Your 2023 Update on Charity Intelligence
|
|||||||||
|
2023: Best Year Ever
Charities often use urgency or news events to pressure donors into immediate giving. Despite this focus on negativity, many great things also happened in 2023 around the world that did not make headlines. In his New York Times article, Nicholas Kristof reminds us that recognizing the world's progress can inspire us to keep doing good.
Kristof highlights three areas of improvement. First, child mortality decreased to its lowest level ever in the history of humanity at 3.6%. Second, the percent of people living in extreme poverty reached its lowest rate ever at 8.6%. Finally, polio and other neglected tropical diseases are closer than ever to eradication.
1) 3.6% Global Child Mortality.
The rate of child mortality decreased from 3.69% to 3.62% from 2022 to 2023. For comparison, Canada's child mortality rate is only 0.4%. In 2023, an estimated 4.865 million children under the age of five died, which is 101,000 fewer than in 2022. Child deaths went from 9.1 million in 2003 to 4.9 million in 2023, saving 4.2 million lives despite population growth.
The UN's Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 (SDG) is to reduce the rate to 2.5% by 2030. Despite overall improvements in child mortality, the world is not on track to meet the UN's goal by 2030.
Why are children dying? According to the World Health Organization, the leading causes of death in children are birth defects, birth trauma, pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria. For babies that die in the first month of life, the main cause of death is prematurity. For children who die from ages one month to five years old, the main cause of death is malaria. Malnutrition can make death from these causes more likely. The World Health Organization estimates that malnutrition contributes to 45% of deaths in kids under five. To prevent these deaths, it is important to provide sufficient nutrition, care for expectant mothers, vaccinate children, and ensure access to clean water and sanitation.
Where are kids dying? In 2023, only five countries had over 100,00 deaths in children under five: Nigeria (870,000), India (705,000), Pakistan (402,000), The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (304,000) and Ethiopia (162,000).
In 2021, the leading causes of death in these countries by age group were:
Country |
< 1 month old |
1 month to 5 years old |
Nigeria |
Birth asphyxia/trauma (78,000 deaths) |
Malaria (18,000 deaths) |
India |
Prematurity (181,000 deaths) |
Lower respiratory infections (51,000) |
Pakistan |
Prematurity (88,000 deaths) |
Lower respiratory infections (27,000) |
DRC |
Prematurity (45,000 deaths) |
Malaria (69,000 deaths) |
Ethiopia |
Prematurity (37,000 deaths) |
Lower respiratory infections (19,000) |
In these countries with the most deaths in children under five, only Nigeria has a higher proportion of children dying between 1 month old and 5 years old. In Nigeria, of kids who die before age 5, two-thirds die between 1 month old and 5 years old. For comparison, in Canada two-thirds of kids who die before age 5 die before they are one month old. Only one-third die between 1 month and 5 years old. In India, Pakistan, DRC, and Ethiopia, most kids who die before age 5 die before they are 1 month old.
2) Record Low Extreme Poverty: 8.6%
In 2023, only 8.6% of the world’s population, or an estimated 691 million people below the extreme poverty line of $2.15 per person per day. The UN’s SDG goal is to eliminate all extreme poverty below by 2030. Although progress slowed due to covid-19, the world has now fallen below the pre-pandemic levels of extreme poverty, which affected 700 million people in 2019. This is an amazing improvement from just ten years ago when 846 million people lived in poverty; however, not all areas of the world are improving equally. Low-income countries still have poverty rates above pre-pandemic levels. The extreme poverty rates in the Middle East and North Africa have been increasing annually since 2019.
From 2016 to 2022, the number of people living in extreme poverty fell from 788 million people to 704 million people. That is 84 million people lifted out of extreme poverty. Specifically, Indonesia and Bangladesh made remarkable progress: these two countries account for 9% of people lifted out of extreme poverty during this period, a total of 8 million people.
In Bangladesh, the number of people living in extreme poverty went from 21.5 million people to 16.4 million people (a 5.1 million decrease). 9.7 million people in Indonesia lived in extreme poverty in 2016. By 2022, that number went down to 6.8 million people (a 2.9 million decrease).
3) Health and Disease Improvements.
