East York Learning Experience

266 Donlands
Toronto, ON M4J 5B1
Chair: C. Jonathan & L. Kelly
Executive Director: Gail McCullough

Website: eastyorklearningexperience.ca
Charitable Reg. #: 10727 4839 RR0001
Sector: Education
Operating Charity

Charity Rating

[Charity Rating: 4/4]

Results Reporting

Grade: B+

The grade is based on the charity's public reporting of the work it does and the results it achieves.

Financial Transparency

Audited financial statements for current and previous years available on the charity's website [Audited financial statement for most recent year]

Need for Funding

Funding Reserves Program Costs

Spending Breakdown

Cents to the Cause

♦ ♦ ♦
95¢
75¢
avg
65¢
50¢
2016 2017 2018
For a dollar donated, cents funding the cause after fundraising and admin costs, excluding surplus.

Impact Rating: High

•

Full-time staff #1

Avg. Compensation $114,644

Top 10 Staff Salary Range

$350k + 0
$300k - $350k 0
$250k - $300k 0
$200k - $250k 0
$160k - $200k 0
$120k - $160k 0
$80k - $120k 0
$40k - $80k 1
< $40k 0
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2016

About East York Learning Experience:

East York Learning Experience (EYLE) staff and trained volunteers provide one-on-one free literacy tutoring to about 90 adult (aged 18+) low-level learners annually. EYLE students have different levels of literacy. Some are pre-literate while some are learning basic skills such as learning the alphabet, writing their address, and basic sight words. Others are fine-tuning skills to enter a GED preparation program, adult high school, or even college. Many students also focus on developing essential skills for the workplace. In addition to challenges with low literacy levels, approximately one third of EYLE students suffer from undiagnosed learning disabilities.

A Charity Intelligence 2018 Top 10 Impact Charity

EYLE continues to operate as one of the most efficient organizations in the sector by leveraging a modest budget to furnish a volunteer base with curriculum training and infrastructure to meet community demand. Depending on the individual need, students receive tutoring for up to three years, typically at a rate of two hours per week. Tutoring is customized, friendly, and supports adult learning so that students can develop their reading, writing, and/or basic math and computer literacy skills outside of the classroom environment. EYLE matches students with tutors drawn from a volunteer base that consists of many long-serving volunteers, some with more than 10 years of working with EYLE.

Results and Impact: East York Learning Experience is rated as High impact per dollar by Charity Intelligence (see grid bottom right) as it very cost-effectively helps people to improve their literacy. In F2018, 65% of the 47 students who exited the program either became employed or entered programs to pursue further education.

Financial Review:

East York Learning Experience is a nano-cap charity with $24k in F2018 donations and special events revenues. Its administrative costs are 5% of revenues, and its fundraising costs are 3% of donations. For every dollar donated, 92 cents go towards EYLE’s programs, falling within Ci’s reasonable range. The charity has funding reserves of $56k, resulting in a program cost coverage ratio of 38%. This means that EYLE can cover under 5 months of its annual program costs using its existing reserves, showing a need for funding.

This charity report is an update that has been sent for review by the charity. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on October 24, 2018 by Greg Thomson.

Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending March 		201820172016
Administrative costs as % of revenues 5.1%4.8%4.9%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 3.3%1.7%8.0%
Program cost coverage (%) 38.5%34.1%30.0%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $s 		201820172016
Donations 13,89322,01110,543
Government funding 142,734122,495121,405
Special events 9,77612,73312,732
Investment income 004
Total revenues 166,403157,239144,684
Program costs 145,547142,573134,843
Administrative costs 8,4077,4867,115
Fundraising costs 7835991,862
Other costs 000
Cash flow from operations 11,6676,582864
Funding reserves 55,99148,68540,412
Note: Ci has included interest income in revenues, affecting revenue by $4 in F2016, $14 in F2015, and by $22 in F2014.

Comments added by the Charity:

East York Learning Experience has a small staff contingent and thus is a volunteer-driven organization.  Each year we rely on the assistance of 50-70 volunteers to work on our Board of Directors, our committees, at fundraising events, and to deliver our literacy services on a one-to-one basis.

Our volunteer tutors go through a screening interview, participate in our tutor training program (small group format 2 to 3 times per year), are then matched with a student and receive ongoing support from staff.

Initially these volunteers make a one year commitment to EYLE.  However, many stay with us for several years.  Each year we celebrate & honour our volunteers at our Annual General Meeting.  At this event we recognize our 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, and 20 year volunteers.  These long-term volunteers represent almost ½ of our entire volunteer membership.  Their reasons for staying with us may vary, but frequently we hear comments such as:

  • “It is such a friendly environment and everyone works together as a team, with a common purpose.”
  • “I’m learning as much as I’m teaching.”
  • “It is so rewarding when your student makes a breakthrough, or accomplishes a goal that you have helped them with.”
  • “It is my way of giving back to the community and it feels great.”
  • “The staff is always friendly, approachable & supportive.”
  • “It feels like family here.”

At EYLE our goal has been to foster a welcoming, relaxed, informal learning environment while delivering professional literacy services that meet the individual needs of our learners. Our success rate with learners and the dedication demonstrated by our staff and volunteers are indicators that we have met this goal.

As an organization with a relatively small budget, we are proud of what we have accomplished and the positive impact we have had on so many lives in our community.  Without our committed volunteers and funding support from various levels of government, foundations and the broader community, this would not have been possible.

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about us and the work that we do.

 

Gail McCullough

Director

East York Learning Experience

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