Ryan's Well Foundation
STAR RATINGCi's Star Rating is calculated based on the following independent metrics: |
✔+
FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY
Audited financial statements for current and previous years available on the charity’s website.
B+
RESULTS REPORTING
Grade based on the charity's public reporting of the work it does and the results it achieves.
Average
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.
87%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 87 cents are available for programs.
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Programs
About Ryan's Well Foundation:
Founded in 2001, Ryan’s Well Foundation (Ryan’s Well) works with local partners to provide access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene education in the most vulnerable regions of the world. According to Ryan’s Well, more than one billion people do not have access to safe water. Furthermore, more than 2.8 billion people lack access to proper sanitation and are at risk of water-borne illnesses. Ryan’s Well Foundation’s main office is in Kemptville, Ontario.
Ryan’s Well runs three main programs: Build, Motivate, and Educate.
The charity’s Build program represented 84% of program costs in F2020. Through the Build program, Ryan’s Well helps create new clean water projects with local partners in developing countries. To date, Ryan’s Well has completed 1,491 water projects and built 1,263 latrines in 17 countries. In F2020, it completed 62 water projects and eight latrines (compared to 152 projects and ten latrines in F2019). Ryan’s Well worked in three countries during the year. It installed 31 rainwater harvesting tanks in Mexico and helped drill six deep wells in Ghana. In Western and Northern Uganda, Ryan’s Well added 12 protected springs and ten deep wells.
Ryan Well’s Motivate program made up 8% of program costs in F2020. The charity promotes awareness on clean water to inspire youth to take action. In F2020, Ryan’s Well helped deliver keynote addresses in Canada, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. It also provided video conferencing presentations to more than 75 schools across the world.
Education programs represented the remaining 8% of program costs. Ryan’s Well provides education on safe hygiene, food preparation, and proper sanitation. In F2020, the charity provided WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) training at eight primary schools in Uganda.
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Results and Impact
Charity Intelligence has given Ryan's Well an Average impact rating for demonstrated social impact per dollar spent.
Ryan’s Well states that the hospitals it works with in Ghana receive only limited government support for clean water and WASH equipment. It reports that the government of Ghana provides funding for hospital equipment and maintenance, but expects rural health centres to secure their own water sources. Without proximate water access, local health centres encounter greater difficulties serving clients in labour or undergoing pregnancy. In F2020, Ryan’s Well helped to install four deep wells with taps and handwashing stations at four health clinics in Southwest Ghana.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Ryan’s Well Foundation’s results and impact.
Impact Rating: Average

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Finances
Ryan’s Well is a small charity, with total donations of $959k in F2020. Administrative costs are 7% of revenues and fundraising costs are 6% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 13%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 87 cents go to the cause. This falls within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.
Ryan’s Well has $1.2m in total funding reserves, which can cover nearly two years of annual program costs.
This charity report is an update that has been sent to Ryan’s Well Foundation for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated on August 13, 2020 by Eric Zhao.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending March
|
2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
---|---|---|---|
Administrative costs as % of revenues | 6.9% | 7.7% | 10.6% |
Fundraising costs as % of donations | 6.0% | 3.3% | 10.5% |
Total overhead spending | 12.9% | 11.0% | 21.2% |
Program cost coverage (%) | 199.2% | 97.0% | 82.2% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $s |
2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
---|---|---|---|
Donations | 958,583 | 1,400,453 | 834,033 |
Other income | 22,607 | 8,097 | (1,640) |
Total revenues | 981,190 | 1,408,550 | 832,393 |
Program costs - International | 407,182 | 751,731 | 548,423 |
Program costs - Canada | 175,302 | 176,802 | 169,149 |
Administrative costs | 68,075 | 108,676 | 88,592 |
Fundraising costs | 57,440 | 45,489 | 87,938 |
Total spending | 707,999 | 1,082,698 | 894,102 |
Cash flow from operations | 273,191 | 325,852 | (61,709) |
Capital spending | 0 | 3,589 | 758 |
Funding reserves | 1,160,576 | 900,951 | 589,702 |
Note: To report on a cash basis, Ci adjusted donations by changes in deferred contributions. This affected total revenues by $115k in F2020, $nil in F2019, and ($3k) in F2018. Ci reported foreign exchange gains (losses) in other revenue. Ci reported well, sanitation, and hygiene disbursements as international program costs. Ci removed amortization from administrative costs.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
0 |
$120k - $160k |
0 |
$80k - $120k |
0 |
$40k - $80k |
2 |
< $40k |
2 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2019
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Comments & Contact
Comments added by the Charity:
Charity Contact
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