Polio is nearly eradicated. This contagious illness mainly affects children under the age of five. One in every 200 cases leads to paralysis, which may result in death. In 1988, polio paralyzed an estimated 350,000 individuals per year. The world eradicated two types of polio in the past decade: Type 2 in 2015 and Type 3 in 2019, leaving only Type 1 behind. In 2023, there were only wild 12 Polio cases: 6 in Afghanistan and 6 in Pakistan. These two countries are the only places where polio remains endemic. In 2022, there were 20 cases in Pakistan, 8 in Mozambique, and 2 in Afghanistan. This significant accomplishment is partly due to the increase in polio vaccinations. In Pakistan, polio vaccine coverage was 85% in 2022 compared to 65% in 2013. In Afghanistan, polio vaccine coverage in 2022 was 76%, up from 64% in 2013.
Guinea worm disease is nearly eradicated. This is a parasitic infection that leaves people disabled. Vaccines cannot prevent and medications cannot treat this disease. It is most common in remote areas without access to clean drinking water. In 2023, there were only 11 cases of the disease: 8 in Chad, 2 in South Sudan, and one in Cameroon. In 2013, there were 148 cases and 1993 had 229,773 cases. The Carter Center in the US leads the international campaign to end Guinea worm disease. It works with ministries of health to stop the spread of the disease. It also helps communities stop the spread of the disease by teaching people to filter drinking water. Guinea worm disease can spread through animals. The Carter Center works with partners in Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, South Sudan, and Angola to encourage people to report infected animals and bury them away from water sources.
Trachoma rates are declining. This bacterial infection can cause vision loss and blindness. It is prevalent in poor areas especially where there isn’t access to clean water and sanitation. Benin, Mali, and Iraq eliminated blinding trachoma in 2023. In total, 18 countries have eliminated the disease. It is estimated that in 2023, 1.5 million people have the type of trachoma that can cause blindness, down from 1.7 million in 2022. It is also estimated that 116 million people around the world need interventions to prevent trachoma, such as antibiotics and improved hygiene. This is a decrease from 132 million in 2022. Ethiopia has the most people that need interventions at 64 million, followed by the DRC (9 million) and Brazil (5 million).
If you are feeling overwhelmed by donor fatigue (see this 2016 Charity Intelligence piece), remember there have been astounding improvements in the state of the world during 2023. Things are improving in part due to the work of some excellent charities across the globe. Reflecting on the things that went well during 2023 may help us keep the momentum to tackle these issues in 2024.
Beat the January Blahs, dive into more details on the good news stories, and be inspired by high-impact giving.
(Sources)
Bruce Y. Lee, 2023: World On the Verge Of Major Global Polio Eradication Milestone, Forbes, 19 November 2023.
Child and Adolescent Causes of Death project, UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation, 2023.
Child mortality (under 5 years), World Health Organization, 28 January 2022.
Concepcion F. Estivariz, Ruth Link-Gelles, and Tom Shimabukuro, The Pink Book: Poliomyelitis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, August 2021.
Global Health Observatory data repository: Polio (Pol3) Immunization coverage estimates by country, World Health Organization, 11 July 2023.
Global Wild Polio Virus 2017-2023, The Polio Eradication Initiative, December 2023.
Guinea Worm Case Totals, The Carter Center, 8 January 2024.
Guinea Worm Eradication Program, The Carter Center, Accessed on 17 January 2024.
Nicholas Kristof, This Was a Terrible Year, and Also Maybe the Best One Yet for Humanity, The New York Times, 30 December 2023.
Nishant Yonzan, Daniel Gerson Mahler, and Chistoph Lakner, Poverty is back to pre-COVID levels globally, but not for low-income countries, World Bank Blogs, 3 October 2023.
Poverty and Inequality Platform (data set), World Bank, Accessed on 17 January 2024.
WHO Alliance for the Global Elimination of Trachoma: progress report on elimination of trachoma, 2022, World Health Organization, 14 July 2023.
World Population Prospects: The 2022 Revision, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2022.
2023 Top 100 Rated Charities
Charity Intelligence 2023 Top 100 Rated Charities
Charities are listed alphabetically by sector. Click on the charity's name to read Charity Intelligence's full report.
To see full details in pdf
In 2020, an Angus Reid survey found that 60% of Canadians are doing more homework on charities before they give.
Charity Intelligence’s Top 100 list is just this necessary homework. These are charities we have analysed and vetted so you can give with greater confidence. Out of all of Canada’s largest charities, these Top 100 highest-rated charities are the elite.
Most giving today is based on a charity’s name recognition, supported by massive fundraising campaigns, often costing tens of millions of dollars. Charity Intelligence takes a different tack, looking behind the gloss, at a charity’s results, costs, and impact. Using data analytics, we find again and again top results at Canadian charities that are often less well known. Charity Intelligence’s Top 100 list does include some big household names – Doctors Without Borders, World Vision, universities and United Ways – yet many top-rated charities are undiscovered gems.
