Support for charities

The University of Calgary and the Haskayne School of Business actively support the work of the United Way of Calgary and Area. Together, we share a vision of a better, stronger community for everyone.

The mandate of United Way resonates with the university’s strategic plan, which includes involvement with and service to the greater Calgary community. As a learning institution, the university is an advocate of nurturing empowerment and influencing positive change within the community.

Aligning with United Way touches so many areas where we can make positive changes, whether it’s education, homelessness or providing opportunities for seniors and youths to be engaged within the community.

With United Way, the university can ensure that our support is going to agencies that are results-centered, those that focus on prevention, and those that use the best data to make the biggest impact.

United Way is a reputable, transparent organization. Because of their strong ties within the community, we can rest assured that our donor dollars go to the programs and services that create the most impact and that operate ethically and practice good governance.

The Haskayne School of Business and Ronald McDonald House of Southern Alberta work together to benefit families with seriously ill children.

Haskayne’s undergraduate, MBA, and PhD students have opportunities to engage in projects that will benefit Ronald McDonald House. Faculty share relevant research and become advisors to the board of directors, and Haskayne staff are involved by serving as volunteers. For example, Business Library staff regularly cook meals at the House and faculty hav ebeen engaged in developing innovative uses of videoconferencing technologies to connect children and their families at the house back to the people in their home communities. 

The Ronald McDonald House is located on the West Campus across from the Alberta Children’s Hospital.

As part of the ‘Selling Smiles’ program, for the past five years, HSB assistant professor Derek Hassay has challenged the students in his Sales Management course to gain real-world sales skills by selling Cutco Cutlery to raise funds for the Children's Wish Foundation. Teams of five students are given a small budget and sample kits, and asked to develop and implement an effective sales strategy. Not only do they learn valuable selling and sales management techniques – such as handling rejection – but they also discover the value of giving back to their community.  To date, Hassay’s students have raised more than $100,000 for the Children’s Wish Foundation, granting wishes for 11 local children.

The Haskayne School of Business supports more than 15 student clubs. Students are also divided into ‘houses’ in their first year here, and must participate in House activities, which are sponsored by corporate entities. Some of the activities that involve support for community charities are:

Hunt for Hunger is a mini “Amazing Race” style scavenger hunt held in October. 10 teams must raise money and donations for the United Way Calgary in order to participate in the Hunt. The course of the race takes each team across the city and back to many different stations where they must complete a challenge before receiving a clue to the next destination. Prizes will be awarded to the top three teams.

Chillin' for Charity is a fundraiser that the JDC West case competition team takes in each November. It involves cold weather, a smimming pool, and brave souls throwing themselves into the water to secure pledge money from supporters.

Spicing Up Spaces takes place in March. In this initiative, a large team of volunteers from the Haskayne School of Business renovate the home of a deserving family. Last year this included repainting the interior, replacing many appliances, re doing the kitchen floor, fixing up the bathrooms and updating the furniture in every room in the house. This event is huge to many of the students and really makes an impact in giving back to the community.

Top Guns takes place in April each year and involves Haskayne students selling aviator-style sunglasses to raise money for breast cancer research.

Visit the Commerce Undergraduate Society (CUS) site to learn more and follow our event listings see when activities are taking place.

Peter Sherer, professor in the department of Human Resources and Organizational Dynamics at the Haskayne School of Business, teaches a class in which MBA students work with local non-profit organizations in need of management consulting advice.

The non-profits work in human services, the arts, environmental organizations, and recreation/sports; the Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations (CCVO) and the Rozsa Foundation enlist the potential participation of the non-profit organizations.  Sherer interviews organizations to see if their situation fits within the context of the course, selecting only seven from a significantly larger pool. 

On the first day of class, each selected organization presents their particular challenge. The students then form groups based on their areas of interest and prepare a 'bid' for the consulting contract. Sherer and the clients evaluate the bids and Sherer assigns the groups to different projects. Once the students are paired with an organization, they meet with the client and work on solidifying a contract with the client, requiring a tremendous amount of research and preparation. Students must learn to ask the right questions in order to frame the problem and identify the fundamental issue their client faces, which often takes on different shades and morphs from the problem identified on the first day of class.

Throughout the semester, Sherer provides 'sequenced' training, having students learn material in sequence with what they will need to know in the field.  Before presenting recommendations to their clients, students have the opportunity to present and get feedback on their presentations and reports from a group of professional management consultants in the Calgary business community, including Accenture, Deloitte, and Western Management.