Starlight Children's Foundation
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.
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.
77%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 77 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Starlight Children's Foundation:
Starlight Children’s Foundation is a 2-star charity with Low demonstrated impact. It is financially transparent and has overhead spending within Ci’s reasonable range and an average results reporting grade.
Founded in 1989, Starlight Children’s Foundation (Starlight) supports families with seriously ill children. The charity states that having a child with a serious illness can create stress and anxiety for the whole family. These mental challenges are especially difficult for the child with the serious illness. The charity runs In-Hospital and Out-of-Hospital programs. Charity Intelligence calculates it spent $8.2m on its programs in F2023. Starlight’s most recent impact report is from F2021.
The Out-of-Hospital programs grant seriously ill children's wishes. Starlight Great Escapes Wishes bring families together for various fun events. In F2021 Starlight held 40 events for 1,929 children. Starlight Day Brighteners Wishes provide day outings for children and their families. In F2021 Starlight held 107 events for 141 children. In F2021 Starlight granted two individualized Once in a Lifetime Wishes.
The In-Hospital programs offer distraction and fun for sick youth in Canadian hospitals. The Starlight Fun Center is a mobile unit that has a TV, a Nintendo Switch, and Internet access. In F2021 Starlight placed 50 new units in 29 hospitals and had a total of 137 active units. Starlight comfort kits contain essentials for play and comfort. In F2021 Starlight placed 10,700 kits in 112 hospitals. Hospital Happenings are fun events hosted in-hospital for children and their families. In F2021 Starlight ran 32 events in seven hospitals.
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Results and Impact
In 2016 The Collaboration Vector conducted a third-party study on the Great Escapes Wishes subprogram. This study found a Social Return on Investment (SROI) of 3.49. This means that for each dollar donated, three and a half dollars of social benefit is created. 90% of parents reported that Great Escapes Wishes had a positive impact on their child’s emotional health.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Starlight Children’s Foundation’s results and impact.
Charity Intelligence has given Starlight Children’s Foundation a low impact rating based on demonstrated impact per dollar spent.
Impact Rating: Low
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Finances
In F2023 Starlight Children’s Foundation received $10.9m in cash donations, donated goods-in-kind, and special events fundraising. Administrative costs are 3% of revenues (excluding investment income). Fundraising costs are 21% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 23%. For every dollar donated, 77 cents go to the cause. This falls within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.
In F2023 Starlight spent $8.2m on its programs, which is 75% of its revenue. In F2023 it had a surplus of $939k.
Starlight’s reserve funds are ($514k) due to having $2.2m in interest bearing debt. Excluding the debt, Starlight could cover 21%, or two and a half months of program spending.
This charity report is an update that has been sent for review to Starlight Children’s Foundation. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated on June 25, 2024, by Grady Simpson.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending December
|
2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 2.5% | 3.1% | 3.0% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 21.0% | 12.2% | 9.3% |
| Total overhead spending | 23.4% | 15.3% | 12.3% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | (6.3%) | (8.0%) | (1.4%) |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 4,365 | 5,818 | 4,442 |
| Goods in kind | 3,425 | 1,829 | 1,693 |
| Special events | 3,126 | 2,071 | 1,459 |
| Investment income | 67 | 28 | 9 |
| Total revenues | 10,982 | 9,746 | 7,602 |
| Program costs | 8,193 | 8,496 | 6,372 |
| Administrative costs | 268 | 297 | 224 |
| Fundraising costs | 1,569 | 962 | 549 |
| Other costs | 13 | 3 | 22 |
| Total spending | 10,043 | 9,758 | 7,167 |
| Cash flow from operations | 939 | (13) | 435 |
| Capital spending | 385 | 361 | 331 |
| Funding reserves | (514) | (681) | (87) |
Note: DEFERRED ADJUSTMENT: Starlight uses deferred accounting. To show donors information on a consistent basis, Ci adjusted for these deferred revenues. This affected revenues by $675k in F2023, ($254k) in F2022, and $44k in F2021. AMORTIZATION: Ci removed amortization from program and administrative costs. LOSS ON DISPOSAL: Ci removed loss on disposal from program costs.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
1 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
2 |
$120k - $160k |
1 |
$80k - $120k |
2 |
$40k - $80k |
4 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2023
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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: 514.288.9474