World Wildlife Fund Canada

About World Wildlife Fund Canada:

Founded in 1967, World Wildlife Fund Canada (WWF Canada) aims to protect and restore Earth’s natural environment for future generations. WWF Canada conserves the environment by running conservation programs, granting money for conservation research projects and raising public awareness about how important the environment is. WWF Canada divides its conservation efforts into six core programs: Arctic conservation, Oceans conservation, Freshwater conservation, Global conservation, community engagement, and conservation science and raising awareness.

Arctic conservation made up 34% of World Wildlife Fund Canada’s program costs in 2016. Shell Canada gave up oil and gas permits near Lancaster Sound after taken to court by WWF Canada in April 2016 – now 105,375 square km of Arctic land are set for protection. Lancaster Sound holds one of Canada’s richest marine ecosystems – one fifth of the Canadian beluga population and three quarters of global narwhal population migrate to the area every year. It is the only Arctic area expected to retain summer sea ice up until 2050.

Conservation science and raising awareness made up 25% of program spending in 2016. WWF Canada established 156 water quality monitoring stations in Canada in 2016, giving citizen scientists the opportunity to promote freshwater health for wildlife. Also in 2016, the charity’s Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup event had 59,136 volunteers who removed 175,932 kg of waste along 3,211 km of shoreline.

Oceans conservation made up 17% of program costs in 2016. Back in 2010, WWF Canada partnered with Icewater Seafood Inc. and created the Fishery Improvement Project. By March 2016, this project helped a Newfoundland cod fishery called 3Ps become the first Canadian Atlantic cod fishery to achieve MSC certification as a sustainable cod fishery.

Freshwater conservation represented 11% of program spending in 2016. To assess the health of, and threats to, Canada’s major watersheds, WWF Canada is working on a Watersheds Report project that measures the health of Canada’s 25 major watersheds. The charity reports assessing 75% of these watersheds as of 2016. 

Global conservation made up 7% of program spending in 2016. WWF Canada saw success in 2016 when the global wild tiger population increased for the first time in 100 years – the population is now at almost 3,900 tigers.

Community engagement made up 6% of program costs in 2016. WWF Canada reports helping 448,297 Canadians connect with nature by joining its nature-connected movement in 2016. The charity aims to reach 3.5 million Canadians by 2020.

Financial Review:

World Wildlife Fund Canada is a Major 100 charity, meaning it is one of Canada’s largest 100 charities in terms of donations. In F2016, the charity collected $18.2m in donations. Administrative costs are 5% of revenues and fundraising costs are 28% of donations. Per dollar donated to the charity, $0.67 goes towards its programs, which falls within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. WWFC holds funding reserves of $25.9m, of which $3.6m are endowed. Excluding endowed funds, the charity’s reserves can cover annual program costs and granting activities for 1.35 years.

WWFC reports using external fundraisers as part of its fundraising activities in its F2016 T3010 CRA filing. In F2016, the charity reports $284k in fundraising costs for external fundraisers that raised $1.8m on behalf of the charity. This produces an external fundraising cost ratio of 16% – the cost of raising funds for external fundraisers is lower than that for the charity as a whole.

This charity report is an update that is currently being reviewed by WWFC. Comments and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on June 1, 2017 by Katie Khodawandi.