• Donations to Centraide are soundly invested to make the biggest impact for people in difficulty.
• By giving to Centraide, you are supporting a network of nearly 375 agencies and projects that help 800,000 people in Greater Montreal.
• We all benefit from a community in which everyone has the same chance to live in dignity and fully contribute to society.

Have you thought about giving through payroll deduction? It’s the easiest way to fit a donation into your budget because you can give smaller amounts with each pay. And charitable donations also entitle you to a tax credit, which means that a donation of $4 a week will only cost you $2.67 after tax, or $0.38 per day.

Did you know that by giving to Centraide of Greater Montreal, you are supporting a network of nearly 375 community agencies as well as many causes and vulnerable people in Montreal, in Laval and on the South Shore? The agencies funded by Centraide support youth success, take care of the essentials, break social isolation, and build caring communities.

A KPMG-SECOR study of nearly 30 agencies found that if each agency supported by Centraide had to raise by itself the money that Centraide provides, the cost of fundraising would increase by $9 million. Funding for community activities would then be reduced by this amount. This represents added value of $9 million!

The gap in the standard of living between the well-off and the disadvantaged grows throughout a person’s lifetime, which means that early intervention is important to help people find their way out of hardship. Every donation to Centraide is important. When added up, the donations of thousands of people become a powerful tool for our communities. Every dollar given to Centraide has an impact on people in need.

That’s because there are agencies that help people when they are in trouble. Also, the reality of poverty has changed. Everywhere, people are living under the low-income cut-off. More and more people are poor, even in neighbourhoods or areas that used to be considered well-off. We don’t yet know the full impact of the pandemic. The real-life effects of the crisis show how much community agencies will continue to be heavily involved in providing support on the ground. Centraide’s support to help them take action is needed now more than ever.

Centraide aims to break the cycle of poverty and social exclusion in the Greater Montreal region, which consists of Laval, the Island of Montreal and the South Shore. It supports a network of dynamic and inclusive agencies and projects that work in four areas of action:

• Support youth success (early childhood development, academic perseverance, support parents and families, prevent homelessness).
• Take care of the essentials (ensure food security and facilitate access to housing).
• Break social isolation (for seniors, people with disabilities, immigrants and refugees and people experiencing a crisis).
• Build caring communities (bring neighbourhoods to life, encourage volunteer action, and reinforce agency skills and leadership).

Your donation to Centraide is strategically invested where you live, work and raise your family. Centraide’s added value lies in the scope of its network of agencies and the depth of its overall mission, which helps minimize the cumulative impact of poverty on vulnerable people and its repercussions on future generations.

Its four areas of action address the complex social problems facing our community, and Centraide is committed to applying a thorough and efficient process to evaluate needs.

Centraide supports nearly 375 community agencies and projects that help break the cycle of poverty and social exclusion. Centraide raises money so that the agencies it supports can focus their precious time and human resources on implementing programs that will change the lives of vulnerable people in our community. For example, a KPMG-SECOR study found that if each agency supported by Centraide had to raise the money it receives through the Centraide campaign on its own, the related fundraising costs would increase by $9 million.

What’s more, Centraide has created lasting partnerships with key social development stakeholders to create long-term strategies and address our community’s most problematic social challenges while soundly managing the money it raises. That’s why, with Centraide, your donation goes further than with any other philanthropic community investment.

Centraide wants to work with effective and relevant organizations within the context of a clear understanding over a specific period of time. Qualified staff and experienced volunteers make investment decisions based on community needs, research and financial criteria. Centraide invests in community agencies that show effective performance. Performance criteria include:

• Social relevance
• Development of strategies for lasting solutions
• Impact measurement
• Capacity for collective action
• Sound management and governance

85% of your donation is directly invested in the community. The costs of the annual campaign and other operational costs are 15%. Centraide relies on its Loaned Representatives program (employees who are loaned out or sponsored for the campaign period) to keep costs as low as possible. Our administrative costs are among the lowest in Canada. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) considers 35% to be an acceptable standard for administrative costs. As a registered charity in Canada, Centraide of Greater Montreal submits an annual T3010 information return to the CRA that details all of our financial activities, related operation costs, executive compensation, and other costs. The CRA’s latest T3010 Registered Charity Information Returns can be found on the Canada Revenue Agency on the Canada.ca website..

Our administrative costs are kept low in several ways:

• 22,000 workplace volunteers help us run our annual campaign.
• 160 incredible volunteers support our management and governance, canvas during the annual campaign and allocate funds to agencies.
• Strategic partnerships allow us to leverage addi- tional human resources at no cost. These initiatives include the Loaned Representatives Program (temporary employees are loaned out or sponsored to provide support throughout the campaign period).

No one should ever feel pressured to give. Everyone should have the chance to make an informed choice when it comes to donating to charity.

Giving $1,200 or more every year to Centraide makes you a member of the Leaders’ Circle. While every donation counts, Leadership donations have an even greater impact, and even more so in the first year since every new Leadership donation to Centraide is matched by the Hewitt Foundation and our corporate partners in the Centraide Challenge.

Tax receipts for one-time donations (cash, credit card, cheque, automatic bank debit and gift of securities) are issued within three weeks following the receipt of the donation.

Tax receipts for ongoing commitments during the calendar year (by credit card or automatic bank debit) will be issued in January the following year.

If your gift to Centraide is made through payroll deduction, the amount collected during the fiscal year will be listed on your income tax forms (T4 and Relevé 1). 28

• Centraide is a strategic and proactive social investor that acts locally.
• The goal of Centraide’s territorial approach is to fight poverty and social exclusion.
• The 375 agencies and projects that receive funding from Centraide help support youth success, take care of the essentials, break social isolation and build caring communities. These actions help our neighbourhoods develop thanks to lasting changes.
• By providing funding and support, Centraide ensures that its investments promote complementarity, collaboration and collective work among different agencies.
• Centraide reinforces cooperation and partnerships between different community stakeholders (school, health care network, boroughs).
• Funding allocation decisions are made by commit- tees of volunteers and experts.