Discovery House is a 5-star rated charity with an A+ results reporting grade. The charity has best practices in financial transparency and overhead costs within Ci’s reasonable range.  

Founded in 1980, Discovery House helps women and children escape domestic violence and live safely in Calgary. It hopes to end the traumatic cycle of domestic violence for families with children. The charity reports that 49% of clients experienced emotional/psychological/verbal abuse at intake, 44% experienced physical abuse, and 28% experienced financial abuse. In F2024, Discovery House reports it served a total of 503 clients and provided 10,870 hours of support (i.e., counselling, financial aid, and parenting support).

Discovery House shares its 2023-2026 Strategic Plan that follows four priorities to guide its efforts, resources, and investments. Its Theory of Change aims to end domestic violence by providing safe housing and support services to help women and children rebuild their lives and heal from trauma​.

A Charity Intelligence 2023 Top 100 Rated Charity

Discovery House’s Community Housing program represented 42% of program spending in F2024. This program offers affordable, long-term rentals and support for people moving from shelters to stable homes. Discovery House reports it served 95 families, including 205 children in F2024. The program’s team spent 4,016 hours through one-on-one meetings, liaising with landlords, resource referrals, and connections to the community. The average length of stay was 24 months in F2024.

Discovery House’s Shelter and Outreach program accounted for 32% of program spending in F2024. This second stage supports individuals and families moving from emergency shelters to permanent independence for up to one year. In F2024, the charity’s 19-unit shelter served 31 families, including 85 children, for a total of 115 people. 100% of women that accessed the shelter were identified as being at risk of being killed by an abusive partner. Discovery House provided 781 hours of one-on-one support to families. In F2024, the average length of stay was 11 months.

Child and Youth programs made up 17% of program spending in F2024. The programs helps parents and children address trauma, improve parenting skills, and offers one-on-one counselling and case management for children (0-5 years) and youth (6-12 years). Discovery House reports that 70% of clients served are children and youth (354 in F2024).

Counselling programs made up 9% of program spending in F2024. Discovery House provides one-on-one counselling and group programs to help mothers and children cope with domestic violence, build self-esteem, and manage trauma. In F2024, it served 130 individuals, 48% of them being children and youth (62), through 1,786 hours of support.

Discovery House received $3.0m in donations and special events revenue in F2024. It also received $1.4m in government funding, representing 24% of total revenues. The charity spent $4.1m on its programs in F2024, which is 72% of total revenues. Discovery House provides a breakdown of its spending on its programs in its Annual Report.

Administrative costs are 4% of revenues (less investment income), and fundraising costs are 12% of donations and special events revenue. For every dollar donated to the charity, 85 cents are available to go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range of 65 to 95 cents for overhead spending. In F2023 and F2022, Ci reported administrative and fundraising costs from the charity’s T3010 filings with the CRA. These are greater than the amounts reported in Discovery House’s audited financial statements. The F2024 T3010 filings are not available at the time of this report. As a result, F2024 overhead spending may be understated. The same applies to government funding.

Discovery House has $5.1m in reserve funds, of which $1.0m is donor endowed. Excluding donor-endowed funds, Discovery House could cover one year of its annual program costs. In F2024, the charity recorded a surplus of $1.1m (18% of revenues) and spent $695k on capital expenditures.

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

Updated on July 25, 2024 by Alexia Tudose.