Red Deer Hospice has been included in Charity Intelligence Canada’s annual Top Picks report, which identifies 45 outstanding charities nation-wide.

Charities are selected after going through a rigorous assessment process including financial analysis, management interviews, and an examination of social results.

Finally, through benchmarking relative to similar charities across Canada, Top Pick Charities are identified for their high social returns on donations.

Red Deer Hospice learned they were on Charity Intelligence’s radar back in June, said Marian Cloutier, fund development and marketing coordinator.

In total, 255 charities were contacted and 95 of them submitted information. The final report is broken up into several categories.

The Red Deer Hospice is a home for the terminally ill and provides a quiet and caring environment for individuals who are at the end of life’s journey, a home away from home.

“We had to provide them with quite a bit of information, and then they did an interview with the management,” she said.

“We then waited four or five weeks for the results.”

Cloutier said the recognition is wonderful, and the work to provide Charity Intelligence the material they were looking for was a worthwhile endeavour as well.

“It took lot of work to put together what they were looking for, because we track things in different ways. Brenda Watts (the Hospice executive director) said that right from the get-go it was a learning exercise. If we happen to make it in the report, great. If we didn’t, we would know that we had learned a lot along the way. It would be a positive experience no matter what.

“It’s a feather in our cap because we work very hard to be efficient and steward our donor’s money effectively.”

Charity Intelligence analyzes as many charities as possible, and officials say any charity examined will be considered for inclusion in next year’s search for Top Picks.

Charity Intelligence Canada aims to provides evidence-based research and standardized analysis on charities to help donors make intelligent, more strategic giving decisions.

“This year’s Top Pick Charities have proven that they are both efficient and effective,” said Greg Thomson, director of research at Charity Intelligence.

“They are not only able to run their operations cost efficiently, but more importantly, they produce bottom-line results in enhancing the lives of their clients. For donors who are looking for the most impact from their giving, these charities are ones to invest in.”

The report is available for download at www.charityintelligence.ca.

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