Jays Care Foundation

About Jays Care Foundation:

Founded in 1992, the Jays Care Foundation (Jays Care) promotes baseball as a tool to teach children skills such as teamwork, self-esteem, leadership and resiliency. Jays Care is primarily a granting charity, but it also runs sports programs that directly work with children across Canada.

Jays Care Foundation has two major granting programs: Field of Dreams and Grand Slam. Through Fields of Dreams, the charity funds projects that create new or refurbish old recreation spaces in Canada. Investments for the Field of Dreams program represented 49% of total program costs in 2015. To date, Jays Care has invested over $6.5 million to create 65 safe spaces for youth, including 34 baseball diamonds. One success story from this program is seen in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. In 2014, the city received $71k in funding to renew its Little Jubilee sports field and facilities. In 2015, the Corner Brook Baseball Association reported that participation rates increased 65%. Their girls’ baseball program skyrocketed in particular, growing from just 5 to 63 participants in one summer.

Jays Care’s Grand Slam grant program provides funding for other charities and community groups that run sports programs, life-skill development programs, educational programs, and healthy living programs. In 2015, Grand Slam grants represented 23% of total program costs. Success Beyond Limits (SBL) was a past recipient of this grant. SBL is a charity that provides educational support for youth. On the Jay’s Care website, SBL’s executive director has said that because of the grant, 94% of students who enrolled in the SBL Summer Education program received their first high school credit.

Jays Care Foundation runs a Rookie League program that uses baseball as a foundation to teach kids about the importance of teamwork, cooperation and self-esteem. Rookie League is the charity’s major non-grant program, representing 14% of program costs in 2015. Jays Care offered 99 Rookie League programs across Canada in 2015 and 8,046 children participated.

The Jays Care Foundation annual report states that in 2015, the charity reached 62,700 youth in total between its sports programs and granting activities. Based on total operating costs for the year, the charity spent $82 per child served.

Jays Care Foundation has won numerous awards for its philanthropy in sports including the 2013 Beyond Sports and the Robert Wood Johnson Award for Excellence in Sports Philanthropy. The New York Times wrote an excellent profile piece on Jays Care Foundation highlighting its impact in supporting youth baseball across Canada "With Glowing Hearts, a Nation Unites Behind the Blue Jays".

Financial Review:

Jays Care Foundation is a mid-cap charity with donations and special events revenues of $4.5m in F2015. Administrative costs are 13% of revenues and fundraising costs are 27% of donations.  Total overhead costs are just under 40 cents on the dollar, which falls just within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. Funding reserves of $3.7m can cover annual program costs and grants for 1.2 years.

This charity report is an update that is currently being reviewed by Jays Care. Edits and changes may be forthcoming.

Updated on June 9, 2016 by Katie Khodawandi.