David Foster Foundation is a 1-star charity. It is not financially transparent and it has $43.0m in funding reserves that can cover annual program costs for over 27 years. The charity's overhead costs are outside Ci's reasonable range for overhead spending and it has a low results reporting grade. Before you donate, read Ci's report.

David Foster, the Canadian Grammy Award winner, founded David Foster Foundation (DFF) in 1986. DFF’s mission is to support Canadian families with children in need of organ transplants by helping families with their non-medical expenses. The foundation also strives to increase public awareness of the importance of becoming a registered organ donor. The charity reports that there are currently over 4,000 Canadians waiting for organ transplants and of those on the waitlists, there will be one death every 30 hours. DFF reports that less than 25% of Canadians have registered to be organ donors. The charity does not provide a breakdown of its spending on its programs. 

Through the financial support program, the foundation supports families with children in need of a transplant with many costs. This may include travel, accommodation, food, clothes, basic personal items, and rent or mortgage assistance. DFF reports having helped over 1,450 families since its creation. The charity reports that it supported 29% of Canadian families whose child received a liver, kidney, heart or lung transplant in 2022. DFF does not disclose details regarding how it helped these families or if it supported any other children who didn’t receive an organ. 

David Foster Foundation also runs a public awareness program in hopes of increasing the number of organ donors in Canada. DFF reports having digital billboards in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal displaying messages highlighting the importance of organ donation. 

David Foster Foundation is not financially transparent. Its audited financial statements are not posted on its website nor provided when requested. Charity Intelligence's financial review uses the F2023 unaudited financial statements. This is the most recent information we have received from the Charities Directorate from our request for information. The CRA best practices recommend that charities with over $250k in donations provide audited financial statements.  

DFF received $5.5m in donations and special events revenue in 2023. Donations and special events revenue have increased by 257% since 2021. Administrative costs are 6% of revenues (excluding investment income) and fundraising costs are 39% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 45%. For every dollar donated, 55 cents are available for programs. This is outside Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. This is partially due to fundraising costs having increased by 592% since 2021.

In 2023, DFF spent $1.6m on its programs and grants, which is 21% of total revenues. The charity had a surplus of $3.5m.

DFF has $43.0m in reserve funds. These are the charity’s cash and investments. Reserve funds increased by 20% since 2021. The charity could cover almost 28 years of annual program costs with current reserves.  

Schedule 8 of the charity’s T3010 filing with the CRA reports that the charity did not meet its disbursement quota for the fiscal year F2023. DFF’s disbursement quota requirement for F2023 was $2.0m, but the charity only disbursed $1.6m.

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

Updated on August 6, 2024 by Alessandra Castino.