Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Canada
STAR RATINGCi's Star Rating is calculated based on the following independent metrics: |
✖
FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY
Audited financial statements available only through official request for information from Charities Directorate.
F
RESULTS REPORTING
Grade based on the charity's public reporting of the work it does and the results it achieves.
Low
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.
99%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 99 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Canada:
Watch Tower is a 0-star charity with Low demonstrated impact. The charity does not have a website and reports very little about its $30m programs and their results. Watch Tower has large funding reserves and is not financially transparent. Before you give, read Charity Intelligence's report.
Founded in 1967, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Canada (Watch Tower) is the head office of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Canada. According to its CRA T3010 filing, Watch Tower granted $27.5m to other Jehovah's Witness charities in F2021. However, the charity's financial statements do not report this number. Of its total disbursements, $2.6m went to JW Congregation Support, which helps other JW congregations build, buy, and remodel churches and other religious buildings. According to its financial statements, Watch Tower spent $9.6m to support charitable programs in other countries in F2021. According to Watch Tower's T3010 filing with the CRA, it spent $10.9m on international programs and activities in F2021, of which $8.7m went to Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of New York.
During F2021, Watch Tower printed 33.5 million copies of the Watchtower magazine, 41.1 million Bible-based tracts, 4.9 million copies of 'Awake!' magazine, and 8,500 Bible-based brochures. These literature items were free for the public and congregation members throughout Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, and Guyana. The charity reported that it did not have any paid employees in F2021.
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Results and Impact
Charity Intelligence has evaluated Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Canada and found the charity to have Low demonstrated impact per dollar.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Canada's results and impact.
Impact Rating: Low
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Finances
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Canada is not financially transparent. Financial analysis was based on financial statements provided by the CRA. The financial statements received from the CRA are incomplete; they exclude notes and auditor’s information. There is no indication that the financial statements have been audited. The numbers from the charity’s T3010 filing with the CRA and the charity’s financial statements differ drastically.
Watch Tower is a Major 100 charity, one of Canada’s largest charities in terms of donations. It received $95.2m in cash donations in F2021. Watch Tower’s administrative costs are less than 2% of revenues, and the charity does not report fundraising costs. For every dollar donated, 99 cents go to the cause, which is outside Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. When a charity reports overhead spending of less than 5%, it sometimes suggests that the numbers are inaccurate or misreported.
Watch Tower has $96.3m in funding reserves, once $11.5m in debt is accounted for. This compares with funding reserves of $27.0m in F2020 and ($11.7m) in F2019. This $108m increase in funding reserves over the past two years can now cover 330% or three years and four months of its annual program costs with reserves.
Charity Intelligence has sent this update to Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Canada for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated June 16, 2022, by Sydney Olexa.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending August
|
2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 1.5% | 1.5% | 2.9% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Total overhead spending | 1.5% | 1.5% | 2.9% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | 329.8% | 54.5% | (14.6%) |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 95,238 | 85,839 | 66,979 |
| Goods in kind | 5,751 | 3,801 | 5,392 |
| Investment income | 567 | 435 | 365 |
| Other income | 88 | 88 | 247 |
| Total revenues | 101,644 | 90,163 | 72,984 |
| Program costs - International | 9,587 | 24,468 | 47,853 |
| Program costs - Canada | 16,393 | 16,851 | 20,783 |
| Grants | 3,204 | 8,201 | 11,784 |
| Administrative costs | 1,478 | 1,328 | 2,083 |
| Fundraising costs | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total spending | 30,662 | 50,848 | 82,504 |
| Cash flow from operations | 70,982 | 39,315 | (9,520) |
| Capital spending | 0 | 2,632 | 369 |
| Funding reserves | 96,261 | 27,010 | (11,706) |
Note: Ci adjusted for deferred revenues, affecting total revenues by ($25.7) in F2021, $2.0m in F2020, and $2.8m in F2019. Ci did not include unrealized gains (losses), affecting revenues by 48k in F2021, ($11k) in F2020, and $147k in F2019. The charity did not include a cash flow statement in its F2021 financial statements, therefore capital spending could not be determined.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
0 |
$120k - $160k |
0 |
$80k - $120k |
0 |
$40k - $80k |
0 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2021
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Comments & Contact
Comments added by the Charity:
Ammended December 13, 2022:
As indicated on their official website, jw.org, the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses is primarily financed by voluntary donations from individuals who are Jehovah's Witnesses. These donors receive donation acknowledgement letters, understand the work of this charity is performed by unpaid volunteers minimizing administrative expenses, and are provided with extensive details on how their money is used in the article series entitled “How Your Donations are Used”, available on jw.org.
Comment received November 2, 2022:
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Canada’s financial statements are audited annually by licensed public accountants in accordance with Canadian generally accepted auditing standards. This audited financial information is reported to the CRA in the categories requested on the T3010. As indicated on their official website, jw.org, the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses is primarily financed by voluntary donations from individuals who are Jehovah's Witnesses. These donors receive donation acknowledgement letters, understand the work of this charity is performed by unpaid volunteers minimizing administrative expenses, and are provided with extensive details on how their money is used in the article series entitled “How Your Donations are Used”, available on jw.org.
Charity Contact
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Telephone number 905.873.4101 extn 2414
Tel: n/a