The Donner Canadian Foundation has selected seven nonprofit social service agencies from across Canada as the best-run among 591 applicants, and awarded them $60,000 for the Donner Canadian Foundation Awards for Excellence in the Delivery of Social Services.

Double wins for three charities

Servants Anonymous Society of Surrey, British Columbia and Community Living Campbellford/Brighton of Campbellford, Ontario shared the $20,000 William H. Donner Award for Excellence in the Delivery of Social Services for the highest-performing agency overall.

Servants Anonymous won another $5,000 for excellence in preventing and treating substance abuse. Community Living Campbellford/Brighton also took home another $5,000 award for excelling in the delivery of services for people with disabilities.

The SAS Surrey program is a participant-centered approach to recovery for female youth and women who choose to seek sobriety, exit the sex trade, or are at risk of being sexually exploited due to abuse, addiction, or homelessness. Servants Anonymous Society is a first-time finalist and recipient this year.

Community Living Campbellford/Brighton envisions a diverse community that respects the dreams and aspirations of all its members. Its mission is to provide support and services to people with disabilities, promoting opportunities for personal growth within their community. The charity was also a double winner in the 2009 awards.

The $5,000 Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Management went to Community and Primary Health Care - Lanark, Leeds, and Grenville, located in Brockville, Ontario. The charity also took home $5,000 for its outstanding delivery of seniors' services, a repeat of its 2010 win.

Community and Primary Health Care exists to provide universally accessible and comprehensive primary health care and community support services in the promotion and building of a healthier community. Its eleven sites across Lanark, Leeds, and Grenville offer a wide range of community and health services for the region's diverse population.

Other category award winners

In addition to the category winners above, the following charities were named the best in their service area.

• Counselling / Crisis Intervention -London Crisis Pregnancy Centre (London, ON)
• Education -Saskatchewan 4-H Council (Saskatoon, SK), also a winner in 2010
• Provision of Basic Necessities -Alice Housing (Dartmouth, NS), a winner in 2010 and 2008 as well
• Services for Children - Educational Program Innovations Charity Society (North Sydney, NS), continuing its run of awards from 2010 and 2009

Awards background

The Donner Awards are Canada's largest recognition program for nonprofit social service agencies. The awards are administered by the Fraser Institute on behalf of the Donner Canadian Foundation.

Participating organizations were ranked on their performance in ten key areas, including management and governance, the use of staff and volunteers, innovation, program costs, and outcome monitoring.

The Donner Awards evaluation protocol was established with input from the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy (now Imagine Canada), the Canadian Cancer Society (B.C. & Yukon Division), the Trillium Foundation, and Family Services Canada.

Visit www.donnerawards.org for more information about all the winners.

For more information, Niels Veldhuis, Director of Non-Profit Studies, Fraser Institute, 604-714-4546.