Big Brothers Big Sisters Toronto
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.
Average
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.
57%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 57 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Big Brothers Big Sisters Toronto:
Big Brothers Big Sisters Toronto is a 3-star rated, financially transparent charity with Average demonstrated impact. It has an average results reporting grade and its overhead costs are outside of Ci’s reasonable range. The charity has $1.7m in reserve funds, which can cover ten months of annual program costs.
Founded in 1913, Big Brothers Big Sisters Toronto (BBBST) pairs kids who struggle socially or academically with an adult mentor to help them feel empowered and achieve their full potential.
In F2022, 649 BBBST volunteers mentored 1,228 youth through Core Mentoring and Group Mentoring programs. In total, volunteers provided 36,585 hours of mentoring. The charity does not disclose how much it spends on each of its programs.
BBBST’s Core Mentoring programs provide one-on-one mentoring for children. This mentoring can be community-based and the mentors can be single or a couple. There is also in-school mentoring, focused on academic performance and integration in the school community. Finally, intergenerational mentoring pairs a mentor that is over 55 with a mentee. Matches are based on shared interests, experiences, and availability. The pair meets eight hours per month for cultural, recreational, and educational activities. In F2022, BBBST created 530 new mentor-mentee matches. In school-mentoring occurred in 32 elementary schools, 4 middle schools and 12 secondary schools.
In addition to one-on-one mentoring, BBBST also offers Group Mentoring programs. Groups of girls aged 10-14 meet weekly for the Go Girls! Program focused on improving self-esteem, relationship skills, and conflict resolution. Similarly, boys aged 11-14 participate in Game On!, which teaches boys about gender and masculinity, anti-violence, healthy minds, relationships, and problem solving. Young immigrants to Canada can join the Newcomers Bridging Program, which provides support in adjusting to life in a different country. Finally, the Pumped for Post-Secondary program provides high school students with guidance as they plan for transitioning to higher education. The charity reports that in 2021, group-based mentoring reached 729 children.
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Results and Impact
In 2013, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) completed a study on the economic impact of Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada's One-to-One Mentorship. BCG reports that for every $1 used in BBBS programming, $18-$23 is returned to society.
BBBST reports that its mentorship programs help mentees succeed in school, maintain good health, develop leadership skills, overcome conflicts, and help others. When past mentees were surveyed, 85% reported their mentors encouraged them to be their best and 76% stated their mentors have connected them with new people, places or ideas. In addition, the charity states that 94% of mentees enjoy learning, 97% report they feel they can handle challenging things in their life and 94% state they can stand up for what they believe in, even when it is hard to do so.
According to a study conducted by the Impact Genome, BBBST’s one-on-one mentoring program has a 90% efficacy rate.
The charity adds that the economic impact of the volunteering it received can be estimated at $987,795. This is based on volunteer hours multiplied by the average hourly wage in the non-profit sector.
While Charity Intelligence highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Big Brothers Big Sisters Toronto’s results and impact.
Charity Intelligence has evaluated Big Brothers Big Sisters Toronto and found the charity to have Average demonstrated social impact per dollar spent.
Impact Rating: Average
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Finances
Big Brothers Big Sisters Toronto is financially transparent. Its audited financial statements are publicly available on its website.
In F2022, Big Brothers Big Sisters Toronto received total donations and special events revenues of $3.7m. Administrative costs are 13% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 30% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 43%. For every dollar donated, 57 cents are available for programs, which is outside of Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.
BBBST has $1.7m in reserve funds, once $34k in long-term debt is accounted for. The charity could cover 84% or ten months of annual program costs with current reserves.
This charity report is an update that has been sent to Big Brothers Big Sisters Toronto for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated on July 27, 2023 by Victoria Allder.
This report is generously funded by the E.W. Bickle Foundation.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending December
|
2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 13.1% | 14.2% | 14.6% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 30.3% | 30.3% | 31.0% |
| Total overhead spending | 43.4% | 44.5% | 45.5% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | 84.0% | 90.1% | 85.3% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $s |
2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 2,221,455 | 1,794,215 | 1,820,616 |
| Government funding | 247,558 | 571,224 | 770,359 |
| Special events | 1,491,300 | 791,443 | 157,151 |
| Investment income | 11,989 | 3,338 | 7,235 |
| Other income | 6,534 | 2,977 | 5,197 |
| Total revenues | 3,978,836 | 3,163,197 | 2,760,558 |
| Program costs | 2,056,450 | 1,556,085 | 1,423,952 |
| Donor-designated donations | 5,028 | 56,586 | 65,166 |
| Administrative costs | 518,094 | 447,616 | 401,419 |
| Fundraising costs | 1,125,958 | 784,503 | 612,218 |
| Other costs | 3,087 | 4,221 | 1,838 |
| Total spending | 3,708,617 | 2,849,011 | 2,504,593 |
| Cash flow from operations | 270,219 | 314,186 | 255,965 |
| Capital spending | 22,950 | 0 | 164,165 |
| Funding reserves | 1,727,583 | 1,402,204 | 1,214,647 |
Note: Ci reported fundraising and administrative costs from the charity's T3010 filings with the CRA, as this information is not presented in its audited financial statements. Ci adjusted for government and non-government deferred donations, affecting revenues by $264k in F2022, $117k in F2021 and $23k in F2020. Ci did not include bad debt in expenses, increasing expenses by $10k in F2020.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
1 |
$160k - $200k |
0 |
$120k - $160k |
1 |
$80k - $120k |
3 |
$40k - $80k |
5 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2022
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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) 925-8981