Visions of Science
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.
n/r
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.
88%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 88 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Visions of Science:
Visions of Science Network for Learning is a financially transparent 4-star charity. It has a B+ results reporting grade, which is above average. Its overhead spending is within Ci’s reasonable range and its reserve funds can cover its annual program costs for nine months.
Founded in 2004, Visions of Science (VOS) aims to advance science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) equity. VOS helps Black and other racialized youth from low-income areas of the Greater Toronto Area succeed in STEM. The charity states that over 40% of Black and racialized youth live in low-income communities. It states these youth have limited access to STEM programs both in and outside of school.
Visions of Science runs two main programs: STEM Catalyst and STEM Journey. Charity Intelligence estimates VOS spent $2.8m on its programs in 2024. Ci did not find a program spending breakdown on the charity’s website or in its audited financial statements.
STEM Catalyst partners with community organizations to engage youth from diverse communities. The Sports and STEM subprogram combines STEM and physical activity for grade seven and eight students. VOS reports it engaged over 500 youths in Sports and STEM in 2024. The STEM Sparks subprogram provides hands-on STEM workshops ranging from one to six weeks. The charity reports it engaged over 400 youth in STEM Sparks in 2024. The STEM Connection Network subprogram provides workshops and networking events for post-secondary students.
STEM Journeys is a long-term initiative to increase engagement in STEM. The STEM Camps subprogram engages students in grades six to eight in workshops that address community issues. VOS reports that over 120 students participated in STEM Camps in 2024. The STEM Academy subprogram helps youth build their STEM skills. The program provides one-on-one STEM tutoring and workshops. VOS reports that over 50 students participated in STEM Academy in 2024. The charity also runs STEM Leaders subprograms that provide STEM-based leadership and job opportunities.
Visions of Science reports over 5,000 youths participated in its STEM programs in 2024.
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Results and Impact
Visions of Science reports the following outcomes for its programs and subprograms in 2024:
STEM and Sports: 88% of participants found STEM concepts easier to understand. 78% gained a better understanding of STEM in everyday life.
STEM Sparks: 81% of participants reported STEM Sparks made STEM more enjoyable to them.
STEM Journey: 90% of participants reported they were more interested in learning about STEM.
STEM Academy: 91% of participants reported greater persistence when learning challenging concepts.
STEM Leaders: 92% of participants gained insight into STEM education and career options. A total of 17 high school youths received paid summer internships through VOS partners.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not completely represent Visions of Science's results and impact.
Charity Intelligence has not yet rated VOS on impact (n/r). This does not affect the star rating.
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Finances
Visions of Science’s audited financial statements follow line-item costing, which is not a best practice. This means Ci referred to its T3010 filings to report program, administrative, and fundraising costs.
In 2024 VOS received $3.0m in donations. It also received $344k in government funding. Government funding is 10% of total revenue.
Administrative costs are 11% of revenues (excluding investment income). Fundraising costs are 1% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 12%. For every dollar donated, 88 cents are available to go to the cause. This falls within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.
In 2024 VOS spent $2.8m on its programs, which is 81% of its revenue. In 2024 it had a surplus of $249k.
Visions of Science has $2.1m in reserve funds (cash and investments). The reserves can cover 74%, or just under nine months of program costs.
This charity report is an update that has been sent for review to Visions of Science. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated on June 5, 2025, by Grady Simpson.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending December
|
2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 11.4% | 8.4% | 5.4% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 0.7% | 3.5% | 0.2% |
| Total overhead spending | 12.1% | 11.9% | 5.5% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | 74.4% | 93.9% | 109.3% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $s |
2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 3,024,579 | 2,220,973 | 1,180,082 |
| Government funding | 344,014 | 491,155 | 284,030 |
| Special events | 0 | 128,063 | 0 |
| Investment income | 111,589 | 49,285 | 7,321 |
| Other income | 0 | (19,815) | 0 |
| Total revenues | 3,480,182 | 2,869,661 | 1,471,433 |
| Program costs | 2,825,381 | 2,212,450 | 1,539,867 |
| Administrative costs | 385,114 | 235,672 | 78,876 |
| Fundraising costs | 20,287 | 82,160 | 1,808 |
| Total spending | 3,230,782 | 2,530,282 | 1,620,551 |
| Cash flow from operations | 249,400 | 339,379 | (149,118) |
| Capital spending | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Funding reserves | 2,103,295 | 2,078,423 | 1,683,679 |
Note: Deferred donations: VOS uses deferred accounting. To show donors information on a consistent basis, Ci adjusted for these deferred donations. This affected revenue by $23k in 2024, $108k in 2023, and ($71k) in 2022. Deferred government funding: Ci adjusted for deferred government funding. This affected revenues by ($8k) in 2024, $190k in 2023, and ($32k) in 2022. Deferred adjustment: Ci adjusted for deferred other revenue. This affected revenues by ($20k) in 2023. T3010: VOS uses line-item costing. Ci used the charity’s T3010 filing to report program, administrative, and fundraising costs.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
0 |
$120k - $160k |
2 |
$80k - $120k |
4 |
$40k - $80k |
4 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2024
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Comments & Contact
Comments added by the Charity:
Charity Contact
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 416-366-4774