SOS Children's Villages Canada

About SOS Children's Villages Canada:

Founded in 1969, SOS Children’s Villages Canada (SOS Canada) is a member of the international SOS Children’s Villages organization. The charity was founded to help orphaned and abandoned children but has expanded to prevent abandonment and provide families with access to food, shelter, healthcare, and education. SOS Children’s Villages operates in 134 countries, running programs including: Children’s Villages, Family Strengthening, and Emergency Relief. Funds collected by SOS Canada are often pooled with money collected by other SOS branches, then used in charitable activities. In F2018, SOS Canada distributed $5.1 million, of which 5% went to run programs in Europe, 10% to South America, 12% to North America, 15% to Asia, and 58% to Africa.

SOS operates Children’s Villages where abandoned children are housed and cared for. Each of the 10-15 homes in a village is occupied by a trained SOS Mother and 5-10 children. SOS reports that it has provided 90,000 children and youth with a loving home. SOS staffs kindergartens, schools, and vocational training centres to support the education of children. Many of these schools are located outside of Children’s Villages.

The SOS Family Strengthening program works to prevent child abandonment by providing parents with skills training and guidance to become financially self-sufficient. Stable income allows parents to care for their children and kids can go to school rather than work to support the family. Since 1 of every 4 children lives in a country affected by conflict or disaster, SOS also administers emergency aid to families. In emergency situations, SOS works to have families reunited, offers childcare, provides education and healthcare services, and distributes food to children and women.

Results and Impact: In Mali, 65% of community members had less than one meal per day, prior to SOS involvement. SOS’s Family Strengthening program has created three community gardens and provided systems to water crops, resulting in 80% of people served having three meals a day. In the same area three years ago, over 68% of children had dropped out of school. By supporting parents in finding sustainable income, more children are able to stay in school, with the current dropout rate significantly lower at 10%.

Financial Review:

SOS Children’s Villages Canada is a Large charity, with donations of $6.2m in F2018. The charity received $1.0m in government funding, representing 14% of total revenues. Administrative costs are 8% of revenues and fundraising costs are 31% of donations. For every $1 donated, 61 cents go to the cause, falling below Ci’s reasonable range. The charity has $3.6m in funding reserves, of which $411k is donor-endowed. Excluding donor-endowed funds, funding reserves cover 7 months of program costs.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to SOS Children’s Villages Canada for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on July 24, 2018 by Madison Kerr.