CODE is a 5-star charity with High Demonstrated Impact. It has an A+ Results Reporting grade, which is well above average. For every dollar donated to the charity, 40 cents are available to go to the cause, which is outside Ci's reasonable range. 

Founded in 1959, CODE (formerly Canadian Organization for Development Through Education) advances education and literacy in poor communities in Africa. CODE’s mission is to enable student learning by increasing access to qualified teachers and locally relevant, high-quality learning materials. The charity reports that 88% of children aged six to 14 in Sub-Saharan Africa do not meet minimum literacy levels. It also reports that a child whose mother is literate is 50% more likely to live past the age of five. In F2024, CODE spent $8.2m on its programs: Literacy (its core program) and Research Initiatives.

A Charity Intelligence 2024 Top 10 International Aid Impact Charity.

A Charity Intelligence 2024 Top 100 Rated Charity.

In F2024, Literacy programs represented 99% of program spending. CODE works with local organizations to distribute culturally relevant books and learning materials to kids. It also provides teachers and librarians with training workshops to improve the quality of education in schools. In F2024, CODE reached a total of 474,964 children through literacy programs and trained 12,805 teachers. The charity also distributed 391,827 locally authored children’s books and worked with 1,834 schools.

The Research Initiatives program represented the remaining 1% of program spending. This program gives $10k grants to researchers from Africa to conduct studies on literacy in their own countries. From Ci's calculation of program spending, CODE gave out 12 grants in F2024.

Charity Intelligence consolidated CODE and CODE Foundation's financial statements. 

CODE received $2.7m in donations in F2024 and $5.5m in government funding, representing 50% of revenue. The charity also received $2.6m in investment income.

CODE spent $8.2m on its programs, which is 75% of revenue. The charity recorded a deficit of $497k in F2024.

CODE spent $860k on fundraising, which is 32% of donations, and spent $2.4m on administrative costs, which is 29% of revenue (excluding investment income). Total overhead spending is 60%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 40 cents are available to go to the cause. This is outside Ci’s reasonable range.

CODE has $22.0m in reserve funds (cash and investments). the charity's reserves can cover 269%, or 2 years and 8 months of its annual program costs. This is within Ci’s reasonable range. Ci did not remove externally endowed funds as the funds were endowed by a related party (CODE Incorporated).

CODE uses external fundraisers. In F2024, CODE paid fundraisers $338k to collect $276k. It costs $1.22 to raise a dollar via external fundraisers. It is likely more cost efficient to donate directly to the charity than through external fundraisers.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to CODE for review.

Updated on May 15, 2025 by Liam Chapleau.