Inn from the Cold
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.
Fair
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.
75%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 75 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Inn from the Cold:
Inn from the Cold Society is a 3-star charity with Fair demonstrated impact. The charity is financially transparent and has an above-average results reporting grade and overhead spending within Ci’s reasonable range.
Founded in 1997, Inn from the Cold Society (IFTC) supports families experiencing a housing crisis in the Calgary area. According to the Calgary Homeless Foundation point in time count, an average of 200 families experience homelessness on any given night in Calgary. IFTC serves any family with an expecting mother or at least one child under 18 years of age. The charity has three major programs: prevention and diversion, emergency family shelter and supportive housing. IFTC does not provide a breakdown of spending on its programs. Its head office is in Calgary, AB.
Prevention and Diversion: IFTC provides assistance to prevent families from experiencing homelessness, which includes short-term case management, financial assistance, landlord mediation, employment and parenting workshops, and referrals to other agencies for counseling or legal advice. In F2022, the charity supported 577 families who were at risk of homelessness, including 1,236 children and supported 37 families in maintaining or attaining new housing.
Emergency Family Shelter: IFTC provides emergency shelter when families have no other place to go. Families arriving at IFTC receive a place to sleep; food; clothing and basic needs support; health and wellness support; child and youth programming; and cultural support. Families typically move to permanent housing within 30 days of staying at the shelter. In F2022, IFTC provided shelter to 114 families, served 53,778 meals, and supported 53 families into new housing
Supportive Housing: IFTC helps families remain housed for the long term through supportive housing. This includes intensive case management, financial assistance, health and wellness support, child and youth support, and community referrals. In F2022, IFTC provided housing support to 88 families, and 48 families graduated from the program into independent housing.
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Results and Impact
In 2023, Constellation Consulting Group conducted a Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis which concluded that for every $1 invested in Inn from the Cold’s shelter and housing programs, $6.79 in social and economic value is created.
In 2021, IFTC introduced the Shelter Follow-up Survey to better understand the long-term impact of its shelter programs. At the end of 2022, it has completed 54 surveys with 38 different families. The charity reported that 91% of families felt hopeful, and 98% of them felt safe in its programs.
While Charity Intelligence highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Inn from the Cold’s results and impact.
Charity Intelligence gave Inn from the Cold an impact rating of Fair for demonstrated social impact per dollar spent.
Impact Rating: Fair

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Finances
In F2022, Inn from the Cold had total donations of $5.4m. The charity also received $1.8m in government funding, representing 25% of total revenues. Administrative costs are 22% of revenues, and fundraising costs are 2% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 24%. For every dollar donated, 75 cents go to the cause, which is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.
IFTC has $7.2m in reserve funds, once $517k in debt is accounted for. The charity can cover 132% or 16 months of its annual program costs with its reserves.
Charity Intelligence sent an update of this report to Inn from the Cold for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated on June 28, 2023 by Krystie Nguyen.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending March
|
2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
---|---|---|---|
Administrative costs as % of revenues | 22.4% | 18.6% | 18.5% |
Fundraising costs as % of donations | 2.4% | 2.8% | 4.1% |
Total overhead spending | 24.8% | 21.4% | 22.5% |
Program cost coverage (%) | 131.6% | 100.6% | 92.9% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
---|---|---|---|
Donations | 5,367 | 5,495 | 5,495 |
Goods in kind | 50 | 70 | 141 |
Government funding | 1,802 | 2,133 | 1,533 |
Business activities (net) | 44 | 42 | 144 |
Investment income | 32 | 38 | 93 |
Total revenues | 7,296 | 7,779 | 7,405 |
Program costs | 5,111 | 5,482 | 5,099 |
Administrative costs | 1,628 | 1,441 | 1,352 |
Fundraising costs | 129 | 152 | 223 |
Total spending | 6,868 | 7,075 | 6,674 |
Cash flow from operations | 427 | 704 | 731 |
Capital spending | 66 | 28 | 310 |
Funding reserves | 6,728 | 5,517 | 4,737 |
Note: Ci did not adjust for deferred revenues and contributions, affecting revenues by $227k in F2022, ($311k) in F2021, and ($16k) in F2020. Ci removed the amortization of deferred contributions related to capital assets decreasing revenues by $1.3m in F2022, $568k in F2021, and $548k in F2020. Fundraising costs were deducted from program costs and reported separately.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
0 |
$120k - $160k |
1 |
$80k - $120k |
5 |
$40k - $80k |
4 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2022
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Comments & Contact
Comments added by the Charity:
Inn from the Cold Society added the following comment on the 2023 profile:
Helping families overcome the obstacles that can lead to a cycle of homelessness — that’s what we strive to do with every family that asks Inn from the Cold for help. For over 25 years, Inn from the Cold has supported families in finding stability during times of crisis. We foster independence and empower resiliency, guided by our belief that every child and family should have a safe and stable place to call home.
On any given night, approximately 120 families will sleep under an Inn from the Cold ‘roof’ through our shelter and housing programs, with many others receiving support through our prevention and diversion program. At Inn from the Cold our three main programs include:
For families accessing our main programs, we offer a range of holistic supports to strengthen families, create hope and achieve stability. Our family support team creates individualized plans to address each family’s specific needs for housing and social supports and help set them up for success on their journey to housing independence. Some of the supports we provide include child and youth programming, childcare, mental health and wellbeing support, Indigenous and cultural programming, employment and career counselling and legal aid and system navigation and community referrals.
In November 2022, we relocated our operations and opened the doors on our new home, Neoma in the heart of downtown Calgary. Neoma is an innovative purpose-built and trauma-informed designed facility that provides families and individuals experiencing a housing crisis with access to emergency shelter, integrated support services, and affordable housing all under one roof. Neoma is the first office-to-affordable-housing conversion in Canada and is an innovative and partner-orientated delivery of services to address the critical housing needs in Calgary.
On average we support 2,500 family members facing a housing crisis in a year, where half of the individuals we serve are children. Demand for our services have been through the roof with the number of families reaching out, doubling over the past year. With the current affordability crisis and a lack of affordable housing more families are being pushed to the brink of homelessness and are in need of support. We anticipate this trend to continue over the next year. At Inn from the Cold, we rely on the generosity of the community to fund approximately 60% of our operations, with Government support covering the remaining 40%.
Charity Contact
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 403-512-0769