2450 Milltower Court
Mississauga, ON L5N 5Z6
CEO: Daniel Lepojarvi
Board Chair: Murray Cornelius

Charitable Reg. #:87591 2701 RR0001

STAR RATING

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

[Charity Rating: 5/5]

✔+

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.

81%

CENTS TO THE CAUSE

For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 81 cents are available for programs.



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OVERVIEW

About ERDO:

ERDO is a financially transparent 5-star charity. It has an above-average results reporting grade and its overhead costs are inside Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. Ci has given this charity a Good rating for demonstrated impact.

Founded in 1983, Emergency Relief and Development Overseas (ERDO) provides aid to those affected by crises and poverty. It also helps sponsored children with their education and basic needs. ERDO is the humanitarian agency of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. The charity is a member of Canadian Foodgrains Bank and Humanitarian Coalition

A Charity Intelligence 2024 Top 100 Rated Charity.

ERDO runs three main programs: Crisis Response, ChildCARE Plus, and Community Development. Charity Intelligence estimates ERDO spent $11.2m on its programs in its fiscal year ending September 2024 (F2024). 36% of program spending in F2024 was through Canadian Foodgrains Bank.

The Crisis Response program received 47% ($5.3m) of program spending in F2024. ERDO helps people affected by conflict and natural disasters. The charity provided food, shelter, and supplies to 34,740 Ukrainian and Roma refugees in F2024. It also provided food to 15,020 children in Zimbabwe. ERDO reports it helped 144,978 people across 27 countries in F2024.

The ChildCARE Plus program received 34% ($3.8m) of program spending in F2024. ERDO educates children and provides them with food, water, and medical care. ERDO states that 71% of ChildCARE Plus locations offered tutoring outside of school. It also states that 87% of locations taught children about healthy eating. ERDO reports it helped 7,803 sponsored children across 27 countries in F2024.

The Community Development program received 19% ($2.2m) of program spending in F2024. ERDO runs a variety of programs, such as farming, water, and finance programs, to help reduce poverty. ERDO states it provided conservation farming training to 10,792 farmers in Uganda in F2024. It also states it installed 40 tube wells in Bangladesh to increase access to clean water. ERDO reports it helped 152,221 people across 14 countries in F2024.

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Results and Impact

ERDO reports that 283 boys and 325 girls from its ChildCARE Plus program graduated from primary school in F2024. It also reports that 270 boys and 281 girls graduated from secondary school. 97% of children in the program are meeting their curriculum requirements.

ERDO states it supplied 41,911 primary school students across 86 schools in Zimbabwe with a meal five days a week.

ERDO built 25 structures to house 2,670 people affected by a flood in Pakistan in F2024.

While Ci highlights these key results, they may not completely represent ERDO's results and impact.

Charity Intelligence has given ERDO a Good impact rating based on demonstrated impact per dollar spent.

Impact Rating: Good

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Finances

ERDO’s audited financial statements follow activity-based costing, a best practice. This means its expenses are clearly defined between program, administrative, and fundraising categories.

In F2024 ERDO received $9.7m in Canadian donations and $1.4m in international donations. Administrative costs are 6% of revenues. Fundraising costs are 13% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 19%. For every dollar donated, 81 cents are available to go to the cause. This falls within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

In F2024 ERDO spent $11.2m on its programs, which is 90% of its revenue. In F2024 it had a deficit of $1.1m.

ERDO has $5.3m in reserve funds (cash and investments). The reserves can cover 47%, or six months of program costs.

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

Updated on June 2, 2025, by Grady Simpson.

Financial Review


Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending September
202420232022
Administrative costs as % of revenues 6.4%4.4%4.1%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 13.1%8.0%6.7%
Total overhead spending 19.5%12.4%10.8%
Program cost coverage (%) 47.2%39.7%63.5%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $000s
202420232022
Donations 9,72113,33413,232
International donations 1,418953408
Government funding 9198
Other income 1,2122,7881,093
Total revenues 12,36017,09414,742
Program costs - International 11,17516,11511,811
Program costs - Canada 000
Administrative costs 786750601
Fundraising costs 1,4631,143914
Total spending 13,42418,00913,325
Cash flow from operations (1,064)(915)1,417
Capital spending 000
Funding reserves 5,2806,4057,499

Note: International donations: Ci used the charity’s T3010 filing to report international donations. Ci removed the international donations reported from Canadian donations. Amortization: Ci removed amortization on a pro rata basis from program, administrative and fundraising costs in F2024, F2023, and F2022. Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB): Ci included incoming transfers within CFGB account in other revenue. Ci included outgoing transfers within CFGB account in program costs.

Salary Information

Full-time staff: 22

Avg. compensation: $81,806

Top 10 staff salary range:

$350k +
0
$300k - $350k
0
$250k - $300k
0
$200k - $250k
0
$160k - $200k
0
$120k - $160k
1
$80k - $120k
8
$40k - $80k
1
< $40k
0

Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2024

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Comments & Contact

Comments added by the Charity:

At ERDO we passionately respond to the practical needs of people living in poverty and crisis around the world. Seeking the dignity and value of every human, we are working to reduce poverty and create ways for people and families to become self-sufficient.

This starts with community collaboration, partnering to build something that lasts.

In everything, we take our direction from the community itself, talking with local leaders and local churches who know the needs of their community. Together, and alongside a network of trusted partners, we build programs that will reach a community’s goals and work diligently to leave these programs in local hands.

When we respond to a crisis situation we provide for people’s immediate needs of food, clean water and shelter. Then we move toward rebuilding livelihoods, bringing people back to independence and making them more resilient to future emergencies.  

And we’re growing! In the last five fiscal years we’ve gone from 10.6 million to over 17 million dollars in donations. Our Crisis Response programs have grown from a 3.5 million expenditure to an over 10 million expenditure each year, meaning that each year we’re bringing more and more families critical assistance in vulnerable moments.

Thank you for supporting ERDO over the last 40 years! We’re looking forward to even more opportunities to do good in the world.

Charity Contact

Website: www.erdo.ca
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 905-542-7400

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Charitable Registration Number: 80340 7956 RR0001