Founded in 1985, Indspire helps Indigenous students in Canada complete their post-secondary education by providing bursaries and scholarships. Indigenous people are under-represented in post-secondary education, with only 10% of Indigenous students completing university degrees compared to 27% of other Canadian students. Lack of funding is the most significant barrier to completing post-secondary education for Indigenous people. The Centre for the Study of Living Standards estimates that greater achievement in higher education for Indigenous peoples would increase their annual income by $11,236 by 2031 and that closing the education gap for Indigenous students in Canada would cumulatively increase Canadian GDP by $261 Billion by 2031. The charity’s head office is in Ohsweken, Ontario.

A Charity Intelligence 2020 Top 10 Canadian Impact Charity

Building Brighter Futures (BBF) is Indspire’s largest program, representing 71% of program costs in F2019. Through BBF, Indspire grants bursaries, scholarships and awards to Indigenous students who need financial aid to complete their post-secondary education. BBF funded 5,553 students in F2019, up 12% from F2018, disbursing more than $16 million. Building Brighter Futures represents the largest scholarship and bursary program for Indigenous students in Canada aside from the Government of Canada. The three most popular areas of study for students receiving funding were STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), business, and social science and humanities. 

Indspire Awards represented 14% of program costs in F2019. In F2019, The 2019 Indspire Awards ceremony was held at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary and was broadcast on CBC and APTN. 12 awards were presented to First Nations, Inuit and Metis individuals who were a source of inspiration for Indigenous youth.

The K-12 Indspire Institute represented 11% of program costs in F2019 and connects educators with programs, resources and tools to improve the educational outcomes of Indigenous students. There are more than 1,000 educational tools online for teachers, students and parents of the Indigenous community. In F2019, the Institute supported 1,541 people.   

Soaring is Indspire's Indigenous Youth Career Conference program, which educates high school students about possible career and post-secondary education options. The conferences made up 4% of program costs in F2019 and hosted 762 high school students and their chaperones. 

Indspire is a Large charity, receiving $11.8 million in donations in F2019. The charity also received $13.8m in government funding (49% of revenues). Administrative costs are 9% of revenues and fundraising costs are 14% of donations. For every dollar donated, 77 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. The charity holds $32.3m in funding reserves, of which $27.1m is donor-endowed. Excluding donor-endowed funds, Indspire can cover 2.9 months of annual program costs.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Indspire for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on August 26, 2020 by Tenzin Shomar.