300-439 University Avenue
Toronto, ON M5G 1Y8
CEO: Katherine Hay
Board Chair: Tracy Sandler

Charitable Reg. #:13000 5846 RR0001

STAR RATING

Ci's Star Rating is calculated based on the following independent metrics:

[Charity Rating: 2/5]

✔+

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.

Low

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.

58%

CENTS TO THE CAUSE

For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 58 cents are available for programs.



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OVERVIEW

About Kids Help Phone:

Kids Help Phone is a 2-star charity. It is financially transparent and has an average results reporting grade. Its overhead costs are outside Ci's reasonable range and it has Low demonstrated impact per dollar spent.

Founded in 1989, Kids Help Phone (KHP) supports youth struggling with mental health crises. The charity states that one in two youth are struggling with their mental health alone. It also states that youth in equity-deserving groups have limited access to mental health support. KHP reports it spent $33.6m on its programs in 2023. The charity does not provide a breakdown of its programs or its program spending. 

Kids Help Phone runs a 24/7 e-mental health service for youth seeking mental health support. The charity connects with youth through its website, counselling, texting, and peer-to-peer services. KHP had 4,749,864 interactions with youth in 2023. Its Counsellor in the Classroom subprogram promotes the discussion of mental health among students. KHP reached 17,870 students in 2023. It launched its Feel out Loud movement in 2023. Feel out Loud sends the message to youth that there is always room for their feelings. KHP reports Feel out Loud brought together over 50 artists to create a song, which has received over two million plays.

Kids Help Phone is committed to addressing systemic problems that equity-deserving groups face. Its Finding Hope plan supports First Nations, Inuit, and Métis youth. Its interactions with Indigenous youth over text grew from approximately 9,000 in 2019 to 25,000 in 2022. Its website produces content in five Indigenous languages. KHP’s RiseUp plan supports Black youth, and its New Journeys plan supports youth new to Canada.

 

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Results and Impact

KHP reports that 75% of the youth who reach out share something they have never told anyone else.

89% of Indigenous youth report their conversation with KHP over text was helpful.

While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Kids Help Phone’s results and impact.

Charity Intelligence has given Kids Help Phone a Low impact rating based on demonstrated impact per dollar spent.

 

Impact Rating: Low

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Finances

In 2023 Kids Help Phone received $19.7m in cash donations and special events fundraising. The charity received $21.5m in government funding, representing 49% of total revenues.

Administrative costs are 11% of revenues (excluding investment income). Fundraising costs are 31% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 42%. For every dollar donated, 58 cents are available to go to the cause. This falls outside Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

In 2023 KHP spent $33.6m on its programs, which is 77% of its revenue. In 2023 it had a deficit of $818k.

Kids Help Phone has $37.7m in reserve funds. This can cover 112%, or one year and one month of its annual program spending.

In 2023, Kids Help Phone paid external fundraisers $331k who collected $229k in donations. This means it cost KHP $1.44 to raise $1.00 using external fundraisers.

This charity report is an update that has been sent for review to Kids Help Phone. Changes and edits may be forthcoming. 

Updated on July 17, 2024, by Grady Simpson.

 

Financial Review


Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending December
202320222021
Administrative costs as % of revenues 11.4%6.8%4.6%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 30.7%40.9%29.5%
Total overhead spending 42.1%47.6%34.1%
Program cost coverage (%) 112.3%127.4%128.0%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $000s
202320222021
Donations 13,30012,47111,841
Goods in kind 80192250
Government funding 21,48826,37327,944
Special events 6,4375,2704,716
Investment income 2,141131300
Other income 802391
Total revenues 43,52644,46145,142
Program costs 33,57632,43728,687
Administrative costs 4,7163,0002,063
Fundraising costs 6,0517,2484,885
Total spending 44,34442,68635,635
Cash flow from operations (818)1,7759,507
Capital spending 2208451,788
Funding reserves 37,71241,33936,722

Note: DEFERRED ADJUSTMENT: KHP uses deferred accounting. To show donors information on a consistent basis, Ci adjusted for these deferred revenues. This affected non-government revenues by $1.0m in 2023, $126k in 2022, and $1.7m in 2021. Deferred adjustments affected government revenues by ($1.9m) in 2023, $1.1m in 2022, and ($1.0m) in 2021.  DONATED GOODS IN KIND: Ci removed donated goods in kind from donations and reported it under goods in kind.

Salary Information

Full-time staff: 328

Avg. compensation: $66,416

Top 10 staff salary range:

$350k +
1
$300k - $350k
0
$250k - $300k
1
$200k - $250k
3
$160k - $200k
5
$120k - $160k
0
$80k - $120k
0
$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:

No comments have been added by the charity.

Charity Contact

Website: www.kidshelpphone.ca
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 416-586-5437

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Charitable Registration Number: 80340 7956 RR0001