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 4,352 Canadians were on an organ transplant waiting list in 2019, 249 of which passed away while waiting. DFF reports that only 25% of Canadians are 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 1,300 families since its creation. 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 47 digital billboards in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal displaying messages highlighting the importance of organ donation.

David Foster Foundation is not financially transparent. Its financial statements are not posted on its website nor provided when requested. Charity Intelligence's financial review uses the 2019 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 had donations of $1.3m in F2019. 

DFF has donations and special events revenue of $3.2m in F2019. Administrative costs are 10% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 23% of donations and special events. This results in total overhead spending of 32%. For every dollar donated, 68 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

DFF has $27.0m in funding reserves. The charity could cover 2144% or around 21.4 years of annual program costs with current reserves. Assuming a 5% annual return on DFF’s investments, annual program costs can be covered indefinitely. 

DFF’s funding reserves earned investment income of $669k in F2019 representing an annual return on investment of 3%. This is compared to an annual return of 2% in F2018.  

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

Updated on June 30, 2021 by Brenleigh Jebb.