Founded in 1991, Canadian Women’s Foundation (CWF) funds projects that help women move out of violence and poverty, and into confidence and leadership. According to CWF, Canada ranked 24^th place on the Global Gender Gap Index by the World Economic Forum in 2021. In F2019, CWF funded 73 programs, of which 26 served remote communities and 29 served First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities. CWF funds programs in four main categories: Out of Violence, Out of Poverty, Empower Girls, and Inclusive Leadership. A breakdown of spending on these programs is not provided.

By funding Out of Poverty programs, CWF provides women the tools they need to be financially secure. CWF funds ten Economic Development programs: five 4-year grants, and five 5-year grants.

CWF’s Out of Violence programs prevent violent relationships by teaching youth how to recognize abusive behaviour. CWF also funds services that help women and children who have experienced violence, including legal advice, counselling, safe housing, interest-free loans, and sexual assault response and care.

CWF’s Empower Girls programs focus on girls aged 9 to 13. The charity states that the years between 9 and 13 are when most girls lose self-confidence. The CWF Girls’ Fund offers science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, sports and physical activity, media literacy, Indigenous culture and connection, and mentorship.

CWF invests in Inclusive Leadership programs that provide opportunities for women and girls to practice leadership skills.

Recent News: CWF states that women and girls are disproportionally affected by the covid-19 pandemic. In response, the charity developed the Tireless Together Fund, which provides critical support to women and girls. CWF is also working with the Government of Canada to deliver emergency funding to important services and advocate for fair policies implemented during the pandemic.

Canadian Women’s Foundation had total donations and special event fundraising of $3.6m in F2020. Despite donations decreasing, total revenues increased 246% from F2019 to F2020. This is because government funding jumped from $1.1m in F2019 to $15.2m in F2020. In F2020, government funding made up 78% of total revenues.

Administrative costs are 5% of revenues (excluding investment income), compared to 25% in F2019 and 28% in F2018. This decrease is due to the 1331% increase in government funding mentioned above. As such, the F2020 administrative cost ratio may not be representative of CWF’s activities. Fundraising costs are 34% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 39%. For every dollar donated, 61 cents go to the cause, which is not within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

CWF has $19.7m in funding reserves, of which $233k is donor endowed. Excluding donor-endowed funds, CWF could cover 107% or almost 13 months of annual program costs with reserves.

­Charity Intelligence sent an update of this report to Canadian Women’s Foundation for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on June 21, 2021 by Sydney Olexa.