MAY 30, 2014 – Epilepsy Ontario today announces that it has been accredited under Imagine Canada’s national Standards Program.

The Standards Program is a Canada-wide set of shared standards for charities and non-profits designed to demonstrate their compliance in five fundamental areas: board governance; financial accountability and transparency; fundraising; staff management; and volunteer involvement. It helps organizations mitigate risk by ensuring that staff and volunteers understand and meet their legal, financial and fiduciary responsibilities.

“Receiving this stamp of approval means a great deal to Epilepsy Ontario.  It says that Epilepsy Ontario is a credible, transparent and accountable organization.  Donors and funders can feel a sense of confidence knowing that we have achieved this standard of excellence,” says board president, Gino Piazza.

Builds public confidence

Among the Standards Program’s goals are the ability to increase an organization’s transparency and capacity, and to strengthen public confidence in individual organizations and the nonprofit sector as a whole.

Transparent, peer-review process

Our policies and procedures in the five areas of compliance were evaluated by a group of volunteers from the sector, and were found to be compliant with the Standards Program.

“It was a lot of work to go through the process, but we have come out a stronger organization.  It was a good opportunity to examine the practices of the agency while striving to achieve the Imagine Canada Standards benchmark,” says Rozalyn Werner-Arcé, executive director.

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Established in 1956, Epilepsy Ontario is dedicated to promoting independence and optimal quality of life for the over 70,000 Ontarians living with seizure disorders by promoting awareness, support services, advocacy, education and research.  As a registered charitable organization, Epilepsy Ontario relies on the generosity of sponsors, corporations, foundations, individual donors to achieve its goals. Through fundraising events and advocacy initiatives, we are able to reach out to people living with epilepsy.

For further information:

 Paul Raymond

Executive Director

[email protected] or 905-474-9696