Stratford Festival

55 Queen Street
Stratford, ON N5A 4M9
Executive Director: Anita Gaffney
Board Chair: Robert Gorlin

Charitable Reg. #:11920 0103 RR0002

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.

D+

RESULTS REPORTING

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

n/r

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.

75%

CENTS TO THE CAUSE

For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 75 cents are available for programs.



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OVERVIEW

About Stratford Festival:

Stratford Festival is a 2-star charity. It is financially transparent and has overhead costs within Ci's reasonable range but below-average results reporting.

Founded in 1953, Stratford Shakespearean Festival of Canada (Stratford Festival) is North America’s largest classical repertory theatre company. It produces classics, contemporary dramas and musicals, with an emphasis on Shakespearean plays. Located in Stratford, Ontario, the festival operates four venues, including Festival Theatre (1826 seats), Avon Theatre (1079 seats), Tom Patterson Theatre (700 seats), and Studio Theatre (260 seats). 

In 2023, Stratford Festival is featuring 13 productions. These productions include four Shakespeare plays, which are King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, Richard II and Love’s Labour’s Lost. Other productions include Rent (musical), Les Belles-Soeurs (comedy), Monty Python’s Spamalot (musical comedy) and Frankenstein Revived (drama). 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.

Besides productions, Stratford Festival offers many 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 include post-show chats with actors and workshops led by Festival teaching artists.

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Results and Impact

Ci could not find any publicly available quantifiable results for Stratford Festival. This charity is not yet rated on impact (n/r).

 

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Finances

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 received $11.4m of Canadian donations and $9.7m from a related US charity in F2022. Stratford Festival’s performances generated $26.0m in F2022 (including $1.0m in future performance revenues), representing 51% of total revenues. Administrative costs are 11% of total revenues and fundraising costs are 14% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 25%. For every dollar donated to Stratford Festival, 75 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

The charity has $135.0m in reserve funds, which have steadily increased since F2013. Stratford Festival’s funding reserves can cover almost 2.6 years of its annual program and granting costs. The endowment foundation holds $120.6m 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 May 24, 2023 by Krystie Nguyen.

 

Financial Review


Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending December
202220212020
Administrative costs as % of revenues 11.1%14.9%12.1%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 13.6%5.1%6.0%
Total overhead spending 24.8%20.0%18.0%
Program cost coverage (%) 258.9%719.9%599.3%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $000s
202220212020
Donations 11,71716,12417,370
International donations 9,6573,76610,122
Government funding 13,5976,3504,223
Fees for service 26,0601,492170
Investment income (9,892)14,340(398)
Total revenues 51,13942,07231,487
Program costs 51,51317,84319,121
Grants 654697621
Administrative costs 7,5474,4153,872
Fundraising costs 1,5958221,041
Total spending 61,30923,77824,655
Cash flow from operations (10,170)18,2946,831
Capital spending 1,9231,32814,121
Funding reserves 135,036133,477118,323

Note: Ci has adjusted for non-governmental deferred contributions, affecting revenues by $9.7m in F2022, ($276k) in F2021, and $4.0m in F2020. Ci has adjusted for grants from the Endowment Foundation to the charity in the amount of $9.8m in F2022, $2.6m in F2021, and $7.3m in F2020. Ci has adjusted for grants from the Festival of America to the Endowment Foundation in the amount of $678k in F2022, $798k in F2021, and $3.0m in F2020. Ci has adjusted for current future performances' unearned revenue, affecting revenues by $963k in F2022, ($838k) in F2021, and $170k in F2020. Ci has adjusted for government grants' unearned revenue, affecting revenues by $196k in F2022, ($11k) in F2021, and ($432k) in F2020. Ci included unrealized gains on investment in investment income. This affects the total revenues by ($28k) in F2022, ($187k) in F2021, and ($51k) in F2020. Ci has adjusted for gift certificates and other unearned revenue, affecting revenues by $567k in F2022, $135k in F2021, and ($732k) in F2020.

Salary Information

Full-time staff: 174

Avg. compensation: $69,220

Top 10 staff salary range:

$350k +
2
$300k - $350k
0
$250k - $300k
0
$200k - $250k
4
$160k - $200k
2
$120k - $160k
2
$80k - $120k
0
$40k - $80k
0
< $40k
0

Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2021

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Comments & Contact

Comments added by the Charity:

No comments have been added by the charity.

Charity Contact

Website: www.stratfordfestival.ca
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 519-273-1600

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Charitable Registration Number: 80340 7956 RR0001