13351 Commerce Parkway
Richmond, BC V6V 2X7
Executive Director: Wendy Toyer
Board President: Elizabeth Legge

Charitable Reg. #:10670 8985 RR0001

STAR RATING

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

[Charity Rating: 3/5]

✔+

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.

88%

CENTS TO THE CAUSE

For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 88 cents are available for programs.



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OVERVIEW

About ALS BC:

ALS BC is a 3-star charity. It is financially transparent and has overhead costs within Ci's reasonable range and above-average results reporting.

Founded in 1981, the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Society of British Columbia (ALS BC) aims to support people affected by ALS and their families to ensure they have the best quality of life. ALS BC is one of eight independent charities that belong to the ALS Societies across Canada. The charity states that roughly 3,000 Canadians over 18 are currently living with ALS. The disease slowly paralyzes people by preventing the brain from communicating with muscles. Over time, people with ALS will lose the ability to walk, talk, eat, swallow, and breathe. Each day, two to three people in Canada die of ALS. In F2022, ALS BC helped 572 people with ALS along with their families and caregivers. The charity has three main programs: Patient Services, Research, and Outreach and Public Awareness. Its head office is in Richmond, BC.

Patient Services is ALS BC’s largest program. This program contains six subprograms: equipment loans, support groups, psychological treatment services, mobile clinics, Day of Caring for caregivers, and Camp Alohi Lani. For equipment loan, in F2022, the charity delivered 1,690 pieces of equipment to ALS patients. The charity purchased lower-cost patient equipment instead of loaning to avoid expensive delivery charges. In F2022, 96 support group meetings were held virtually for people affected by ALS. Furthermore, ALS BC provides free psychological support counseling to ALS patients, their families and caregivers. In F2022, the program supported 35 families with 240 sessions. ALS BC’s mobile clinics provide virtual treatments to patients who have travel concerns. In F2022, two Mobile Clinics took place in Chilliwack and Nanaimo. Additionally, the charity organized five Caregiver Days in Kelowna, Nanaimo, Prince George, Surrey, and Victoria in F2022. Lastly, ALS BC runs camp Alohi Lani for youth who have a parent or grandparents living with ALS to allow them to meet others in similar circumstances.

Research program funds ALS research studies. In F2020, ALS BC launched ALS BC PROJECT HOPE, a research endowment fund aimed to provide access to ALS clinical trials in BC through a partnership with the University of British Columbia. The charity did not grant any research funding in F2022. In F2021, it granted $5.3m to ALS BC PROJECT HOPE for research. It aims to raise $20.0m to support PROJECT HOPE in three years (until 2025) or sooner.

Outreach and Public Awareness program maintains four websites and five social media platforms and posts newsletters, articles and radio campaigns to promote ALS BC’s fundraising events and inform people about the disease. ALS BC connects with its audience through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, LinkedIn, and email. For their multimedia campaign, each of their posts reached an audience from 136,000 to over two million.

Recent news: In 2022, the ALS Society of BC joined the International Alliance of ALS/MND Associations. The International Alliance is a global gateway for information about ALS. People living with ALS in BC can access worldwide knowledge of clinical trials and potential treatments through webinars and publications.

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Results and Impact

In F2022, ALS BC published three Believe BC ALS articles in the Vancouver Sun and The Province newspapers and on the Postmedia virtual platform. These articles had approximately 51,000 impressions each, with an engagement rate of 7.23%. The charity did not report outcomes for Patient Services and Research programs.

While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of ALS BC's results and impact. This charity is not yet rated on impact (n/r).  

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Finances

ALS BC had donations and special event revenues of $4.0m in F2022. Administrative costs are 5% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 7% of donations and special events. This results in total overhead spending of 12%. For every dollar donated, 88 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

ALS BC has $9.4m in reserve funds, of which $2.5m is donor endowed. Excluding donor-endowed funds, the charity could cover 688% or 6.9 years of annual program costs with current reserves.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Society of British Columbia for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming. 

Updated on May 30, 2023 by Krystie Nguyen.

 

Financial Review


Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending December
202220212020
Administrative costs as % of revenues 5.3%3.1%4.2%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 7.0%6.3%2.9%
Total overhead spending 12.3%9.4%7.1%
Program cost coverage (%) 687.9%57.4%571.0%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $000s
202220212020
Donations 3,1512,9273,357
Goods in kind 71529
Government funding 2,2765,5142,384
Fees for service 000
Special events 9061,121751
Investment income (119)339261
Total revenues 6,2229,9156,781
Program costs 1,1291,189868
Grants 05,480203
Administrative costs 336301272
Fundraising costs 286254120
Total spending 1,7507,2241,462
Cash flow from operations 4,4722,6915,319
Capital spending 256256119
Funding reserves 9,4155,9217,456

Note: Ci reported endowment fund contributions, increasing donations by $672k in F2022, $63k in F2021, and $45k in F2020. Ci adjusted deferred revenue, affecting revenues by $694k in F2022, ($3.0m) in F2021, and $211k in F2020. Ci adjusted deferred capital contribution, affecting revenues by $280k in F2022, $264k in F2021, and $378k in F2020. Ci removed amortization from program, administrative, and fundraising costs pro-rata. Ci included deferred government funding, increasing revenues by $2.0m in F2022, $2.0m in F2021, and $1.0m in F2020. ALS BC does not report government funding on its audited financial statements. Ci reported Government funding from the charity's T310 filing with the CRA. The CRA report of ALS BC in F2022 is not yet available. Ci will update Government funding in revenues for F2022 when the statement is posted.

Salary Information

Full-time staff: 10

Avg. compensation: $64,244

Top 10 staff salary range:

$350k +
0
$300k - $350k
0
$250k - $300k
0
$200k - $250k
0
$160k - $200k
0
$120k - $160k
1
$80k - $120k
0
$40k - $80k
9
< $40k
0

Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2021

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Comments & Contact

Comments added by the Charity:

ALS Society of BC added these comments to the 2021 profile update:

ALS SOCIETY OF BC PROJECT HOPE

In May 2021, the ALS Society of BC had raised $5.3 million for the ALS Society of BC PROJECT HOPE through the provincial government's grants; fundraising activities, individual donations from patients, their families, and donors; surplus from the previous year and ALS Adventure Challenge Endowed Fund.

The ALS Society of BC Project Hope will establish an ALS research professorship in collaboration with the University of British Columbia (UBC).  This new, permanent ALS dedicated clinician/scientist will offer patient care and further improve patient outcomes and research, with the goal of increasing access to clinical trials in British Columbia for local patients.

UBC partners with ALS Society of British to accelerate life-changing research; read more...

Comments for the 2023 profile update may be forthcoming. 

Charity Contact

Website: www.alsbc.ca
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 604-278-2257

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Charitable Registration Number: 80340 7956 RR0001