99 Yorkville Ave, Suite 200
Toronto, ON M5R 1C1
Executive Director: Amanda King
Board Chair: Meghan Nicholls

Charitable Reg. #:88526 0968 RR0001

STAR RATING

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

[Charity Rating: 5/5]

✔+

FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY

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

A+

RESULTS REPORTING

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

Good

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.

99%

CENTS TO THE CAUSE

For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 99 cents are available for programs.



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OVERVIEW

About Feed Ontario:

Feed Ontario (Ontario Association of Food Banks) is a top-rated, 5-star charity. It has Good demonstrated impact, full financial transparency, and excellent results reporting. 

Founded in 1992, Feed Ontario (previously called Ontario Association of Food Banks) distributes food and unites local food banks to end hunger and poverty. Feed Ontario has a network of 134 direct member food banks and supports 1,200 hunger-relief organizations across Ontario. The charity reports that 592,303 people accessed Ontario’s food bank network in F2021, resulting in 3.7 million food bank visits. 

A Charity Intelligence 2022 Top 10 Canadian Food Bank

Feed Ontario focuses on three main areas: food collection and distribution, innovative programming for people facing hunger, and research and advocacy about food insecurity and poverty. The charity allocated most of its program spending to food distribution and covid-19 relief in F2021. The charity does not provide a breakdown of spending on its programs.

According to its audited financial statements, Feed Ontario spent $31.4m on covid-19 relief programs in F2021; this included $17.0m in disbursements to member food banks, with the remainder going to transportation, food purchases, and emergency food boxes. The charity reports that there was a 26% increase in the number of people and families who accessed a food bank for the first time during the first three months of the pandemic. In F2021, Feed Ontario distributed 20.3 million pounds of food and 452,920 emergency food boxes through its covid-19 food programs.

Through its food collection and distribution programs, Feed Ontario provides food banks with fresh food and pantry staples. Feed Ontario has food partnerships with local farmers, who provide food for the charity’s poultry, milk, beef, pork, egg, and turkey programs. In F2021, the charity distributed 2.4 million litres of milk, 2.1 million servings of poultry, 1.4m servings of eggs, 148,364 servings of pork, 107,582 servings of beef, and 35,952 servings of turkey.

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Results and Impact

In F2021, Feed Ontario provided 29.7 million pounds of food (the equivalent of 24 million meals) to people in need. In F2021, Feed Ontario diverted 265,202 pounds of food from going to the landfill.

While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Feed Ontario’s results and impact.

Charity Intelligence has rated Feed Ontario as Good impact based on demonstrated social impact per dollar spent.

A Charity Intelligence 2022 Top 10 Canadian Food Bank

Impact Rating: Good

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Finances

Feed Ontario had total cash donations of $7.0m and donated goods in kind of $41.7m in F2021. From F2020 to F2021, Feed Ontario’s cash donations increased by 549% and in-kind contributions increased by 207%. The covid-19 pandemic likely drove this spike in donations. It is important to note that the charity’s total expenses increased proportionally to the increase in revenues, suggesting that the charity was able to absorb and use the excess money it received.

Feed Ontario’s administrative costs are less than 1% of revenues (less investment income), and its fundraising costs are less than 1% of cash donations. This results in total overhead spending of 1%. For every dollar donated, 99 cents go to the cause. This is outside Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending, which is between 65 and 95 cents. In some cases, charities with less than 5% overhead costs may be underreporting their overhead spending. 

The charity has total funding reserves of $7.1m. Excluding the cost of donated goods, Feed Ontario could cover 21% or almost three months of its annual program costs with reserves. The charity’s program cost coverage spiked in F2020, due to an $8.1m covid-19 emergency relief grant from the government that was not spent before its year-end and held in cash.

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

Updated July 4, 2022, by Sydney Olexa.  

Financial Review


Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending March
202120202019
Administrative costs as % of revenues 0.3%1.0%1.9%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 0.6%2.0%2.0%
Total overhead spending 0.9%3.0%3.8%
Program cost coverage (%) 20.9%577.1%49.9%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $000s
202120202019
Donations 7,0201,0811,231
Goods in kind 41,69013,59112,833
Government funding 26,816223152
Fees for service 432455648
Investment income 21109
Total revenues 75,97915,36114,873
Program costs 14,5221,2971,373
Grants 19,408254365
Donated goods exp 41,69013,59112,833
Administrative costs 241156281
Fundraising costs 402224
Total spending 75,90115,32014,876
Cash flow from operations 7841(4)
Capital spending 170010
Funding reserves 7,0978,950867

Note: Ci reported administrative costs from the charity’s T3010 filing with the CRA. Ci backed out amortization from program, administrative, and fundraising costs on a pro-rata basis. Ci excluded loss on write-down of capital assets, affecting revenues by ($nil) in F2021, ($nil) in F2020, and $7k in F2019.

Salary Information

Full-time staff: 9

Avg. compensation: $61,840

Top 10 staff salary range:

$350k +
0
$300k - $350k
0
$250k - $300k
0
$200k - $250k
0
$160k - $200k
0
$120k - $160k
0
$80k - $120k
1
$40k - $80k
8
< $40k
0

Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2021

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Comments & Contact

Comments added by the Charity:

The following comment was added to a previous profile update. A comment for the 2022 profile update may be forthcoming. 

From securing fresh and healthy food sources, to driving change through policy research and innovative programming, Feed Ontario unites food banks, industry partners, and local communities in our work to end hunger and poverty. 

Join us as we Feed Ontario and help build a healthier province. Every $1 raised provides 3 meals to an Ontarian in need.

 How we feed Ontario:

FeedON

Our FeedON network provides adults, children, and seniors with nutritious food throughout the year, including: dairy, protein, and produce. Through the support of our partners, we distribute the equivalent of 4.5 million meals annually.

 

Feed Possibility

We Feed Possibility by providing food banks with resources to grow their capacity to distribute fresh food, to collaborate and develop best practices that drive change, and to invest
in innovative programming for people facing hunger in their communities.

 

Feed Change

We Feed Change by researching the root-causes of food insecurity, raising awareness of hunger in our province, and advocating on behalf of evidence-based solutions. It is only through our collective action that we will end hunger and poverty in Ontario.

Charity Contact

Website: feedontario.ca
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 416-656-4100

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Charitable Registration Number: 80340 7956 RR0001