Established in 1953, Stratford Shakespearean Festival of Canada (Stratford Festival) began with just two productions staged in a tent. In 2019 it featured 12 productions, including three William Shakespeare plays. The festival operates four venues in Stratford, Ontario, ranging in size from the 1,826-seat Festival Theatre down to the 72-seat Studio Theatre Annex. Stratford Festival’s vision is to foster active exploration of big ideas by engaging with the classics, reimagined for contemporary audiences.

Stratford Festival's 2019 Shakespeare productions include Othello, the Merry Wives of Windsor, and Henry VIII. Other productions include Billy Elliot, Little Shop of Horrors, the Crucible, and Nathan the Wise. Many famous actors have appeared at the Stratford Festival, including Julie Harris, William Petersen, Christopher Plummer, Sarah Polley, William Shatner, Peter Ustinov and Christopher Walken.

Stratford Festival offers numerous educational activities, including acting apprenticeships, assistant designer programs, and director programs. These activities allow artists to work with and learn from seasoned professionals. For a fee, youth in grades 1-12 can take place in the year-round Stratford Festival Theatre Arts Camp where they can develop theatrical skills collaboratively and experientially. Stratford Festival also offers Adult and Family camps. Public activities (some at no cost to participants) include post-show chats with actors and workshops lead by Festival teaching artists.

In January 2018, Stratford Festival launched a $100 million campaign to rebuild the Tom Patterson Theatre, which was originally built in 1906. This upgraded facility will allow the charity to expand its current educational programs and musical productions by increasing the theatre's seating capacity. Stratford Festival has currently reached 90% of it’s campaign goal of $100 million.

For the following financial analysis, Charity Intelligence has consolidated the financial statements for Stratford Shakespearean Festival of Canada and Stratford Shakespearean Festival Endowment Foundation.

Stratford Festival is one of Canada’s largest charities in donations, a Major 100, receiving donations of $27.5m in F2019. This is a 57% decrease from $43.1m in F2018. Stratford Festival’s performances generated $29.3m in F2019, representing 37% of total revenues. Administrative costs are 8% of total revenues and fundraising costs are 7% of donations. For every dollar donated to Stratford Festival, 86 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

The charity has funding reserves of $118.2m, which has been steadily increasing since F2013. Stratford Festival’s funding reserves can cover 24 months of annual program and granting costs. The endowment foundation holds $103.2m of the charity's funding reserves, but it is unclear how much of this is donor-endowed. 

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

Updated on July 23, 2020 by Eric Jose.