we do. This approach represents a shift towards investing more of our efforts and funds into larger initiatives that are highly collaborative, transformational in nature, and address multiple issues. It’s hard to solve a problem if you don’t know why it exists, so we dig deep to uncover the underlying causes of social problems affecting our community. Together with the social sector and other partners, we are co-designing innovative and collaborative practices that focus on achieving our common goals.

Ultimately, donating to any charity is a deeply personal choice that should be fully made in alignment with an individual’s beliefs and values.

A full list of United Way of Calgary and Area’s agency partners can be found on their website.

Should any of the agencies supported by United Way’s investments not align with an individual’s personal beliefs and values, Donor Choice or “Donor Designation,” is an added service United Way offers to its donors that allows them to direct a portion or the entirety of their gift to any registered charity in Canada.

United Way of Calgary and Area has one of the lowest fundraising cost ratios in Canada. Fundraising and related operating costs have been between 10% - 14% of total revenue for the last 10 years. This is well below the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)’s acceptable level of 35 per cent. Administrative costs, in part, also fund initiatives that drive systems change and capacity building of the social sector—work that brings great value to our community.

United Way files an annual T3010 with Canada Revenue Agency and our financials are audited annually by an independent auditor. To see United Way’s detailed financial statements, click here.

United Way holds itself accountable to its donors, and invests donated resources as wisely, efficiently, and effectively as possible, generating a high return on community investment. We rigorously monitor and report on the impact of our investments so donors can be confident their investment is making a positive difference. 

In addition, United Way routinely earns top rankings from a variety of organizations that benchmark against other Canadian non-profits of similar scope and size. United Way has received a 4/4 star rating on Charity Intelligence for our financial and reporting transparency, accountability to donors, and overhead costs. MoneySense’s Charity 100, which rates 100 of the biggest charities in Canada based on finances and transparency, rated United Way as an A+ charity in 2019. United Way of Calgary and Area was also ranked among the top 10 charities on Maclean’s list of top 100 rated charities in Canada.

Yes! This is the easiest way to donate. Any donation can be made via credit card, cash, cheque or payroll. Tax receipts for donations made by credit card, cash or cheque will be sent to the donor through email or mail. Donations made through payroll deductions will be included on the employee's T4 slip.

Yes. The majority of United Way’s work centers on partnering with many organizations in order to address immediate needs and underlying causes of social issues. While the ultimate goal is to prevent these issues from happening in the first place, United Way recognizes that policy barriers exist at municipal, provincial, and federal levels. By advocating change around these social policies, United Way can have a more significant impact in our community.

No. Every United Way event is generously sponsored by corporations or individuals who cover the costs. A complete listing of sponsors is available on United Way of Calgary and Area’s website.

United Way’s costs remain low for many reasons, including:

  • Partnerships through workplace campaigns.
  • Contributions by highly-skilled volunteers.
  • Maximizing efficiencies and implementing economies of scale that are not possible through smaller organizations.
  • Leveraging a proven history over 75 years, strong reputation, and high profile to receive sponsorship, pro-bono and discounted rates on some services, such as advertising and associated marketing materials.

As part of United Way’s stewardship of donor dollars, there is a rigorous process in place to ensure the best investment of resources. Experienced staff and volunteers make investment decisions based on community needs, research, and funding criteria. United Way invests to minimize duplication among programs and looks for measurable results, quality performance and innovative approaches. More information can be found on United Way of Calgary and Area's website.

All salaries at United Way, including senior management, are benchmarked against other Canadian non-profit organizations of similar size and scope. United Way of Calgary and Area is in compliance with the required T3010 regulatory reporting to CRA for its executive compensation, which can be viewed on the CRA website.

Campaign cabinet representatives

Central Administration  
(Planning and Resource Allocation, President’s Office, Provost and VP Academic, UC International, University Legal Counsel)
Melanie Yar Khan, Senior Advisor, Marketing and Communications, UCI

Cumming School of Medicine
Alyssa Ly, Communications and Event Specialist
Richard Leigh, Professor

Downtown Campus  
(School of Public Policy and Continuing Education)
Franquie Parkinson, Executive Assistant to the Director & Palmer Chair

Facilities
(Facilities Development, Facilities Management, Office of Sustainability)  
Elias Manolakos, Facilities Management Administrative Support
Rebeca Mijares, Facilities Management Administrative Support

Faculty of Arts
Lisa Hughes, Associate Dean, Graduate, and Associate Professor in the department of Classics and Religion

Faculty of Graduate Studies
Allison Streit, Manager, Deans Office

Faculty of Kinesiology
Shawna Trudel

Faculty of Law
Elizabeth Steyn, Assistant Professor
Kamaal Zaidi, Assistant Professor

Faculty of Nursing  
Mai Tran, Executive Assistant
Judith Berzins, Senior Admin Assistant

Faculty of Science
Heather Clitheroe, International Specialist
Belinda Heyne, Head of the Department of Chemistry
Pierre Kennepohl, Associate Dean of Community and Innovation

Faculty of Social Work
Chantal Hisey, Executive Assistant

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Nikki Knopp, Coordinator, Dev't & Comms

Haskayne School of Business
Thomas Holloway, Associate Professor

Human Resources
Jesse Kon, Mgr, Deskside Tech Services

Information Technologies
Jesse Kon, Mgr, Deskside Tech Services

Libraries & Cultural Resources
Julia Guy, Assistant Librarian, Technology Services

Office of the Registrar
Christina Furtado, Assistant Registrar, Scheduling and Curriculum

School of Architecture, Planning & Landscape
Suryana Thappa, Assoc Dir., Development (SAPL)

Schulich School of Engineering
Alison Barrett-Ede, Mgr, Research and Inclusion, SSE Operations Staff

Student and Enrolment Services
Elaine Chow Baker, Manager, CCPD Operations

Taylor Institute for Teaching & Learning
Erin Kaipainen, Director EL/WIL

VP Communications & Comm. Eng.
Judy Vigna, Manager, Operations

VP Development and Alumni
Matthew Chan, Manager of Gift Processing

VP Finance
Jesse Kon, Mgr, Deskside Tech Services

VP Research
Colleen Geary Joo, Senior Manager and Coordinator, Animal Care

VP Services
Jesse Kon, Mgr, Deskside Tech Services

Werklund School of Education
Theodora Kapoyannis, Assistant Professor
Michele Jacobsen, Professor