Distress Centres of Greater Toronto
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.
Average
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.
90%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 90 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Distress Centres of Greater Toronto:
Distress Centres of Greater Toronto is a 4-star charity with Average demonstrated impact. It has an above average results reporting grade and it is financially transparent. Its overhead costs are within Ci’s reasonable range, and with its current reserves the charity can cover seven months of annual program costs.
Founded in 1967, Distress Centres of Greater Toronto (DCGT) operates several 24-hour hotlines for crisis intervention, emotional support, and suicide prevention. These supports are also available through online chat and text. DCGT’s programming is largely delivered by trained volunteers who are supervised by professional staff. DCGT merged with Brampton-based Spectra Community Support Services in May 2019, which allowed DCGT's services to expand to include multilingual language lines, enhanced support for isolated seniors, and a transitional support program for those aged 16+.
The charity has multiple helplines tailored to clients in varying levels and categories of distress. DCGT also runs outbound programs that call isolated seniors and at-risk individuals to check-in. No breakdown of spending by program was provided by the charity. In F2023, DCGT provided over 140,000 helping interactions.
408-Help Line is Distress Centres of Greater Toronto's biggest helpline, receiving 35,630 calls in F2023. This program covers a broad range of support services, including mental health support, crisis intervention, family violence response, and suicide prevention. In F2023, 73% of callers were provided with emotional support and distress management and 12% of callers were provided with mental health support.
Multilingual Lines is DCGT's second-biggest helpline, providing support in eight languages: English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish, Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu. The program answered 25,751 calls total.
The charity also runs other helpline services. 988 Suicide Crisis Helpline which focuses on individuals at risk of suicide, answered 14,348 texts and calls in F2023. DCGT runs multiple Partnership Lines, in partnership with other organizations, that in F2023 answered 1,787 calls.
DCGT also runs outbound programs that call clients to provide safety check-ins, medication reminders, and emotional support. The Tele Check and Caller Reassurance programs supported 394 and 88 seniors in need respectively in F2023. Touching Base program provided similar support to 232 clients with mental health concerns in F2023. The Survivor Support Program is a program that provides support to suicide and homicide survivors. In F2023 it helped 405 individuals.
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Results and Impact
Distress Centres of Greater Toronto reports that 27% of 408-Help Line callers experienced a decrease in isolation and loneliness and 34% reduced emotional intensity following the conversation with DCGT staff in F2023. DCGT's Multilingual Lines service helped 74% of callers experience a decrease in isolation and loneliness and 40% of callers increase their ability to cope.
Of DCGT’s 988 Suicide Crisis Helpline calls, 8,294 said yes to thoughts of suicide and 1,096 said yes to a current plan for suicide. Of those, 321 plans were disabled safely, and 386 emergency interventions were made.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Distress Centres of Greater Toronto’s results and impact.
Charity Intelligence has rated Distress Centres of Greater Toronto as Average for its demonstrated impact.
Impact Rating: Average
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Finances
In F2023, Distress Centres of Greater Toronto received $1.2m in cash donations. The charity received $667k in consulting income (27% of total revenue) recorded as fees for service. DCGT received $622k in government funding in F2023, representing 25% of total revenue.
Administrative costs are 7% of total revenue and fundraising costs are 4% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 10%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 90 cents are available for programs. This falls within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.
In F2023, DCGT spent $2.2m on its programs, which is 83% of total revenues. The charity had a surplus of $229k, which is 9% of revenues.
Distress Centres of Greater Toronto has $1.2m in reserve funds. These reserve funds are DCGT’s cash and investments and can cover program costs for seven months.
This charity report is an update that has been sent to Distress Centres of Greater Toronto for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated on June 24, 2024 by Alessandra Castino.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending December
|
2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 6.6% | 6.0% | 5.3% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 3.5% | 8.3% | 5.9% |
| Total overhead spending | 10.1% | 14.3% | 11.2% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | 56.1% | 45.1% | 62.7% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $s |
2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 1,153,809 | 1,346,634 | 1,158,143 |
| Government funding | 621,981 | 1,038,369 | 637,466 |
| Fees for service | 666,729 | 395,940 | 463,775 |
| Other income | 229,812 | (450,624) | 416,663 |
| Total revenues | 2,672,331 | 2,330,319 | 2,676,047 |
| Program costs | 2,226,554 | 2,363,267 | 2,067,765 |
| Administrative costs | 177,158 | 140,047 | 140,496 |
| Fundraising costs | 39,905 | 111,909 | 68,619 |
| Total spending | 2,443,617 | 2,615,223 | 2,276,880 |
| Cash flow from operations | 228,714 | (284,904) | 399,167 |
| Capital spending | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Funding reserves | 1,248,924 | 1,065,348 | 1,296,465 |
Note: ACTIVITY BASED COSTING: In F2022 and F2021, Ci reported program, administrative, and fundraising costs from the charity’s T3010 filings with CRA. The F2023 T3010 does not provide this breakdown. Ci used the audited financial statements to allocate costs and included salaries and benefits in program costs. As such, the F2023 spending figures are not directly comparable. DEFERRED REVENUE: Ci adjusted for deferred revenue, affecting total revenues by $179k in F2023, ($482k) in F2022, and $385k in F2021. Ci included deferred revenue in other revenue, as the audited financial statements do not separate government from non-government deferred revenue. AMORTIZATION: In F2022 and F2021, Ci removed amortization from program, administrative, and fundraising costs on a pro rata basis.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
1 |
$120k - $160k |
0 |
$80k - $120k |
1 |
$40k - $80k |
8 |
< $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
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