Why Give?
Giving starts with you
At Big Brothers Big Sisters, we appreciate all supporters, from donors to volunteers to advocates. We believe that changing the course of young lives can in turn change our community’s future.
Your donations help us make and sustain matches between Bigs and Littles – and instantly make you a part of our family.
Why Give to Big Brothers Big Sisters
Your financial support allows us to provide careful screening and matching of volunteers with children, as well as the ongoing professional management needed to keep the mentoring relationships going strong, we hope, until the child graduates high school. Your donation is an investment in the people, systems, and technology that allow us to create and support matches between children facing adversity and caring adult mentors. We hold ourselves accountable to our donors by regularly measuring the impact of our work.
Start Something and Impact your Community
Studies show that our mentoring services help kids stay in school, and this can eventually mean a reduction in poverty and unemployment. Mentoring helps kids avoid risky behaviour such as bullying, which can lead to safer schools and neighbourhoods. And mentoring helps kids learn the importance of helping others, growing up to be more civic-minded adults.
Our belief in the impact of our work is the driving force behind Big Brothers Big Sisters’ Strategic Plan. We seek to put children on a path to lifelong success and change the trajectories of their lives in positive ways. To achieve our mission, we commit to measure and be responsible for specific youth outcomes that focus on:
- educational achievement
- avoidance of risky behaviors (especially juvenile delinquency)
- higher self-esteem, confidence, and the ability to relate to others
We define success based on measurable outcomes and scales. By working with our donors, mentors, children, families, and partners, we hope to drive collaboration to find solutions to the challenges facing our country’s youths and communities.
By donating to our organization, you are joining our mission of positively affecting children in your community. Every day, we work tirelessly to change the perspectives of children and give them an opportunity to achieve great things. But without donations, we couldn’t offer our mentoring services.
Why Support Big Brothers Big Sisters?
- We are part of the leading youth mentoring organization in Canada.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada (BBBSC) is the leading youth mentoring organization in Canada. It is committed to serving children and youth across the country by providing them with the highest quality one-to-one relationships with screened, caring volunteer mentors. BBBSC currently has 150 agencies in over 1000 communities nation-wide and are serving more than 23,000 children. Another 10,000 children are eagerly waiting to be matched.
- We depend on your generosity
Big Brothers Big Sisters fundraises over 75% of our total budget to continue to serve our quality mentoring programs. Only 25% comes from government sources. - We offer our services for FREE to the community.
We do not charge any fees to recruit, screen, monitor, and support the over 1000 volunteers, youth, children and their families that we interact with every year. - We are one of the MOST cost-effective charities in the industry.
We have been named one of Forbes Top 10 “GOLD SEAL Charities” for our outstanding cost-effectiveness in the non-profit industry. Through the recruitment and development of caring, intelligent, giving volunteers, we can effectively make your funds go further. Bottom line … we use money wisely! - Our mentoring programs have “life-long”, positive impacts.
Research of the Big Brothers Big Sisters programs in both Canada and the United States show that the provision of a mentor (a positive adult role model) directly contributes to increased academic achievement, better family and peer relationships, a substantially lower reliance on social assistance, and more successful transition from school to work. In addition, the young person is less likely to be involved in drugs, underage drinking and smoking, violent behavior and criminal activity.
Specific results include- “Littles” were 46% less likely to initiate drug use than their peers
- “Littles” missed half as many days and fewer classes than peers without a mentor
- 78% of all mentees who came from a social assistance background, no longer rely on social assistance themselves
- 20% higher graduation rate than the national average
- Overall, mentees were 27% less likely to begin alcohol use while they were in the program.
- We are accredited by our National body.
We are supported and accredited by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada (BBBSC). BBBSC has established National Standards that have served to support our work, evolving to incorporate good ideas and effective practices. As we grow and as we learn from research and practice, we need to ensure the Standards continue to reflect our collective knowledge and future direction, particularly in light of the many mentoring innovations being implemented throughout the BBBS network.
The National Standards form the foundation of the National Accreditation Program. Inherent in the Standards is the belief that quality services are provided by agencies whose
organizational and service delivery management components meet and/or exceed certain requirements. The benefits are extremely significant. - We have accredited, professional caseworkers.
We have some of the most caring, well-trained, experienced, professional caseworkers to provide the volunteers, youth, children and their families with the best possible support. - We provide exceptional, invaluable volunteer opportunities.
A number of our volunteers are teens who gain invaluable work and life experience by volunteering with our in school mentoring program. All our volunteers report increased personal satisfaction by volunteering with our programs. - We offer an unparalleled volunteer experience.
As a member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada you are required to subscribe to the national insurance policy, which offers the most complete coverage available in the industry. We strive to meet or exceed all national standards designed to address all types of risks. - Our community grows stronger!
Our great outcomes spread beyond the children and families we serve. Almost all of the children we serve embrace our programs and mature to become more productive, contributing members of society. These positive impacts resonate through the community and have lasting impacts. In turn, local businesses and corporations benefit.