Ottawa Food Bank
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.
A-
RESULTS REPORTING
Grade based on the charity's public reporting of the work it does and the results it achieves.
Good
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.
77%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 77 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Ottawa Food Bank:
Ottawa Food Bank is a five star, financially transparent charity with a Good impact rating. It has an above-average A- results reporting grade as well as a reasonably sized reserve fund. For every dollar donated to the charity, 77 cents are available to go to the cause.
Founded in 1984, Ottawa Food Bank (OFB) collects and distributes food to 71 organizations in its agency network who operate 98 food programs. It also runs school meal programs in Ottawa’s low-income communities and advocates for government intervention targeting the city’s growing level of food insecurity. According to the charity, 25% of Ottawa households face food insecurity compared to 14% in 2022.
The charity runs two programs: Food Collection & Distribution and Community Programs. It distributed $11.1m worth of food and spent $15.8m cash on its programs in the fiscal year ending in September 2024 (F2024).
A Charity Intelligence 2024 Top 100 Rated Charity
Food Collection & Distribution was 91% ($14.4m) of the charity’s program spending. During F2024, Ottawa Food Bank’s 71-member agency network distributed 8,268,947 lb of food. According to the charity, its agency network saw 556,232 visits during F2024. The charity also distributed 314,938 lb worth of non-food basic needs like diapers, menstrual products, and hygiene products.
Community Programs was 9% ($1.4m) of the charity’s program spending. In F2024, OFB’s KickStart After 4 subprogram provided 58,175 snacks to food insecure youths at 18 after-school programs. The charity also partnered with 30 organizations than ran breakfast and lunch meals programs for youths living in low-income communities.
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Results and Impact
Since Ottawa Food Bank distributed 8,268,947 lb of food across 556,232 client visits, clients received an average of 14.9 lb of food during each visit in F2024. According to the charity, clients receive food once weekly.
Since OFB spent $14.4m to distribute 8,268,947 lb of food across 556,232 visits, it spent an average of $1.74 / pound distributed and $24.95 / visit.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not completely represent Ottawa Food Bank’s results and impact.
Charity Intelligence has scored Ottawa Food Bank as having Good impact based on its demonstrated social impact per dollar spent.
Impact Rating: Good
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Finances
Ottawa Food Bank's audited financial statements follow activity-based costing, a financial reporting best practice. This means it clearly discloses program, administrative, and fundraising expenses in its financial statements.
In F2024, Ottawa Food Bank received $11.1m worth of donated food (33% of total revenue) and $19.3m in cash donations and special events revenue (58% of total revenue). It also received $493k worth of government funding and $2.7m in investment returns during F2024.
Administrative costs are 5% of revenues and fundraising costs are 18% of donations. This means OFB’s total overhead spending is 23%. For every dollar donated, 77 cents are available to go to the cause, which is within Ci’s reasonable overhead spending range.
In F2024, OFB spent $15.3m cash on its programs and distributed $11.1m worth of donated food.
At the end of F2024, OFB had $18.8m worth of net reserve funds (cash and investments) which covers 123% or nearly 15 months of its annual program spending.
Profile updated by Julian Dranitsaris on March 13, 2025. Comments and corrections may be forthcoming.
Learn more: Ottawa Food Bank's impact page
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending September
|
2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 4.9% | 5.3% | 4.7% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 18.1% | 14.3% | 12.8% |
| Total overhead spending | 23.0% | 19.6% | 17.5% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | 123.0% | 118.6% | 207.4% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 17,604 | 16,652 | 16,034 |
| Goods in kind | 11,075 | 8,445 | 9,424 |
| Government funding | 493 | 434 | 261 |
| Special events | 1,744 | 1,535 | 1,524 |
| Investment income | 2,727 | (380) | (692) |
| Total revenues | 33,643 | 26,685 | 26,551 |
| Program costs | 15,253 | 13,775 | 10,378 |
| Grants | 0 | 1,211 | 325 |
| Donated goods exp | 11,075 | 8,445 | 9,424 |
| Administrative costs | 1,510 | 1,438 | 1,271 |
| Fundraising costs | 3,506 | 2,600 | 2,252 |
| Total spending | 31,344 | 27,469 | 23,650 |
| Cash flow from operations | 2,299 | (783) | 2,901 |
| Capital spending | 153 | 5,888 | 1,358 |
| Funding reserves | 18,756 | 17,777 | 22,195 |
Note: 1. F2024 T3010 FILINGS: OFB's latest CRA information is not yet available. Ci will have the opportunity to update OFB’s salary information with F2024 data once this information becomes available. 2. DEFERRED DONATIONS: Since OFB follows deferred accounting, Ci adjusted revenue for changes in deferred donations to show financial information consistently. This affected revenue by $22k, $11k, and ($20k) in F2024, F2023, and F2022, respectively. 3. DEFERRED CAPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS: Ci adjusted deferred contributions restricted for capital expenditures. This affected revenue by $2k, $332k, and $533k in F2024, F2023, and F2022, respectively. 4. GRANTS RECEIVABLE: Ci adjusted donations for changes in grants receivable which affected revenue by $99k, $141k, and ($240k) in F2024, F2023, and F2022, respectively. 5. GOVERNMENT FUNDING RECEIVABLES: Ci adjusted for changes in government funding receivables which affected revenue by $61k, $10k, and ($131k) in F2024, F2023, and F2022, respectively. 6. UNREALIZED INVESTMENT GAINS: Ci included unrealized investment gains (losses) in revenue, affecting it by $2.0m, ($798k), and ($802k) in F2024, F2023, and F2022, respectively.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
1 |
$120k - $160k |
2 |
$80k - $120k |
7 |
$40k - $80k |
0 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2023
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Comments & Contact
Comments added by the Charity:
Charity Contact
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News articles: Matthew Lapierre, "Inflation is driving Ottawa food bank use to record highs, no end in sight", Ottawa Citizen, September 20, 2022
Tel: 613-745-7001