Donating just one dollar a day, or $365 a year, to United Way's Community Fund provides real impact.  For example, $365 provides 73 children with a breakfast, lunch or snack at their school through Halton Food for Thought.  This allows students to learn more effectively and develop better social and behavioural skills in the classroom.

A Leadership gift is a donation of $1,000 or more. The program encourages individuals to take an active role in philanthropy, recognize them for their generosity and then encourage others to follow suit.

What's more, your support at the Leadership level has maximum impact.  For example, a donation of $1,500 per year provides a Big Sister or Big Brother for a child at risk that will allow them to develop new skills.  According to research, those that have had a Big Sister or Big Brother are less likely to begin using illegal drugs and/or alcohol.

Celebrating its 10th year, The Sprott Leadership Matching Challenge matches dollar for dollar new and increased leadership gifts of up to $150,000 per year given directly to United Way of Oakville, not including those gifts designated to other United Ways of registered charities. For example:

• Make a first time contribution to United Way for $1,000 and The Sprott leadership Matching Challenge will match the entire gift. Your $1,000, added to the match, becomes $2,000 for United Way of Oakville.
• Increase your Leadership contribution to United Way of Oakville from $5,000 to $7,500 and the increase ($2,500) will be matched for a total gift of $10,000.

Did you know that you are no longer required to pay capital gains tax on gifts of publicly traded securities to registered charities? In fact, you could realize significant tax savings when making this type of gift to United Way of Oakville.

If an individual sells appreciated securities during their lifetime, or if these assets are liquidated through their estate after their death, tax must be paid on 50% of the capital gains on those securities. Donating securities to United Way of Oakville provides an opportunity for donors to eliminate a significant tax liability that would otherwise eventually have to be paid.

Making a gift of this kind is easy. If you have any questions, or would like to make a donation of securities please contact Aideen Henessey, Director of Finance & Administration or call (905) 845-5571 ext. 226.

United Way of Oakville established The Tomorrow Fund, a community-wide endowment fund, to ensure that it can provide for emerging and long-term community needs. In order to extend your gift to the benefit of future generations, the capital remains intact, and only the income earned is used.

Giving to The Tomorrow Fund is easy and flexible with giving options that include:

• Bequest in your will
• Charitable life insurance
• Securities/publicly traded shares
• Cash