Hamilton Food Share
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.
A
RESULTS REPORTING
Grade based on the charity's public reporting of the work it does and the results it achieves.
Good
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.
75%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 75 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Hamilton Food Share:
Hamilton Food Share is a 5-star charity with High demonstrated impact. It has a good results reporting grade and it is financially transparent.
Founded in 1992, Greater Hamilton Food Share (Hamilton Food Share) is the distribution hub for Hamilton's Emergency Food Network, a group of 12 member agencies that work to feed people in poverty. Hamilton Food Share aims to end hunger by sending food to 42 emergency food programs and local food banks. According to its covid-19 hunger report, emergency food bank visits across Hamilton increased by 9% in F2020. Around 54% of the charity's clients spend at least half of their income on housing and are at extreme risk of homelessness.
Hamilton Food Share’s main program is food distribution. In F2020, it provided $9.9m in donated food, purchased $300k worth of food, and spent $1.0m on distribution costs.
In F2020, Hamilton Food Share collected and distributed 3.8 million pounds of food (3.4 million pounds in F2019). This included 2.3 million pounds of fresh food (60%), 975,686 pounds of non-perishable food (26%), and 524,157 pounds of frozen food (14%). Around 74% of food went to the Emergency Food Network in Hamilton, with the remaining distributions going to Niagara Region food banks and other community partners. Hamilton Food Share’s local food bank partners reported a total of 283,011 visits in F2020 (255,537 in F2019).
The charity also runs other annual food distribution initiatives. In F2020, it served 234,011 public meals and delivered 8,581 Christmas food hampers. Hamilton Food Share also gives clients the option to pick up food directly from warehouses. It received 3,898 food pickups during the year.
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Results and Impact
Hamilton Food Share states that for every $1 donated, it can provide $5 worth of food to people in need due to its retail partnerships. In F2020, it distributed 72,847 pounds of food each week to around 13,000 clients, including 5,000 children.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Hamilton Food Share’s results and impact.
Charity Intelligence has given Hamilton Food Share a High impact rating based on demonstrated impact per dollar spent.
Impact Rating: Good

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Finances
Hamilton Food Share received $1.4m in cash donations in F2020. It also received $9.9m in donated food (83% of revenues) and $559k in government funding (5% of revenues). Administrative costs are 1% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 24% of cash donations. This results in total overhead spending of 25%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 75 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.
Hamilton Food Share has $839k in net funding reserves. The charity can cover 63% or between seven and eight months of annual program costs with its existing reserves.
Charity Intelligence has sent this update to Hamilton Food Share for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated on August 23, 2021 by Eric Zhao.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending March
|
2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
---|---|---|---|
Administrative costs as % of revenues | 1.4% | 1.7% | 1.8% |
Fundraising costs as % of donations | 24.0% | 28.4% | 30.1% |
Total overhead spending | 25.4% | 30.1% | 31.9% |
Program cost coverage (%) | 63.3% | 47.3% | 58.7% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
---|---|---|---|
Donations | 1,351 | 1,130 | 1,037 |
Goods in kind | 9,925 | 8,723 | 7,125 |
Government funding | 559 | 486 | 486 |
Fees for service | 16 | 12 | 12 |
Lotteries (net) | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Other income | 66 | 0 | 1 |
Total revenues | 11,917 | 10,351 | 8,662 |
Program costs | 1,326 | 1,081 | 1,010 |
Donated goods exp | 9,925 | 8,723 | 7,125 |
Administrative costs | 165 | 173 | 159 |
Fundraising costs | 324 | 321 | 312 |
Total spending | 11,740 | 10,299 | 8,607 |
Cash flow from operations | 177 | 53 | 56 |
Capital spending | 180 | 122 | 24 |
Funding reserves | 839 | 511 | 593 |
Note: Ci included the value of donated food as goods in kind, affecting revenues and expenses by $9.9m in F2020, $8.7m in F2019, and $7.1m in F2018. Ci classified membership capacity grants and operational grants as government funding, in accordance with the charity’s T3010 filings. Ci excluded amortization of deferred capital contributions, as the charity does not disclose the source of this funding. This affected revenues by ($73k) in F2020, ($63k) in F2019, and ($75k) in F2018. Ci excluded gains and losses on asset disposal and amortization expenses.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
0 |
$120k - $160k |
0 |
$80k - $120k |
5 |
$40k - $80k |
5 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2020
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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: 905-664-9065