Many Canadians say they prefer to give to small charities. Included in this 2023 list are 11 small charities. Charity Intelligence defines a 'small' charity as having less than $1 million in donations.
What we can afford to give matters more than ever. Our giving can’t be about us feeling good – our giving must do the most good possible to help those in need. Educated and informed donors are changing their giving to donate to different charities. We hope you will consider donating to these top charities.
Along with this list of Top 100 Rated Charities, Charity Intelligence is preparing its lists of Top Impact Charities that we will release in November. This is Canadian donors' favourite post on our website.
About Charity Intelligence
Charity Intelligence’s website has reports on 846 Canadian charities. Here is the full A-Z listing. These charities receive more than $11.6 billion in donations each year, which we estimate is 61% of total Canadian giving. Charity Intelligence’s reports give donors the facts and figures to answer their questions about how charities spend money and the results they achieve. 77% of donors say that reading a Charity Intelligence report increased their confidence in giving and, with greater confidence, they gave 32% more money.
In 2016, Statistics Canada reported that nearly a third of Canadians weren’t giving as much to charities as they could because they had unanswered questions. We hope that by answering donors’ questions with independent reports, we can help Canadian donors give intelligently.
At the same time, some Canadian charities are striving to improve their star ratings. These charities are becoming more transparent and accountable. This makes Canada’s charity sector better for all.
If you find Charity Intelligence’s research useful in your giving, please consider donating to support our work. Being entirely funded by donors like you maintains our independence and objectivity to help Canadians be informed in their giving. Canadians donate over $19 billion each year. This giving could achieve tremendous results. We hope Charity Intelligence's research helps Canadians give better.
References:
Angus Reid survey "Philanthropy, Pandemic & Political Scandal: Covid-19 curtails donor giving (estimate from survey responses), WE affair weakens trust in charities, September 17, 2020.
Legal disclaimer:
The information in this report was prepared by Charity Intelligence Canada and its independent analysts from publicly-available information. Charity Intelligence and its analysts have made endeavours to ensure that the data in this report is accurate and complete but accept no liability.
The views and opinions expressed are to inform donors in matters of public interest. Views and opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, organization, individual or anyone or anything. Any dispute arising from your use of this website or viewing the material hereon shall be governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario, without regard to any conflict of law provisions.
Top 10 Impact Charities
A growing niche of donors each year is looking for terrific charities to support, particularly those that have measurable, proven, and high impact.
Most charities claim that they “make a difference” in the lives of those they work with, but it is very difficult for donors to tell how much of a difference any given charity is making. Charity Intelligence’s rigorous analysis measures this difference, or the impact, charities actually make to see how each dollar we give can create the most positive change.
Over $18 billion was given to charities by Canadian donors last year and a significant portion of that is going to less effective charities. Donors often focus on the reputation of the charity or they get distracted by salaries or administrative costs when what really matters is understanding the impact they create.
“Some charities create a lot of change with the donations given to them. Others have almost nothing to show for the money coming from donors” says Greg Thomson, Director of Research at Charity Intelligence. “Of the 300 Canadian charities we have analysed for impact, these Top 10 have the highest measurable demonstrated impact. Our calculations estimate this group of Top 10 Impact Charities delivers average returns of roughly 6 dollars for every dollar donated, compared with overall average charity returns of only about 1.5 dollars.”
The 2023 Top 10 Impact Charities cover frontline charities providing social services in Canada, such as food, education, and addiction recovery, as well as international programs bringing evidence-based programs to developing countries, like clean water, health and education programs. All of these charities produce high impact per dollar with their programs.
2023 Top 10 Impact Charities based on demonstrated impact per dollar donated (listed alphabetically):
Charity | Location | Sector | To Donate |
Against Malaria Foundation | Toronto, ON | International - Health | Donate |
Cambridge Food Bank | Cambridge, ON | Food | Donate |
Canadian Foodgrains Bank | Winnipeg, MB | International - Food | Donate |
The Citizens Foundation | Oakville, ON | International - Education | Donate |
Edmonton's Food Bank | Edmonton, AB | Food | Donate |
First Book Canada | Toronto, ON | Youth - Education | Donate |
Fresh Start Recovery | Calgary, AB | Addiction Recovery | Donate |
Indspire | Ohsweken, ON | First Nations - Education | Donate |
Lifewater Canada | Thunder Bay, ON | International - Water | Donate |
Operation Eyesight Universal | Calgary, AB | International - Health | Donate |
For more information on these charities, please view our Top 10 Impact Charities Summary.
