World Wildlife Fund

410 Adelaide St. West, Suite 400
Toronto, ON M5V 1S8
President & CEO: Megan Leslie
Board Chair: Meena Ballantyne

Charitable Reg. #:11930 4954 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.

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.

75%

CENTS TO THE CAUSE

For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 75 cents are available for programs.



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OVERVIEW

About World Wildlife Fund:

World Wildlife Fund Canada is a 5-star rated charity. It has a high results reporting grade, acceptable overhead costs, and is financially transparent.  

Founded in 1967, World Wildlife Fund Canada (WWF Canada) works to protect animals and the environment. The biggest threats to wildlife are habitat loss, climate change, and human activity. WWF Canada works against these threats to restore areas that are home to important animals. The charity partners with Indigenous communities, governments, and businesses. WWF Canada is one of nearly 100 branches of the larger World Wildlife Fund charity.  

A Charity Intelligence 2023 Top 100 Rated Charity

WWF has three main programs: Conservation Program Implementation, Raising Conservation Awareness, and Conservation Research & Grants.  

In F2022, WWF Canada spent 59% of program costs on the Conservation Program Implementation program. This year, the charity launched a Native Plant Seed Orchard project. Ten communities received grants to start orchards, and they planted over 6,500 plants. This led to over one million seeds being harvested. In F2022, WWF Canada also helped WWF Nepal survey 19,000 square kilometres for wild tigers.  

In F2022, 25% of program spending went towards the Raising Conservation Awareness program. This year, WWF Canada released the National Vessel Dumping Assessment. It educated people about how ships released high amounts of waste into the water. The assessment inspired 18,000 people to email the Canadian government to express concern. WWF Canada released two other advocacy reports on various environmental issues in F2022. 

Finally, in F2022, WWF Canada spent 16% of program costs towards Conservation Research and Grants. Through its Arctic Species Conservation Fund, WWF Canada awarded $250,000 to seven researchers. These researchers worked across 160 hectares of land to protect 70 populations of at-risk species. WWF Canada also partnered with other organizations to grant almost $3 million to Indigenous communities for conservation. 

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Results and Impact

WWF Canada’s work with WWF Nepal helped increase the populations of one-horned rhinos and tigers. In late 2021, WWF Canada counted over 700 rhinos in Nepal. It also believed that the number of wild tigers had more than doubled. The exact number of tigers was not counted by the time WWF Canada published its Annual Report. 

WWF Canada’s advocacy work in F2022 encouraged Transport Canada to increase restrictions on ships. Now cruise ships have tight regulations on their waste release within 12 nautical miles of shore.  

In F2022, a research project that WWF Canada funded created a detailed map of carbon stores. This project found that there are 327 billion tonnes of carbon in Canada’s terrestrial ecosystems. These findings are helpful for planning future conservation projects. 

While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of WWF Canada’s results and impact. This charity is not yet rated on impact (n/r). 

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Finances

World Wildlife Fund Canada had total donations of $25.8m in F2022. Administrative costs are 4% of revenues (excluding investment income) and fundraising costs are 21% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 25%. For every dollar donated, 75 cents go to the cause, which is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. 

In F2022, WWF Canada has $33.9m in net funding reserves, of which $5.3m is donor endowed. Excluding donor-endowed funds, WWF Canada could cover 149% or roughly 18 months of annual program and granting costs with reserves. 

­WWF Canada used external fundraisers in F2022. It paid external fundraisers $880k to raise $2.3m. This means it cost WWF Canada 39 cents to raise each dollar through external fundraisers. 

­Charity Intelligence sent an update of this report to World Wildlife Fund Canada for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming. 

Updated on June 20, 2023 by Clive Stevens.

Financial Review


Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending June
202220212020
Administrative costs as % of revenues 3.6%4.5%4.6%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 21.3%25.8%22.4%
Total overhead spending 24.9%30.3%27.0%
Program cost coverage (%) 149.2%147.9%133.1%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $000s
202220212020
Donations 25,80318,65021,567
Government funding 2,9531,7342,311
Business activities (net) 961960940
Investment income (2,309)4,846787
Other income 4321,5352,082
Total revenues 27,84027,72527,687
Program costs 16,27815,20815,635
Grants 3,1752,6302,990
Administrative costs 1,0951,0331,235
Fundraising costs 5,4824,8104,826
Total spending 26,03023,68124,686
Cash flow from operations 1,8104,0443,001
Capital spending 19678303
Funding reserves 33,92432,07229,591

Note: Ci included changes in fair value of investments in investment income, affecting revenues by ($3.8m) in F2022, $2.3m in F2021, and ($400k) in F2020. Ci reported product sales, events promotions, and fees revenues in business activities. Ci reported income from WWF family in other revenue.

