United Way reels in record-breaking donations in annual campaign

United Way Winnipeg has 23.3 million reasons to celebrate after its 2025 campaign raised a record amount of donations.

JP Perron, the 2025 volunteer campaign chairperson, said its citywide network of more than 125 agencies and programs will benefit from $23.3 million. The final tally is about $800,000 more than it raised in the 2024 campaign and also higher than the $22.8 million raised in 2023 and $22.7 million in 2022.

“Naturally, every chair likes to obviously improve on the previous year’s achievement, because the needs of the community continue to increase,” Perron said on Friday.

“As a volunteer, we always get back more than we put in and that was certainly the case chairing the year’s campaign with so many talented volunteers.”

Perron said almost 500 workplaces helped raise funds for the campaign; there were more than 20,000 individual donors and volunteers.

“There are incredible communities all across Canada, but Winnipeg does get community,” he said. “Winnipeggers know and want to look out for one another and the result of this year’s campaign demonstrates that.”

United Way has been in Winnipeg for 60 years and, if the earlier incarnation, the Community Chest of Winnipeg, is included, a total of 104 years.

Matthew Cutler, United Way Winnipeg’s president and CEO, said the 2025 campaign started on a high note with numerous teams coming together last fall for the first time in years to participate in the kickoff plane pull.

“I felt especially good this year and it felt like a return to the old days of the campaign,” Cutler said. “I think we’re turning the cover of the pandemic and people are finding their way to community again.”

The fundraising results of other local charities, which were busy raising money at the same time as United Way, were mixed.

Bernadette DeSantis, a spokeswoman for the Salvation Army, said its kettle campaign in Winnipeg came close to its goal. It raised more than $335,000, or 95 per cent of its goal, during the holiday season.

“We were $127,000 shy of our goal with two days left to go in the kettle campaign. That means we raised over $100,000 in two days thanks to the generosity of Manitobans,” DeSantis said.

“It also means we will be able to deliver vital programs and services such as food banks, clothing, homelessness prevention, school supplies and so much more.”

Jim Steep, Agape Table’s executive director, said the organization that helps feed people went from seeing cash donations down by about 15 per cent at the end of November to surging to a surplus by the end of the year.

“We had a record December,” Steep said. “It was fantastic. People really stepped up during the holiday season. It brought us to have a pretty decent year.”

Darren Nodrick, Siloam Mission’s director of development, said “consistent” is the word used by his organization to describe 2025 fundraising totals.

“Last year was certainly a struggle,” Nodrick said. “A lot of folks said they were giving what they could.”

He said a study of its donors found that more than 60 per cent were older than 70.

“With the cost of living going up, their income is finite so their charitable income is reduced. A lot of seniors told us they have had to tighten their budgets. Younger generations are also facing harder times than in the past with affordability of housing and other expenses.

“We’re extremely grateful for what people are able to give, but the trends are concerning because 80 per cent of our operations are donor-funded.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca