220 St. George's Drive NE
Calgary, AB T2E 5T2
President & CEO: Mary Anne Moser
Board Chair: Kirstie Boyle

Charitable Reg. #:11878 1079 RR0001

STAR RATING

Ci's Star Rating is calculated based on the following independent metrics:

[Charity Rating: 4/5]

✔+

FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY

Audited financial statements for current and previous years available on the charity’s website.

B

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.

84%

CENTS TO THE CAUSE

For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 84 cents are available for programs.



My anchor

OVERVIEW

About TELUS Spark:

Calgary Science Centre Society (TELUS Spark) is a 4-star charity. It has below-average results reporting and overhead spending within Ci's reasonable range. It is financially transparent.

Founded in 1997, Calgary Science Centre Society (operating as TELUS Spark) is Calgary’s only science centre. It gathers people of all ages to learn about science, engineering, technology, math, and arts. While the science centre was closed for most of 2020 and 2021 due to covid-19, TELUS Spark reports that before the pandemic, it served 375,000 guests and 72,000 students annually.

In F2021, TELUS Spark spent $6.0m on capital renovations to improve the science centre and its dome theatre, Infinity Dome. In addition to upgrades to the Infinity Dome, TELUS Spark opened a new café and ice cream shop, a digital immersion gallery, and new classrooms for summer camps and school workshops. The charity states that the improvements to the science centre will play an active role in the economic recovery of the tourism sector following the covid-19 pandemic.

TELUS Spark operates an access program, which pays for students, families, and individuals who need financial assistance to enter the science centre. In F2021, TELUS Spark increased its access program partners from 58 to 66. The charity reports that its access program provides general admission to more than 16,000 Calgarians annually.

My anchor

Results and Impact

Calgary Science Centre Society reports that its community access program enables thousands of children and families to visit the science centre who otherwise could not afford to.

While Charity Intelligence highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Calgary Science Centre Society’s results and impact. This charity is not yet rated on impact (n/r).

My anchor

Finances

Calgary Science Centre Society had total donations of $1.2m in F2021. The charity also received $8.1m in government funding, representing 66% of total revenues. Fees for service and business activities made up 23% of revenues in F2021.

In F2019 and F2020, Ci reported administrative and fundraising costs from the charity’s T3010 filings with the CRA. Administrative and fundraising costs for F2021 are likely understated, as the charity’s F2021 filing is not yet available.

Administrative costs are 7% of revenues and fundraising costs are less than 10% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 16%. This compares with overhead spending of 46% in F2020 and 46% in F2019 when overhead costs were reported from the charity’s T3010 filing.  For every dollar donated, 84 cents go to the cause, which is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. However, in F2020 only 54 cents went to the cause, which is not within Ci's reasonable range.

TELUS Spark has $2.8m in funding reserves. The charity could cover 41% or just under five months of its annual program costs with reserves.

This report is an update that has been sent to Calgary Science Centre Society for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated July 19, 2022, by Sydney Olexa.

Financial Review


Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending December
202120202019
Administrative costs as % of revenues 6.5%10.2%8.0%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 9.7%35.7%38.5%
Total overhead spending 16.3%45.9%46.4%
Program cost coverage (%) 41.1%55.0%50.3%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $000s
202120202019
Donations 1,2201,060884
Government funding 8,1357,6905,322
Fees for service 2,2152,2575,272
Business activities (net) 6473821,884
Other income 3167130
Total revenues 12,24711,45713,492
Program costs 6,7816,7128,831
Administrative costs 8001,1651,076
Fundraising costs 119379340
Total spending 7,7008,25510,247
Cash flow from operations 4,5483,2013,245
Capital spending 6,646541211
Funding reserves 2,7883,6934,440

Note: Ci reported F2020 and F2019 administrative and fundraising costs from the charity’s T3010 filings with the CRA. Ci reported revenue from business activities net of expenses. This reduced revenues and expenses by $700k in F2021, $653k in F2020, and $1.7m in F2019.

Salary Information

Full-time staff: 97

Avg. compensation: $51,529

Top 10 staff salary range:

$350k +
0
$300k - $350k
0
$250k - $300k
0
$200k - $250k
1
$160k - $200k
2
$120k - $160k
4
$80k - $120k
3
$40k - $80k
0
< $40k
0

Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2020

My anchor

Comments & Contact

Comments added by the Charity:

No comments have been added by the charity.

Charity Contact

Website: www.sparkscience.ca
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 403.817.6800

Print  
Image

Charity Intelligence researches Canadian charities for donors to be informed and give intelligently. Our website posts free reports on more than 800 Canadian charities, as well as in-depth primers on philanthropic sectors like Canada’s environment, cancer, and homelessness. Today over 500,000 Canadians use our website as a go-to source for information on Canadian charities reading over 1.6 million charity reports. Through rigorous and independent research, Charity Intelligence aims to assist Canada’s dynamic charitable sector in being more transparent, accountable and focused on results.

 

Be Informed. Give Intelligently. Have Impact

 

Charitable Registration Number: 80340 7956 RR0001