OTHER WAYS TO GIVE

Customize Your Gift

Discover the many ways you can help build a great community and change lives locally.

When you include United Way in your legacy plan, you are making a lasting change in the lives of future generations.

A gift through planned giving is a wonderful way to leave behind a legacy of caring that helps not only children and seniors but supports the families and communities that surround them now and in the future.

Legal name: United Way Niagara
Charitable Registration Number #: BN13053 2443 RR0001
Address: 63 Church Street, Suite LC1, St. Catharines, ON L2R 7G1

If you have any questions or would like to discuss a gifting option, please contact us by calling our office at (905) 688-5050.

We are happy to work with you, your family and your advisors on a confidential basis to ensure all your objectives are met based on your personal priorities.
Gifting Options To The Forever Fund Include:

  • A bequest in your will
  • A gift of life insurance
  • Cash or savings gifts
  • RRSPs, RRIFs, TFSAs and retirement plans
  • Personal property

Making a gift of publicly traded securities is one of the most tax-effective ways to donate because it removes the taxation of capital gains. You will receive a tax receipt for the market value of your donations. For more information, contact us at (905) 688-5050. You can also download a Gifts of Securities Transfer Form

Named Funds allow you to provide a steady and dependable source of income to United Way. We will work with you to establish the parameters in one or more of our impact areas to tailor your Named Fund to meet your philanthropic needs. You and others can add to the fund during your lifetime and beyond to leave your community a sustaining legacy.

Below is a listing of the current Named Funds with United Way:

Burke Family Education Fund

The family of Chuck Burke has established a fund called the “Burke Family Education Fund” in honour of his 75th birthday. The fund provides scholarships to youth for After-School Matters moving on to post secondary education. Family and friends are welcome to make a tribute gift on Chuck’s behalf. To contribute, click here. In the comments, please note the name of the fund.

Maddie Hood Fund

Donations to The Maddie Hood Fund go to support youth in St. Catharines. To make a contribution, click here. In the comments, please note the name of the fund.

Orazio (Ernie) DePetris Fund

Donations to The Orazio DePetris Fund will go to support youth in Merritton. To make a contribution, click here. In the comments, please note the name of the fund.

Our Special Friends Fund

Mike and Jane Trojan have opened a fund called “Our Special Friends” through United Way to support sports and recreation programs for people with special needs. To make a contribution, click here. In the comments, please note the name of the fund.

For additional information or to discuss setting up a Named Fund, please contact us at (905) 688-5050.

United Way Niagara is a leader in partnering with local businesses, helping them achieve their philanthropic goals. Sponsorships range from $150 – $100,000, to fit in any philanthropic budget. We welcome the opportunity to discuss sponsorships with you.

Sponsorship packages can be tailored to meet your organization’s goals and objectives. To learn more please contact us at (905) 688-5050.

Leadership Challenge

The Leadership Challenge, matches new gifts of $1,200 or more and helps leverage Leadership gifts for the campaign. For donors giving at the leadership level for the first time ($1,200 or more) or for current leadership donors that increase their current donation by 10% or more, the Leadership Challenge will provide up to $50,000 in matching funds to United Way.

United Way Leadership Challenge Sponsors in the past have included:

  • 2022: Norris Walker in memory of Marilyn I. Walker
  • 2021: The Wineries of Niagara +
  • 2020: The Partridge Family in memory of Peter M Partridge
  • 2019: Gales Gas Bars Ltd.
  • 2018: The Physicians of Niagara
  • 2017: The Ontario Paper Thorold Foundation
  • 2016: The Wineries of Niagara +
  • 2015: Pharmasave
  • 2014: Beatties Basics
  • 2013: Verge Insurance Group
  • 2012: Milan & Julieann Plentai
  • 2010: The Burgoyne Family, in Memory of Dorothy Doolittle
  • 2009: George Darte Funeral Chapel Inc.
  • 2008: Gales Gas Bars Limited
  • 2007: The Niagara Partners of Deloitte
  • 2006: The Port Dalhousie Pier Marina

We salute the leadership of these special individuals who made these gifts.

New Donor Match

In an effort to attract new donors, The New Donor Match will match any new gifts to United Way. The matching dollars will support United Way Niagara’s community fund. Designations to specific charities, through United Way, do not qualify for the matching grants.

For more information, please contact Kevin Jong, Director, Development & Communications | Telephone: (905) 688-5050 ext 2103

Other Matching Opportunities

United Way is happy to work with you to create new matching opportunities to meet your philanthropic goals. For more information, please contact Kevin Jong at [email protected] or call (905) 688-5050 ext 2103

Friendship Challenge

The Friendship Challenge is a match of $500 – $1,199 that helps leverage Friend of the Way level gifts for the campaign. For donors giving at the friend level for the first time ($500-$1,199), the Friendship Challenge will provide up to the specified amount in matching funds to United Way.

For more information, please contact Kevin Jong, Director of Resource Development | Telephone: (905) 688-5050 ext 2103

You can give back to a cause you’re passionate about on your special day. It works by asking friends and family members to forgo traditional gifts and donate to the cause you choose instead. We are happy to work with you to set up your own fundraising page. Please contact Ashleigh Doyle at [email protected] or call (905) 688-5050 ext 2111 for more information.

If you are looking for a hands-on volunteering experience, why not get involved with one of our special initiatives?

Opportunities Available

Sponsor a Welcome Home Kit packing party. Groups of up to 6 people (to allow for safe physical distancing) will join us for an engaging volunteer experience in our United Way warehouse to pack Welcome Home Kits, which are distributed to our community partners and service providers throughout the region. The kits are designed to ease the financial burden on individuals and families who are moving from shelters or precarious housing situations into permanent housing. They include items one would need to set up their kitchen and bathroom. Receiving a kit enables one to focus their often limited resources on purchasing food or paying bills.

Minimum investment required: $1,500 ($250 per person) *20 Welcome Home Kits

Sponsor a Hygiene Kit packing party. Groups of up to 6 people (to allow for safe physical distancing) will join us for an engaging volunteer experience in our United Way warehouse to pack Hygiene Kits, which are distributed to community partners and service providers throughout the region. At a time when personal hygiene is so important, these kits offer everything a person needs to attend to their personal needs. Kits include items such as soap, shampoo, oral care items, deodorant and more.

Minimum investment required: $1,500 ($250 per person) *100 hygiene kits

For more information or to book your exclusive volunteer experience, please contact Chelsey Maclachlan Wormald at [email protected] or call (905) 688-5050 ext 2106

Donate a Car Canada

United Way Niagara is partnered with Donate a Car Canada to accept your vehicle donation! You will be provided free towing, or you can drop off your vehicle to maximize your donation. When you donate your car, truck, RV, boat, or motorcycle to United Way Niagara through Donate A Car Canada, it will either be recycled or re-sold (depending on its condition, age and location). Donate a Car Canada will look after all the details to make it easy for United Way to benefit. You will receive a tax receipt after your vehicle donation has been processed!

You can find all the information you will need to donate on the Donate a Car Canada website!

DISCOVER MORE WAYS YOU CAN GET INVOLVED