Two local agencies make impact charities list

Two Calgary agencies were named to a prestigious list of the most impactful charities in Canada on Tuesday.

Fresh Start Recovery and Calgary Urban Project Society (CUPS) were placed on the 2017 Top 10 Impact Charities List by Charity Intelligence.

Charity Intelligence started the list to provide guidance to people who want to donate to charities that effectively deliver services and improve the lives of those in need.

CUPS, started in 1989, utilizes an integrated housing, health and educational approach to help families and adults living in poverty or who have been affected by traumatic events.

Fresh Start Recovery, founded in 1992, assists men — and their family members — who are battling addictions.

Through housing, treatment and support, Fresh Start — which also was named to this list last year — is able to help clients recover from alcohol and drug addictions.

“(We are) honoured to be included in this prestigious group of the most effective Canadian charities that combat issues such as hunger, homelessness, health and improving education,” said executive director Stacey Petersen.

“Certainly, this distinction ultimately helps bring attention to the disease of addiction, the solution through recovery, and helps us help the people who depend on us the most.”

Fresh Start and CUPS are two of the 10 “high-impact” charities that Charity Intelligence says are likely to be most effective at changing lives.

“Giving for impact means looking beyond administrative and fundraising costs to see what difference a charity is making in the lives of its clients,” says the organization’s research director, Greg Thomson.

“If you donate $100 to a charity and it creates $200 worth of social value, that is a good investment,” he says.

“These 10 high-impact charities as a group are likely to produce over $600 in value from a $100 gift.”