610 Bronson Avenue
Ottawa, ON K1S 4E6
Executive Director: Julia Thompson
Board Chair: Kathleen Lauder

Charitable Reg. #:82246 8476 RR0001

STAR RATING

Ci's Star Rating is calculated based on the following independent metrics:

[Charity Rating: 2/5]

✔+

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.

94%

CENTS TO THE CAUSE

For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 94 cents are available for programs.



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OVERVIEW

About Help Lesotho:

Help Lesotho is a 2-star rated charity with an average results reporting score and Low demonstrated impact. It is financially transparent and has overhead costs within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

Founded in 2004, Help Lesotho works to fight gender inequity, promote education, and prevent HIV transmission across Lesotho. The charity’s head office is in Ottawa. Help Lesotho states that one in four people in Lesotho is HIV-positive and that half of Lesotho’s population lives in poverty. Additionally, it reports that 86% of women and girls report experiences of gender-based violence, with one in three girls experiencing physical violence in their childhood.

Help Lesotho states that it delivers 22 life skills and psychosocial support programs to vulnerable people. It lists 12 programs on its website: Grandmother Program, Young Mother Program, Herd Boy Program, Child Sponsorship, Schools Helping Schools, Leaders-in-Training, Leadership Centres, Computer and Life Skills, GIRL4ce, Pearl Program, Guys4Good, and Youth Employment Training. The charity does not provide a breakdown of spending by program. However, it reports that 55% of expenses were on youth, 19% was on children, 11% was on young mothers, 10% was on grandmothers, and 5% was on herd boys. In F2022, the charity reported that it reached 24,228 people directly through its programs and 16,833 people indirectly.

Help Lesotho’s Leaders-in-Training (LIT) Program is its most intensive program, with 24 training days over six weeks. The program teaches young people to deal with the impact of AIDS and poverty in Lesotho, and builds awareness, communication skills, and professionalism. In F2022, 57 young adults participated in the program.

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Results and Impact

Help Lesotho collected surveys at an Alumni Reunion in 2020 and reported that 98% of respondents said that the organisation made a very positive impact on their lives. 91% of respondents said that they make healthier life choices because of what they learned at Help Lesotho, 91% said their future is brighter because of the charity, and 86% said that they are more conscious about the needs of others.

The charity also reported that after the 2022 Leaders-in-Training program, 98% of participants identified as leaders as compared to 35% before the program. 100% of participants reported that they learned strategies to help make positive change in their communities, and 98% of participants were already applying these strategies by the end of the program. Additionally, 96% of participants reported improved resilience, and 67% reported increased confidence in standing up for their rights.

While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Help Lesotho’s results and impact.

Charity Intelligence has given Help Lesotho a Low impact rating based on its demonstrated impact per dollar spent.

Impact Rating: Low

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Finances

Help Lesotho received $1.2m in Canadian donations in F2022. It also received $629k in international donations, representing 34% of total revenues.

Administrative costs are 5% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 2% of Canadian donations. This results in total overhead spending of 6%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 94 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

Help Lesotho has reserve funds of $1.6m which can cover almost one year and two months of annual program costs.

According to its annual filing with the Charities Directorate, Help Lesotho used external fundraisers in F2022. It paid external fundraisers $1k to raise $33k, at a cost of $0.04 per dollar raised.

Charity Intelligence has sent this update to Help Lesotho for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on June 30, 2023 by Kiara Andrade.  

Financial Review


Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending June
202220212020
Administrative costs as % of revenues 4.5%4.7%7.5%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 2.0%2.1%2.4%
Total overhead spending 6.5%6.8%9.9%
Program cost coverage (%) 114.0%95.1%117.9%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $s
202220212020
Donations 1,168,567925,277991,801
International donations 629,237678,848501,937
Government funding 010,00017,544
Business activities (net) 15,93030,56331,851
Investment income 49,045(29,063)41,278
Other income (8,050)31,204(12,561)
Total revenues 1,854,7291,646,8291,571,850
Program costs - International 1,443,4531,483,7151,180,262
Administrative costs 80,63877,908115,299
Fundraising costs 23,48819,49323,306
Total spending 1,547,5791,581,1161,318,867
Cash flow from operations 307,15065,713252,983
Capital spending 31,12927,88268,720
Funding reserves 1,645,2771,411,6301,391,551

Note: Ci reported international donations and government funding from the charity’s T3010 filings with the CRA and removed the amounts from Canadian donations. Ci excluded gains on the disposal of capital assets, affecting revenues by ($10k) in F2020. To report on a cash basis, Ci adjusted for deferred contributions and capital contributions, affecting revenues by $273k in F2022, ($110k) in F2021, and ($13k) in F2020. Ci removed amortization included in program and administrative costs based on the charity’s financial notes.

Salary Information

Full-time staff: 40

Avg. compensation: $20,743

Top 10 staff salary range:

$350k +
0
$300k - $350k
0
$250k - $300k
0
$200k - $250k
0
$160k - $200k
0
$120k - $160k
1
$80k - $120k
2
$40k - $80k
3
< $40k
4

Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2022

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Comments & Contact

Comments added by the Charity:

The following comment was provided for a previous profile update.

In 2014, Help Lesotho became one of the first 100 Canadian charities to achieve accreditation through the Imagine Canada Standards Program. Accreditation is a testimony to Help Lesotho’s transparency, accountability, and effective governance. With over 86,000 charities in Canada, fewer than 1% have been recognized with this gold standard for operational excellence. Accreditation through Imagine Canada is just one example of Help Lesotho’s commitment to being a Centre of Excellence in everything we do. One of our strategic priorities is to increase our capacity to measure the impact of our programs on the ground.

Charity Contact

Website: www.helplesotho.org
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 613-369-5868

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Charitable Registration Number: 80340 7956 RR0001