Toronto Public Library Foundation
STAR RATINGCi's Star Rating is calculated based on the following independent metrics: |
✔+
FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY
Audited financial statements for current and previous years available on the charity’s website.
A-
RESULTS REPORTING
Grade based on the charity's public reporting of the work it does and the results it achieves.
n/r
DEMONSTRATED IMPACT
The demonstrated impact per dollar Ci calculates from available program information.
NEED FOR FUNDING
Charity's cash and investments (funding reserves) relative to how much it spends on programs in most recent year.
72%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 72 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Toronto Public Library Foundation:
Toronto Public Library Foundation is a 3-star charity. It has an A- Results Reporting grade, which is above average. For every dollar donated, 72 cents are available to go towards to the cause, within Ci’s reasonable range. Its reserve funds can cover five years and four months of annual program costs, outside Ci’s reasonable limit of three years.
Founded in 1997, Toronto Public Library Foundation (TPLF) fundraises for the Toronto Public Library Board (TPL). The foundation reports that TPL has 100 branches and two bookmobiles, with a collection of over 10.5 million books, CDs, DVDs, and eBooks in over 40 languages.
TPLF reported that 283,061 children registered for the library’s TD Summer Reading Club, which had 54,133 programs supporting a love of reading in 2024. TPL’s Empowering Seniors program improved digital literacy for 6,691 seniors, facilitating 1,200 programs centred around technology and providing 500 laptops and 252 Wi-Fi hotspots to keep people connected in 2024. TPL’s Social Support Services pilot, in partnership with the Gerstein Crisis Centre, had more than 24,000 interactions with library customers in need of social and crisis support in 2024.
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Results and Impact
In 2024, the foundation reported that 92% of children in the TD Summer Reading Club felt their identities were reflected, 96% of parents said their child maintained or improved their reading skills, and 99% of participants will consider rejoining the TD Summer Reading Club in 2025.
In 2024, the foundation reported that TPL’s Financial Empowerment Services Initiative resulted in over $3.3m accessed by participants through tax-filing and benefits applications.
This may not be a complete representation of Toronto Public Library Foundation’s results and impact.
The foundation is not yet rated on impact (n/r), which does not affect its star rating.
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Finances
Toronto Public Library Foundation’s audited financial statements follow activity-based costing, which is a best practice.
Toronto Public Library Foundation received $9.9m in donations in 2024. Administrative costs are 9% of revenue (less investment income). Fundraising costs are 19% of donations. This means that overhead costs are 28%. For every dollar donated, 72 cents are available to go to the cause, within Ci’s reasonable range.
TPLF has $24.9m in reserve funds, of which $5.3m is donor endowed. Excluding donor-endowed funds, the charity can cover 533%, or five years and four months of annual program costs. This is outside Ci’s reasonable limit of three years.
Profile updated by Leah Holmes on August 21, 2025. This charity report is an update that has been sent to the charity for review. Comments and corrections may be forthcoming.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending December
|
2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 9.2% | 11.6% | 13.8% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 18.6% | 17.9% | 20.0% |
| Total overhead spending | 27.8% | 29.5% | 33.7% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | 533.4% | 251.5% | 293.2% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 9,922 | 8,456 | 6,366 |
| International donations | 87 | 4 | 9 |
| Goods in kind | 31 | 144 | 216 |
| Investment income | 1,908 | 1,454 | (867) |
| Other income | 2,467 | 369 | (126) |
| Total revenues | 14,414 | 10,426 | 5,598 |
| Program costs | 586 | 562 | 384 |
| Grants | 3,356 | 4,815 | 3,445 |
| Administrative costs | 1,147 | 1,045 | 889 |
| Fundraising costs | 1,846 | 1,509 | 1,271 |
| Other costs | 33 | 22 | 24 |
| Total spending | 6,968 | 7,954 | 6,013 |
| Cash flow from operations | 7,445 | 2,473 | (415) |
| Capital spending | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Funding reserves | 24,897 | 17,393 | 14,801 |
Note: Ci adjusted grants by changes in payables to the Toronto Public Library Board. This affected grants and total expenses by ($1.1m) in 2024, $527k in 2023, and ($359k) in 2022. Ci included deferred revenue within other revenue as the charity did not disclose the source. This affected revenue by $2.5m in 2024, $369k in 2023, and ($126k) in 2022.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
1 |
$200k - $250k |
2 |
$160k - $200k |
1 |
$120k - $160k |
1 |
$80k - $120k |
5 |
$40k - $80k |
0 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2023
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Comments & Contact
Comments added by the Charity:
Charity Contact
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 416-393-7123