Founded in 1982, Calgary Food Bank is an emergency food distribution hub that collects and sends food to individuals, families, and single parents living in poverty. The charity reports that one in ten Albertans experience food insecurity. It aims to create a hunger-free community by fighting hunger directly and addressing its root causes through client referrals to social services. In F2020, Calgary Food Bank reports that it received 192,305 visits.

A Charity Intelligence 2021 Top 10 Canadian Food Bank

Calgary Food Bank’s three largest programs are Emergency Food Hampers, Food Share, and Food Link.

Emergency Food Hampers represented 75% of program spending in F2020. Calgary Food Bank’s hampers provide seven to ten days’ worth of food for low-income households and meet Canada’s Food Guide standards. In addition to providing food hampers, Calgary Food Bank refers clients to local agencies and social services that help address underlying causes of food insecurity. The charity offers specialty hampers for babies, clients with allergies or dietary restrictions, birthday parties, and expecting families. In F2020, Calgary Food Bank distributed 67,879 emergency food hampers (69,249 in F2019) and provided 6,329 client referrals (12,157 in F2019). 

Food Share programs were 12% of program costs in F2020. Through Food Share, Calgary Food Bank redistributes excess food that it receives to other food banks across Southern Alberta and British Columbia. This program helps to reduce food waste and prevent excess donations from going to landfills each year. In F2020, Calgary Food Bank sent 2.3 million pounds of food (2.1 million in F2019) worth $6.1m ($5.4m in F2019) to 30 food banks (27 in F2019).

Food Link made up 9% of program spending in F2020. The charity’s Food Link program sends quality food and supplies to 215 Calgary agencies and community groups (233 in F2019). This allows the charity’s partner agencies to focus their resources on food delivery rather than collecting donations. In F2020, Calgary Food Bank gave out 1.6 million pounds of food (2.5m in F2019) worth $4.2m ($6.4m in F2019) through the program. Calgary Food Bank does not directly connect with clients through the Food Link program.

The remaining 4% of program spending included Hampers for the Homeless (2%), Weekends and More (1%), Welcome Home (less than 1%), and Purchasing Power (less than 1%). The charity’s Hampers for the Homeless program offers short-term hunger relief for people who are homeless or at risk of losing housing. In F2020, the program gave 24,579 bags of food (21,531 in F2019) worth $737k ($646k in F2019).

Calgary Food Bank is a Major 100 charity, one of Canada’s largest charities, with $20.4m in cash donations and $33.8m in donated food in F2020. It also received $1.5m in government funding.

Administrative costs are 3% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 1% of cash donations. This results in total overhead spending of 4%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 96 cents go to the cause. This is slightly outside of Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending between 65 and 95 cents. In some cases, charities with less than 5% overhead costs may be underreporting their overhead spending. However, Calgary Food Bank’s fundraising ratio fell in F2020 due to a 137% increase in donations during the year rather than due to changes in its fundraising costs.

The charity has total funding reserves of $22.6m. Excluding the cost of donated food, Calgary Food Bank’s funding reserves cover program costs for around 2.8 years.

Charity Intelligence has sent this update to Calgary Food Bank for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated June 10, 2021 by Eric Zhao.