To meet Canadian donors’ growing demand for impact charities, Ci also released 6 additional lists of charities with top impact:
- Top 10 Canadian Impact Charities, charities with high-impact programs in Canada
- Top 10 International Impact Charities, Canadian charities with high-impact programs operating overseas
- Top 10 Impact: Canadian Food Banks, Canadian food banks creating high impact
- Top 10 Impact: Canadian Youth Charities, charities creating high-impact results for youth in Canada
- Top 5 Impact: Calgary Charities
- Top 5 Impact: Toronto Charities
These Top Impact Charities are a breed apart from the over 850 Canadian charities we report on and rate. Charity Intelligence’s star ratings are based on an assessment of 5 objective aspects: 1. donor reporting, 2. financial transparency, 3. funding need, 4. cents to the cause, and 5. demonstrated impact. The 5-Star rated charities based on these metrics are listed in the 2023 100 Highest Rated Charities report.
The demonstrated impact rating is different and looks at only one aspect: for every dollar you donate, what’s the measurable return to clients and society?
Rather than just heart-warming stories, impact donors feel good about proven results, data quality, and strong counterfactuals. Recently a charity asked, “wouldn’t you agree that making a child smile is priceless?” Our answer is “no”. Impact donors always consider opportunity costs. Money is a scarce resource. If comparing two charities where one charity saves lives for $100,000 each and a second charity saves lives for $20,000 each, impact donors will support the second charity that creates 5 times the impact per dollar. Five lives saved compared with one life saved for the same donation. Impact donors give for the highest change created from their donations.
Some call Charity Intelligence a “charity watchdog”. We see ourselves as research analysts who help Canadian donors give better. Yes, we hold charities to account for the generous support they receive from Canadian donors and expect them to be financially transparent, and yes, we call out exorbitant overhead costs or charities that don’t need more funding. Similarly, each giving season we also call out the best impact charities we’ve found. Charity Intelligence’s reports are independent and objective – charities do not pay for ratings or listing on our website.
Charity Intelligence’s reports and ratings help Canadians give confidently. With greater confidence, people say they gave 32% more money.
Charity Intelligence’s impact analysis began in 2006 and is an ongoing research project that is generously funded by donors. For more information on our impact assessment please view our Social Impact Ratings Methodology or contact Greg Thomson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
If you find Charity Intelligence’s research useful in your giving, please consider donating to support our work. Being entirely funded by donors like you maintains our independence and objectivity to help Canadians be informed in their giving. Canadians donate over $18 billion each year. This giving could achieve tremendous results. We hope Charity Intelligence's research helps Canadians give better.
Legal disclaimer:
The information in this report was prepared by Charity Intelligence Canada and its independent analysts from publicly available information. Charity Intelligence and its analysts have made endeavours to ensure that the data in this report is accurate and complete but accepts no liability.
The views and opinions expressed are to inform donors on matters of public interest. Views and opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, organization, individual, or anyone or anything. Any dispute arising from your use of this website or viewing the material hereon shall be governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario, without regard to any conflict of law provisions.
“Every investment is an impact investment. The problem is most people don’t know if their investment has positive or negative impact.”
Dare to Compare: Uncomparable SROIs Are The Charity Sector's New Problem
The charity sector has a new problem: SROIs
A decade ago, the discussion around charity metrics was focused almost solely on overhead costs. Donors asked about administrative costs, salaries, and the cost to raise a dollar. Almost nobody was talking about any impact metrics. That was a problem. Today we have a new problem: SROI values.
Anyone who knows me would think that I just fell off my chair and bumped my head. Me saying that Social Return on Investment (SROI) values are a problem seems so opposed to what I’ve spent the past ten years of my career doing. But hear me out.
A decade ago, there were a handful of SROI values floating around on Canadian charities. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) analysed the impact on a few large charities, including Pathways to Education, Junior Achievement, and Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada (the national, not the local chapters). BCG did an incredible job putting these studies together, helping to further the cause of impact assessments for charities in Canada. BCG is congratulated and thanked for this ground breaking work in measuring impact. BCG’s analysis found SROI values of 18:1 up to 45:1, meaning that for an investment of $1, these charities were able to create $18 or $45 worth of value to society. These were very large numbers that the charities were happy to use to market their programs. Look how much value we have created!
There was no real appetite to compare these numbers and, indeed, the values were so large that it was like saying in each case “our charity takes your donation and creates so much social change you don’t have to think about the size of the multiplier, it’s huge.”
