TORONTO, ON – Simon House Residence Society in Calgary staked its claim to being one of the best run social service agencies in Canada, winning three awards including the top two awards handed out at the 10th annual Donner Canadian Foundation Awards for Excellence in the Delivery of Social Services Friday in Toronto.

The society, which runs a series of drug addiction programs in Calgary, was named highest performing agency overall, earning the $20,000 William H. Donner Award for Excellence in the Delivery of Social Services. Simon House also picked up the Peter F. Drucker Award for Non-Profit Management, along with $5,000 in prize money. The award is given to a non-profit organization with a consistent record of excellence and innovation in management and service delivery.

Simon House capped off the night by being named top agency for Excellence in the Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse, winning another $5,000.

The Donner Awards recognize excellence in social service provision by Canadian non-profit organizations by encouraging best practices and greater accountability.
 
Eight other organizations shared the remaining $40,000 in category awards. The award recipients were selected based on a ranking of their performance in 10 key areas, including management and governance, the use of staff and volunteers, innovation, program cost, and outcome monitoring. A complete list of all award winners is provided below.

“Programs like the Donner Canadian Foundation Awards for Excellence in the Delivery of Social Services play a vital role in recognizing the accomplishments of non-profit agencies and at the same time, allowing them to share ideas for best practices in non-profit management and social service delivery,” said Sylvia LeRoy, Donner Program Manager.

“The organizations recognized with the Donner Awards this year provide a standard by which all other social service agencies across Canada can measure their own performance. The cities and towns these agencies represent should be proud to have such dedicated people working, living and striving to improve their communities.”

Since 1998, the Donner Awards program has granted $650,000 in awards. Over the past 10 years it has received 3,990 applications from 2,305 unique organizations providing services in all 10 provinces and two territories. This year, almost 500 non-profit organizations from across Canada applied for the awards, submitting more than 630 unique social service programs for evaluation.

Administered by The Fraser Institute on behalf of the Donner Canadian Foundation, the Donner Awards were established in 1998 to recognize and encourage best practices in non-profit management and to increase public confidence and support for Canada’s non-profit sector.

The evaluation protocol was established with input from the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy, the Canadian Cancer Society (BC & Yukon Division), the Trillium Foundation, and Family Services Canada. These awards represent an important step in the development of an objective, quantifiable measure of performance for non-profit organizations.

Complete list of all 2007 Donner Award recipients

The $20,000 William H. Donner Award:
William H. Donner Award for Excellence in the Delivery of Social Services
Simon House Residence Society, Calgary, AB

The $5,000 Peter F. Drucker Award:
Peter F. Drucker Award for Non-Profit Management
Simon House Residence Society, Calgary, AB

The nine $5,000 category awards:

Donner Canadian Foundation Award for Excellence in the Delivery of Alternative Education
• Sarnia Lambton Rebound, Sarnia, ON

Donner Canadian Foundation Award for Excellence in the Delivery of Child Care Services
• Educational Program Innovations Charity Society, North Sydney, NS

Donner Canadian Foundation Award for Excellence in the Delivery of Counselling Services
• Sudbury Action Centre for Youth: Peer Mentoring Program, Sudbury, ON

Donner Canadian Foundation Award for Excellence in the Delivery of Crisis Intervention
• Calgary Pregnancy Care Centre, Calgary, AB

Donner Canadian Foundation Award for Excellence in the Provision of Basic Necessities
• Alice Housing, Dartmouth, NS

Donner Canadian Foundation Award for Excellence in the Delivery of Services for People with Disabilities
• Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada - Calgary Chapter, Calgary, AB

Donner Canadian Foundation Award for Excellence in the Delivery of Services for Seniors
• Community and Primary Health Care - Lanark, Leeds and Grenville, Brockville, ON

Donner Canadian Foundation Award for Excellence in the Delivery of Traditional Education
• Cornwall Alternative School, Regina, SK