Salary Information

Full-time staff: 103

Avg. compensation: $101,638

Top 10 staff salary range:

$350k +
0
$300k - $350k
0
$250k - $300k
1
$200k - $250k
2
$160k - $200k
3
$120k - $160k
4
$80k - $120k
0
$40k - $80k
0
< $40k
0

Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2022

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Comments & Contact

Comments added by the Charity:

The following comments have been provided by the charity in response to Ci's 2022 report. Updates may be forthcoming.

World Wildlife Fund Canada (WWF-Canada) is the country’s largest international conservation organization. For more than 50 years we have connected the power of a strong global network operating in 100 countries with on-the-ground conservation efforts across Canada. Our long-term vision is simple: a Canada with abundant wildlife, where nature and people thrive.

But without urgent action, that future is at risk.  Every day, we get closer to crossing an invisible line — one that unlocks a future that is four degrees warmer. The next decade is critical. If we don’t set a path for nature’s recovery, we will continue on an irreversible course toward the destruction of complex ecosystems, severe climate disruption driven by greenhouse gas emissions and the extinction of more than one million species worldwide.  

Regenerate Canada is our bold, 10-year plan to fight the dual crises of biodiversity loss and climate change with one of the best, most effective tools around: nature. We will steward, restore and protect ecosystems that store carbon and provide habitat for wildlife—ensuring at-risk species can recover while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. More specifically, our conservation work will drive towards three goals, designed to get our future back on track:

  • Restore at least one million hectares of habitat
  • Protect and steward at least 100 hundred million hectares of vital ecosystems
  • Reduce carbon emissions by 30 million tonnes

Fiscal year 21 (July 2020 to June 2021) marked the first year of our Regenerate Canada plan in action. WWF-Canada is grateful to our donors, partners and volunteers who, by supporting our conservation work, are helping choose a path to a brighter future.

We were able to invest in our mission while keeping administrative costs fiscally responsible – for every dollar, 70 cents went to the cause. During this period, we invested $17.8 million directly into our conservation work and $5.8 million was spent on fundraising and administration. With a diverse donor base made up of individuals, foundations, government and companies, we have the financial resilience and courage to take the next steps for the future of conservation.

With donors and supporters across the country by our side, we made ambitious plans, set audacious targets and achieved impressive progress. We published crucial reports and funded incredible projects. We took responsibility for reconciliation by supporting Indigenous partners and helping to advance Indigenous-led conservation, where and when requested, with our words, our work and our financial support.

Below are just a few of the ways WWF-Canada’s work—and the incredible support of our donors—helped to Regenerate Canada in the past year:

  • Mapped Canada’s carbon stores with scientists from McMaster University. In the Ring of Fire, we’re supporting Mushkegowuk Council efforts to steward this area of carbon-rich peatlands where a square metre contains about five times as much carbon as an equivalent area of Amazon rainforest!
  • Granted $1,030,604 to Indigenous partner organizations to support Indigenous-led conservation initiatives.
  • Supported the 1,000-person community of Taloyoak, Nunavut, in developing their winning proposal for the $451,000 Arctic Inspiration Prize. Their innovative project addresses food insecurity and is intended to form the management plan for the proposed 85,769 km2 Aviqtuuq Inuit Protected and Conserved Area.
  • Protected sea life from shipping impacts by providing mariners in the Atlantic with a toolkit that identifies high-risk areas and best practices to reduce collisions, underwater noise and other threats to endangered whales.
  • Worked to secure the recovery of species in the Wolastoq/St. John River watershed by developing a “priority threat management” protocol and directing funds to local watershed groups to rebuild riverbanks, restore habitats by removing invasive plants and planting trees, and address instream barriers to migratory fish by building fish ladders.
  • Planted 317,709 native plants through In the Zone and other restoration work, including in southern Ontario and Quebec, and the Wolastoq/Saint John River watershed.
  • Collared elusive snow leopards in Nepal to identify critical habitat and wildlife corridors that need protection.
  • Advocated for No Dumping of harmful vessel discharges in marine protected areas (MPAs).

In the world of conservation, victories aren’t always swift but rather the culmination of years of work by many people and groups working together. Our donors and partners make finding those long-term solutions to some of nature’s biggest challenges possible. Learn more about our impressive track record here.

Financial stewardship is key to achieving our conservation and fundraising goals and fulfilling donor expectations. To do that, we ensure we have a strong internal control environment, effective governance over all operations, and an annual independent audit of our financial records. In addition to our annual report, we keep our donors informed on their efforts to help nature and people thrive through our Living Planet magazine, webinars, Fieldnotes e-newsletter, blogs, Wildlife Wednesdays and stewardship reports.

 

Charity Contact

Website: www.wwf.ca
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 416-489-8800

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Charitable Registration Number: 80340 7956 RR0001