Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada
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.
B
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.
86%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 86 cents are available for programs.
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Programs
About Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada:
Founded in 1964, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada (BBBS) connects volunteer mentors with Canadian youth. BBBS works with kids who face barriers such as poor living conditions and family violence, being exposed to risk factors for mental health, struggling in school, or having identity challenges. Unaddressed, these conditions can lead to poverty, crime, and mental illness. Through mentorship, BBBS aims to reduce and avoid these risks and improve a child's chance of success.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada assists 102 local Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies, which serve over 1,100 Canadian communities. BBBS collects fees from these agencies and provides them with assistance in running programs. BBBS also distributes grants to its agencies, awarding $2.4 million in F2019.
Through its agencies, BBBS runs Big Brothers and Big Sisters One-to-One mentoring programs. Case workers match kids with volunteer mentors based on common interests. Mentors and mentees meet at least twice a month for a minimum of one year. One-to-One mentoring is also offered in schools where volunteers spend an hour each week reading, playing board games, or doing crafts with students.
BBBS also has two group programs – Go Girls! and Game On! These programs teach teenage girls and boys about healthy lifestyles and promote physical activity, balanced eating, self-esteem, positive communication, and emotional health. Go Girls! is a seven to 10 week program for girls aged 12-14, with sessions lasting 90 to 120 minutes. Game On! is a seven-session program for boys, with each session lasting 75 minutes.
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Results and Impact
Boston Consulting Group (BCG) completed a pro-bono study that evaluated the impact of BBBS's One-to-One mentoring program. The study compared adults who participated in One-to-One programs as kids to those who did not. BCG found that for every $1 invested in the program, $23 is returned to society. BCG also found that past mentees are 17% more likely to be employed and earn 13% more, leading to a $315,000 increase in earnings over their lifetime. Other outcomes include: 81% have stronger financial literacy, 87% have strong social networks, and 63% have post-secondary education.
Charity Intelligence has evaluated Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada and found the charity to have Average demonstrated social impact per dollar spent.
Impact Rating: Average
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Finances
Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada is a medium-sized charity, receiving $2.7m in donations in F2019. Compared with F2018, total donations increased by 75%. The charity also received $2.9m in government funding (43% of total revenue) in F2019. Administrative costs are 9% of revenues and fundraising costs are 6% of donations. For every dollar donated, 85 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci's reasonable range for overhead spending. Funding reserves of $2.6m can cover 5.5 months of annual program costs.
In F2019, BBBS received $490k from units of a hedge fund received in 1999. In 1999, the units were valued and tax receipted at $8.8 million.
BBBS Canada has a separate foundation that Ci has not consolidated in this review. From a brief review of BBBS Canada Foundation's annual filing, assets were $276k and donations were $35k in F2019.
This charity report is an update that has been sent to Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada for review. Comments and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated on July 14, 2020 by Tenzin Shomar.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending December
|
2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 8.6% | 12.3% | 8.7% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 5.8% | 10.1% | 8.8% |
| Total overhead spending | 14.4% | 22.3% | 17.5% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | 45.7% | 21.9% | 23.6% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 2,721 | 1,559 | 1,806 |
| Government funding | 2,886 | 2,187 | 3,060 |
| Fees for service | 986 | 1,008 | 1,025 |
| Investment income | 110 | (21) | 13 |
| Total revenues | 6,702 | 4,732 | 5,904 |
| Program costs | 3,372 | 1,996 | 2,222 |
| Grants | 2,420 | 2,032 | 2,998 |
| Administrative costs | 567 | 584 | 513 |
| Fundraising costs | 158 | 157 | 158 |
| Total spending | 6,517 | 4,768 | 5,891 |
| Cash flow from operations | 185 | (35) | 13 |
| Capital spending | 18 | 35 | 8 |
| Funding reserves | 2,645 | 881 | 1,233 |
Note: In F2019 and F2017, deferred donations and government funding were material. The charity's financial statements report changes in deferred contributions of ($1.1m) in F2019, $38k in F2018, and ($959k) in F2017. Revenues were not adjusted to report on a cash basis because Ci could not accurately allocate deferred adjustments to donations and government funding separately. Ci reported unrealized loss on investments as a contra-revenue item in investment income instead of as an expense, changing total revenue and expenses by $62k in F2019 and ($40k) in F2018.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
1 |
$120k - $160k |
1 |
$80k - $120k |
4 |
$40k - $80k |
4 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2018
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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: 905-639-0461