Georgian Bay Forever

P.O. Box 75347, Leslie Street
Toronto, ON M4M 1B3
Executive Director: David Sweetnam
Board Chair: Terry Clark

Charitable Reg. #:89531 1066 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.

71%

CENTS TO THE CAUSE

For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 71 cents are available for programs.



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OVERVIEW

About Georgian Bay Forever:

Georgian Bay Forever is a 5-star charity with a high-average results reporting grade. It is financially transparent and its overhead spending is within Ci’s reasonable range.

Founded in 1995, Georgian Bay Forever (GBF) aims to protect and enhance Georgian Bay through science, research, education, and action. Georgian Bay is a bay of Lake Huron in Ontario, with more than 8,000 km of shoreline. GBF works to protect the biodiversity in the region, track water levels, and preserve the water quality.

A Charity Intelligence 2024 Top 100 Rated Charity

In F2022, Georgian Bay Forever had four main programs: Water Quality, Wetlands, Communications and Education, and Water Levels.

In F2022, Georgian Bay Forever spent 65% of its program costs on Water Quality. The charity aims to maintain the water quality of the bay through research and the removal of waste. In F2022, through its Divert and Collect project, GBF hosted 36 shoreline cleanups. Additionally, 304 lint-trapping devices were installed on washing-machine pipes in households. Through its Diversion 2.0 project, the charity collected waste using eight seabins and eight gutter bins, and conducted 46 waste categorisations in F2022.

Georgian Bay Forever spent 19% of program costs on Wetlands. Through this program, also referred to as Ecosystems, GBF works to remove invasive species to protect the ecosystems in the region. In F2022, the charity mapped 970 Phragmite sites and cut 270 sites.

In F2022, GBF allocated 10% of program spending to Communications and Education. In F2022, the charity reported that it educated 15,942 people through community events, workshops, and focused communication.

The remaining 6% of program costs was allocated to Water Levels. The charity researches factors that affect water levels and tracks water levels in Georgian Bay and the Great Lakes.

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Results and Impact

In F2022, GBF reported that it removed 38,000 kg of Phragmites, bringing the cumulative total for the past ten years to 235,900 kg. In F2022, the lint-trapping devices installed on washing machines prevented 32 kg of waste from entering Georgian Bay. Additionally, 964 kg of litter was removed through shoreline cleanups, and 379 kg of waste was collected using seabins and gutter bins.

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

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Finances

Georgian Bay Forever received donations of $799k in F2022. It also received $266k in government funding, representing 27% of total revenues.

Administrative costs are 14% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 15% of donations. This results in overhead spending of 29%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 71 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.  

Georgian Bay Forever has reserve funds of $607k. The charity can cover almost nine months of annual program costs with its existing reserves.

The charity's compensation information for F2021 and F2020 is not available on its T3010 filing with the CRA and its F2022 filing does not include total compensation paid, thus average compensation could not be calculated.

Charity Intelligence has sent this profile to Georgian Bay Forever for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.  

Updated on August 15, 2023 by Kiara Andrade.

 

Financial Review


Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending December
202220212020
Administrative costs as % of revenues 14.3%10.0%15.7%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 14.8%14.6%44.8%
Total overhead spending 29.1%24.6%60.4%
Program cost coverage (%) 72.2%93.2%135.0%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $s
202220212020
Donations 798,851850,220211,381
International donations 00268,566
Government funding 265,644356,135163,139
Investment income 1,3771,6875,745
Other income (95,343)22,42954,430
Total revenues 970,5291,230,471703,261
Program costs 840,958703,674382,530
Administrative costs 138,893122,204109,299
Fundraising costs 118,053124,33894,583
Total spending 1,097,905950,216586,412
Cash flow from operations (127,376)280,255116,849
Capital spending (83,572)137,4640
Funding reserves 606,851655,842516,421

Note: Ci reported government funding and international donations from the charity’s T3010 filings with the CRA and removed the amounts from Canadian donations. Ci reported interest income from the T3010 in investment income and removed the amounts from ‘Interest and fundraising’ reported in Other income. To report on a cash basis, Ci adjusted for deferred donations, affecting revenues by ($95k) in F2022, $3k in F2021, and $54k in F2020. The charity does not provide a breakdown of government vs non-government deferred revenues so this adjustment has been made in Other income. Ci removed amortization from program, administration, and fundraising costs on a pro-rata basis.

Salary Information

Full-time staff: 10

Avg. compensation: $0

Top 10 staff salary range:

$350k +
0
$300k - $350k
0
$250k - $300k
0
$200k - $250k
0
$160k - $200k
0
$120k - $160k
1
$80k - $120k
0
$40k - $80k
4
< $40k
5

Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2022

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Comments & Contact

Comments added by the Charity:

Comment added by the charity August 2023:

GBF has 7 full time staff, at present. We structure our programs to encourage community participation to help to achieve our goals and objectives. As part of our strategic plan, Georgian Bay Forever is making some significant investments in expanding our territorial project coverage, new project development and donor acquisition. There have also been some significant capital write-offs as we transferred ownership of diversion technologies to municipalities. Our financial statements contain details on these transfers. We also receive funding from numerous municipalities to execute the invasive species control projects in their communities. These revenues are not included in Canadian donations we receive but do induce administrative costs to manage and execute.

Charity Contact

Website: www.georgianbayforever.org
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: (905) 880-4945

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Charitable Registration Number: 80340 7956 RR0001