Presbyterian World Service and Development is a three-star charity with an average results reporting grade and reasonable overhead spending. It is not financially transparent. The organization is a part of the Presbyterian Church in Canada and not a registered charity. It only has statements of revenues and expenses available. As a result, its funding reserves and program cost coverage ratio are not reported. 

Founded in 1947, Presbyterian World Service and Development (PWSD) is the development and relief agency of The Presbyterian Church in Canada. PWSD’s aim is to reduce poverty, oppression, and injustice in southern nations. The charity is a member of many partnerships and coalitions including Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) and ACT Alliance (ACT). Canadian Foodgrains Bank is a partnership of 15 Canadian churches working together to end global hunger. Each member of CFGB has an account with the charity that holds funding for collaborative relief programs.  PWSD reports that it led eight CFGB projects in F2020, including four in Africa, two in Asia, and two in the Americas. It reports that it contributed $300k from its equity account at CFGB to support the projects of other members. ACT Alliance is an international faith-based coalition that provides humanitarian aid to people in 127 countries. ACT has 136 members. 

PWSD’s main programs are Emergency Relief, Human Rights, Food Security, Health, and Livelihoods. In F2021, the charity spent $2.8m on its programs.

In F2020, the charity spent 62% of program spending on Emergency Relief. This program provides food, water, sanitation, and shelter to vulnerable people who have been harmed by natural disasters, long-term conflicts or other emergencies. PWSD often carries out emergency relief programs through CFGB and ACT. In F2020, it undertook 24 emergency relief projects, providing water, food, sanitation, and other emergency relief to 51,268 people.  In F2019 and F2020 PWSD funded a food assistance project in the Mulanje district of Malawi. Phase one of the project provided monthly food baskets containing maize flour, beans, and cooking oil to 2,000 households for four months. The second phase supported 1,600 households with food assistance for another four months. In F2019, the organization provided cash assistance of $90 USD per month to 8,000 families for five months in Afghanistan after a severe drought.

PWSD spent 13% of program spending on Human Rights, 10% on Food Security, 9% on Health, and 6% on Livelihoods in F2020. It undertook 22 long-term development projects during the year. The charity helped 29,453 people through its Human Rights program, 8,376 people through the Food Security program, 173,439 people through the Health program and 20,415 people through the Livelihoods program. In F2019 and F2020, PWSD helped fund a project that provided sexual health education to people. The project reached an estimated 69,618 women and 61,626 men, and involved the construction of two outreach clinics that provide maternal care, immunization, and antiretroviral HIV treatment. In F2022, PWSD helped form 23 self-help groups in Malawi that pooled funding to purchase food and agricultural inputs.

Presbyterian World Service and Development only has statements of revenues and expenses currently available, not full financial statements. As a result, funding reserves, program cost coverage, capital expenditures, and other items related to the balance sheet and cash flow statement are not reported on the profile. PWSD provided its salary ranges for the profile as it does not have a T3010 filing with the CRA.

In F2021, PWSD sent $361k in designated and equity transfers to Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Its member’s equity in Canadian Foodgrains Bank was $658k at the end of F2021.

In F2021, Presbyterian World Service and Development received $2.3m in Canadian donations, representing a 30% decrease from F2020. It also earned $566k in investment income (20% of total revenue) and received $37k in government funding (1% of total revenue) during the year. Government funding decreased by 88% from F2020. Administrative costs are 13% of revenue excluding investment income. Reported fundraising costs are less than 1% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 14%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 86 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.