Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland
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.
C
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.
51%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 51 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland:
Big Sisters of Lower Mainland BC is a 3-star, financially transparent charity. Its results reporting score is C, which is below average. Its overhead spending is outside Ci’s reasonable range. Its reserve funds can cover two years of annual program costs.
Founded in 1960, Big Sisters of B.C. Lower Mainland (Big Sisters) matches volunteer mentors with girls and non-binary, transgender or gender-diverse youth. Big Sisters works with youth facing bullying, isolation, poverty, abuse, social anxiety, and more. Left unaddressed, these adversities can become challenges in adulthood that require costly social interventions. Through mentorship, Big Sisters aims to reduce and avoid these risks and improve a child's chance of success.
The charity has two main programs: Mentoring and Scholarships. It does not provide a program spending breakdown.
The Mentoring program operates three kinds of matches: 1:1 Mentoring, Study Buddies, and Go Girls! Young girls aged 7-17 are matched with adult mentors who help develop girls’ confidence and social skills. They also provide academic guidance and emotional support. In F2023, the number of girls supported by matches was 169, 149, and 151, respectively. In total, Big Sisters’ mentorship program benefited 469 girls.
The Scholarships program operates the Bright Futures Education Fund (BFEF). It supports girls in post-secondary education. In F2023, it awarded 9 scholarships.
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Results and Impact
Big Sisters reports that 93% of little sisters feel better about themselves since having a Big Sister. 88% of Study Buddies improved their grades after being in the program. The charity also reports that for every dollar invested in a young girl, there is a social return of $23. However, this data is undated and appears to be quite old. Big Sisters does not provide any information behind the calculation of this statistic.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of the charity's results and impact. This charity is not yet rated on impact (n/r).
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Finances
In F2023, Big Sisters of Lower Mainland BC received $1.8m in donations and special events revenue. It also received $303k in government funding, representing 14% of total revenue. Administrative costs were 25% of revenues, less investment income. Fundraising costs were 25% of donations. Total overhead spending was 49%. For every dollar donated, 51 cents are available to go to the cause. This is outside Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.
In F2023, Big Sisters had $3.2m in funding reserves, which can cover two years of annual program costs.
This charity report is an update sent to Big Sisters of Lower Mainland BC for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated on July 19, 2024 by Stellar Zhang.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending June
|
2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 24.6% | 13.1% | 23.3% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 24.6% | 24.3% | 36.4% |
| Total overhead spending | 49.2% | 37.4% | 59.7% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | 199.0% | 137.8% | 282.0% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $s |
2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 709,395 | 680,888 | 332,921 |
| Government funding | 303,857 | 443,814 | 366,342 |
| Lotteries (net) | 0 | 4,237 | 3,594 |
| Business activities (net) | 17,779 | 20,000 | 0 |
| Special events | 1,087,280 | 1,120,550 | 292,673 |
| Investment income | 70,078 | 13,969 | 6,009 |
| Other income | (63,356) | 1,472,198 | (65,419) |
| Total revenues | 2,125,033 | 3,755,656 | 936,120 |
| Program costs | 1,631,740 | 1,411,883 | 663,977 |
| Administrative costs | 506,309 | 490,454 | 216,746 |
| Fundraising costs | 441,845 | 437,897 | 227,383 |
| Total spending | 2,579,894 | 2,340,234 | 1,108,106 |
| Cash flow from operations | (454,861) | 1,415,422 | (171,986) |
| Capital spending | 161,687 | 5,315,200 | 0 |
| Funding reserves | 3,246,711 | 1,945,250 | 1,872,540 |
Note: Ci adjusted for deferred revenue and capital contributions within other revenue, affecting it by $63k in F2023, $1.4m in F2022, and $65k in F2021. The charity’s financial statements have a discrepancy in deferred revenue in F2022. Ci has used the number presented in the financial notes.Ci removed amortization on a pro-rata basis from program, administrative, and fundraising costs. Ci compiled information about program spending, fundraising, and administrative costs from the charity’s T3010 filing with the CRA. The charity also appears to have made a mistake on its T3010 filing with the CRA in F2023, failing to report the number of full-time employees. Ci was hence unable to ascertain accurate salary information for F2023.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
0 |
$120k - $160k |
2 |
$80k - $120k |
3 |
$40k - $80k |
5 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2022
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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: 604.873.4525