Established in 1953, The Stratford Shakespearean Festival of Canada (Stratford Festival) began with just two productions staged in a tent. In 2018 it features twelve productions, including four 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 goal is to become the premier classical theatre destination renowned for both its excellence and innovation.

The 2018 productions from Shakespeare include The Tempest, The Comedy of Errors, Coriolanus and Julius Caesar. Some of its other productions include The Music Man, The Rocky Horror Show, To Kill a Mockingbird and Bronte. 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.

The Stratford Festival offers numerous educational activities, including acting apprenticeships, and assistant designer and director programs. These activities allow artists to work with and learn from seasoned professionals. At Shakespeare School, for a fee, students in grades 5 to 12 may attend 1 to 3-week classes over March break, PA days, reading week or the summer. Public activities (some at no cost to participants) include post-show chats with actors and workshops lead by Festival teaching artists.

In January 2018, the 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 due to increased seating capacity. The Stratford Festival has received $20 million from both the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario for this project. An additional $30 million has been received from donations, thus the charity notes the campaign has reached 70% of its fundraising goal.

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

The Stratford Festival is one of Canada’s largest charities in donations, a Major 100, which received donations of $19.5m in F2017, a 30% increase from F2016. The majority of the charity’s revenues are generated from its performances ($30.3m in F2017), representing 45% of total revenues. Administrative costs are 8% of total revenues and fundraising costs are 9% of donations. Per dollar donated to the Stratford Festival, $0.84 goes towards its programs and grants, falling inside of Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. The charity has funding reserves of $93.4m, which has been steadily increasing since F2013. Stratford Festival’s funding reserves can cover 1.7 years of annual program and grant costs.

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 17, 2018 by Derek Houlberg.