Then a couple of things happened. BCG did a study for Habitat for Humanity that showed that for every dollar it spent, it created $4 in social value. Again, seems pretty good, doesn’t it? That’s a whopping return worthy of donations, right? But also, other charities started throwing around SROI values. “We create $7 with every dollar we get”, “we have an SROI of 2:1”.
How should donors think about these values? What is good? Well, if you listen to the SROI Network (the group that has created the ultimate guide to SROI and are working very hard to bring SROI into the mainstream) you will hear that SROI values should not be compared. Donors should not look at one charity’s SROI of 45:1 and another charity’s SROI of 4:1 and make any conclusions. Wait, what? How can this be?
While charities throw out numbers to show how great their programs are, donors are not allowed to compare them. That seems to be the current view. And understandably so. When we dug into the four studies that created the four values in the chart above, we saw that there are wildly different assumptions going into each analysis. The values truly cannot be compared. Even when the same organization conducts the SROI analyses they cannot be compared, so when different groups do the analyses, there is absolutely no way to compare.
So, what the heck is the value of any of these numbers? The SROI Network says that the value lies in organizations looking at changes in their own SROI over time and understanding the differences. However, these four studies were done between 2011 and 2015, yet we have not seen any follow-up to see changes in these values. And almost never have we seen other charities repeat an SROI analysis.
Given this, I would argue that the value of almost every SROI study has been limited. And sadly, they are absolutely useless for donors. One cannot say with any certainty whether an 18:1 SROI is any better or worse than a 4:1 SROI. Again, what?? Is this possible?
Even when measuring the impact on the same charity, there is wide variation in SROI findings. Take for example Pathways to Education. Boston Consulting Group's assumptions showed 24:1 value which, by our standards, is very high impact. Charity Intelligence found roughly 3:1. By our standards, this is good impact. The Government of Canada found a return on the same program of roughly 1.4:1. This would be below average impact. Is Pathways creating $24 or $1.40 with each dollar it is given? The result depends entirely on the set of assumptions used. This is a huge problem rendering all of these one-off SROI values useless to donors.
A number of charities now claim in their annual reports and on their websites “we have an SROI of 4:1.” But this is a bit like me saying that my body temperature is 4 Thomson degrees. It really means nothing unless you can compare it. Should I be calling the doctor or going for a run?
The next time a charity says it has an SROI of 12:1, give them a call and ask “Is this good? What should I compare this with?” All of this public reporting of one-off SROI values is the new problem in the sector. And this is why Charity Intelligence is working to create consistent impact metrics that will allow donors to compare across charities and sectors, so that an SROI of 4:1 actually means something.
Why are we so passionate about understanding the impact of charities? I found the article Don’t Feed the Zombies by Kevin Starr fascinating. Researchers asked a number of donors how much difference they thought there was between the average charity and the most effective charity. They also asked some global poverty experts the same question. The results are striking. While the average donor thought the most effective charity was likely 1.5 times as effective as the average charity, the experts believe that the most effective charity is 100 times more effective than average.
The differences we see between charities are staggering. While some believe that Canadians need to give more, the reality is that we need to give better. Our giving can have so much more effectiveness if we give to those charities that are doing more with donations. If you want to find some great charities, check out our Top Impact lists.
To learn more:
Boston Consulting Group Making an Impact: Assessing Junior Achievement of Canada's Value Creation, January 2011
Boston Consulting Group Assessment of Pathways to Education, February 2011
Boston Consulting Group Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada Social Return on Investment Study, July 2013
Kilian Berz, Boston Consulting Group Transforming Lives: The Social Return on Investment of Habitat's Work in Canada, May 2015
Government of Canada Evaluation of Pathways to Education, Final Report, 2019.
Kevin Starr, Don’t Feed the Zombies, Stanford Social Innovation Review, March 28 2023
If you find Charity Intelligence’s research useful in your giving, please donate to support our work. Being funded by donors like you maintains our independence to help Canadians be informed in their giving. Canadians donate over $18 billion each year. This giving could achieve tremendous results. We hope Charity Intelligence’s research helps Canadians give better.
Legal disclaimer: The information in this report was prepared by Charity Intelligence Canada and its independent analysts from publicly available information. Charity Intelligence and its analysts have made endeavours to ensure that the data in this report is accurate and complete but accepts no liability.
The views and opinions expressed are to inform donors on matters of public interest. Views and opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, organization, individual, or anyone or anything. Any dispute arising from your use of this website or viewing this material shall be governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario, without regard to any conflict or law provision.