Sierra Club BC
STAR RATINGCi's Star Rating is calculated based on the following independent metrics: |
✔
FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY
Most recent Audited financial statements 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.
n/r
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.
54%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 54 cents are available for programs.
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Programs
About Sierra Club BC:
Founded in 1969, Sierra Club of British Columbia Foundation (Sierra Club BC) works to protect British Columbia’s natural environment from the effects of climate change and deforestation. It advocates for a shift away from fossil fuels to a low carbon economy. Sierra Club BC also runs education programs to inform the public about BC’s ecosystems and biodiversity. According to the charity, the logging industry cuts down old-growth forests at a rate of 15,200 hectares per year in coastal BC and 126,000 hectares per year in interior BC. For context, this amounts to an area of more than 500 soccer fields cut down each day.
Sierra Club BC runs two main programs: Environmental Advocacy and Awareness, and Education K-8.
Environmental Advocacy and Awareness programs made up 78% of program spending in F2018. Sierra Club BC runs awareness campaigns to defend nature and stabilize Canada’s climate through clean energy. Its current campaigns focus on fossil fuels, climate solutions, forests, and sustainable use of the Southern Rockies. In F2018, Sierra Club BC reports that it called on 437 municipal candidates to support old-growth forests. It also coordinated a petition from more than 200,000 people and a letter signed by 223 scientists to call for forest protection.
Education K-8 programs represented 22% of program spending in F2018. Sierra Club BC’s education programs provide outdoor educational workshops for four different age groups, spanning from kindergarten to eighth grade. These workshops teach students about local wildlife, crucial ecosystems, and climate change solutions. In addition, Sierra Club BC offers professional development workshops that encourage teachers and caregivers to educate their students on the environment. Sierra Club BC reports that it engaged more than 4,500 students and 400 teachers through education programs in F2018.
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Results and Impact
In June 2019, Sierra Club BC reported that Bill C-48 and Bill C-69 both passed into law following its advocacy efforts. Also known as the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, Bill C-48 adds regulations on vessels transporting large amounts of crude oil. For instance, it prohibits oil tankers carrying more than 12,500 metric tons of oil from stopping or unloading at various ports along BC. The Impact Assessment Act, or Bill C-69, strengthens the process for reviewing infrastructure projects such as pipelines. It authorizes the Minister of the Environment to conduct impact assessments of proposed projects and halt them on the basis of factors such as environmental or health impacts.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Sierra Club BC’s results and impact.
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Finances
Ci reported Sierra Club BC’s administrative costs from its T3010 filings with the CRA. However, the charity’s F2019 filing was not yet posted at the time of this report. Based on data from only its audited financial statements, Sierra Club BC’s administrative costs may be overstated for F2019.
Sierra Club BC is a medium-sized charity with donations of $1.7m in F2019. Administrative costs are 15% of total revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 32% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 46%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 54 cents go to the cause. This falls outside of Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. Sierra Club BC’s fundraising ratio rose by 12% in F2019 due to higher fundraising costs, up 122% from F2018.
In F2018, the most recent year that administrative costs could be obtained from CRA data, administrative costs were 11% of revenues and fundraising costs were 20% of donations. This resulted in total overhead spending of 30%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 70 cents went to the cause. This fell within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.
Sierra Club BC’s total funding reserves of $929k can cover roughly one year of annual program costs.
This charity report is an update that has been sent to Sierra Club of British Columbia Foundation for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated on August 7, 2020 by Eric Zhao.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending December
|
2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
---|---|---|---|
Administrative costs as % of revenues | 14.5% | 10.6% | 9.9% |
Fundraising costs as % of donations | 31.5% | 19.5% | 17.1% |
Total overhead spending | 46.0% | 30.1% | 27.0% |
Program cost coverage (%) | 100.6% | 75.9% | 98.0% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $s |
2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
---|---|---|---|
Donations | 1,695,969 | 1,234,797 | 1,035,471 |
Government funding | 161,662 | 153,453 | 129,502 |
Investment income | 0 | 4,030 | 1,772 |
Other income | 5,308 | 4,560 | 16,405 |
Total revenues | 1,862,939 | 1,396,840 | 1,183,150 |
Program costs | 923,896 | 993,163 | 783,927 |
Administrative costs | 270,309 | 147,871 | 116,379 |
Fundraising costs | 534,323 | 240,835 | 177,076 |
Other costs | 2,860 | 2,921 | 8,848 |
Total spending | 1,731,388 | 1,384,790 | 1,086,230 |
Cash flow from operations | 131,551 | 12,050 | 96,920 |
Capital spending | 16,959 | 1,207 | 2,103 |
Funding reserves | 929,203 | 753,385 | 768,541 |
Note: To report on a cash basis, Ci adjusted donations by changes in deferred revenue and deferred capital contributions. This affected total revenues by $29k in F2019, ($149k) in F2018, and $30k in F2017. Ci reported investment income from the charity’s available filings with the CRA and removed the amounts from other income. Ci adjusted administrative costs from the charity’s financial statements to match the amounts reported in CRA filings. The differences in administrative costs were reallocated to program costs. Ci removed service and interest charges from administrative costs and reported them as other costs. Sierra Club BC’s F2019 CRA filing was not available at the time of this report.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
0 |
$120k - $160k |
0 |
$80k - $120k |
0 |
$40k - $80k |
9 |
< $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
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