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120 The East Mall
Etobicoke, ON M8Z 5V5
CEO: Lori Nikkel
Board Chair: Jeff Hauswirth

 Charitable Reg. #:13386 5477 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.

74%

CENTS TO THE CAUSE

For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 74 cents are available for programs.



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OVERVIEW

About Second Harvest:

Second Harvest is a five-star financially transparent charity with a Good demonstrated impact score. It has an A+ results reporting grade, which is excellent. For every dollar donated to the charity, 74 cents are available to go to the cause.

Founded in 1985, Second Harvest rescues and redistributes food to non-profit organizations, individual food bank programs, and directly to communities in need across all Canadian provinces and territories. According to the charity, food banks across Canada expect an 18% demand increase (one million new users) in 2024. 36% of food banks also report having a waitlist of people unable to access their services, with this waitlist expected to increase in 2024. In F2023, Second Harvest rescued food from over 7,500 Canadian donors and distributed it to over 4,400 food banks and 861 communities across Canada. The charity’s main program is its food recovery and distribution network. The charity spent $9.6m cash on this program in the fiscal year ending August 2023 (F2023).

A Charity Intelligence 2024 Top 100 Rated Charity.

Food recovery and distribution was the charity’s main program. In F2023, Second Harvest delivered 74.4m lb of food worth $269m to 861 communities and 4,400 food banks. This is an increase compared to 53.3m lb of food distributed to 3,700 food banks in F2022. The charity supported 4.8m unique clients and provided 205,000 meals worth of food in F2023.

The charity reported that 64% of its distributed food was either fruits and vegetables (fresh produce), dairy products, or meat products. Second Harvest reported the following breakdown of distributed food in F2023: fresh produce (42%), dairy (13%), grains (11%), meat (9%), baked foods (9%), prepared foods (8%), juice (5%), condiments (3%), and baby formula (0.2%). The charity also reported food deliveries to each province and territory. The top three are 48% in Ontario, 13% in Alberta, and 10% in Quebec.

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Results and Impact

In F2023, Second Harvest distributed 74.4m lb of food to 4.8m unique clients, meaning each client received an average of 15.5 lb of food during the year. Boston Consulting Group and the Pecaut Centre for Social Impact completed a social impact analysis of the charity in F2023, calculating a 5:45:1 social return on investment value. This means that every dollar donated to Second Harvest provided $5.45 worth of social, environmental, and economic benefits. The charity also reported averting 241m lb of greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere.

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

Charity Intelligence has given Second Harvest a Good impact rating based on its demonstrated impact per dollar spent.

Impact Rating: Good

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Finances

In F2023, Second Harvest received $14.3m in cash and $269m worth of donated food, a 13% and 46% respective increase from F2022. Administrative costs are 1% of revenues and fundraising costs are 25% of cash donations, resulting in 26% total overhead spending. This is within Ci’s reasonable range and means that for every dollar donated, 74 cents are available to go to the cause.

In F2023, the charity spent $9.6m on its programs which is 66% of its revenues excluding donated food and investment income.

At the end of F2023, Second Harvest had $16.6m in reserve funds (cash and investments) which covers 174% or slightly under 21 months of its annual program spending.

Profile updated June 12, 2024 by Julian Dranitsaris. Comments and corrections may be forthcoming.

Financial Review


Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending August 		202320222021
Administrative costs as % of revenues 0.7%1.1%1.4%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 25.1%28.6%39.5%
Total overhead spending 25.8%29.7%40.9%
Program cost coverage (%) 173.5%42.0%63.2%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $000s 		202320222021
Donations 12,76811,0844,101
Goods in kind 268,851184,71497,925
Government funding 032,94310,001
Business activities (net) 0035
Special events 1,4921,5661,242
Investment income 593137230
Other income 2281,2484,568
Total revenues 283,932231,692118,103
Program costs 9,55138,17128,494
Grants 000
Donated goods exp 268,851184,71497,926
Administrative costs 2,0332,5251,679
Fundraising costs 3,5763,6212,108
Total spending 284,010229,031130,206
Cash flow from operations (78)2,661(12,103)
Capital spending 3844,1334,600
Funding reserves 16,57216,03018,011

Note: 1. NON-GOVERNMENT DEFERRED ADJUSTMENT: Second Harvest uses deferred accounting. To show donors this information on a consistent basis, Ci adjusted donations for changes in non-government deferred contributions. This affected revenues by ($238k), ($156k), and ($11.9m) in F2023, F2022, and F2021 respectively. 2. GOVERNMENT DEFERRED ADJUSTMENT: Ci also adjusted revenues by changes in deferred government funding. This affects revenues by ($1.1m), $822k, and ($10.5m) in F2023, F2022, and F2021 respectively. 3. DEFERRED CAPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS: Ci also removed amortization of deferred capital contributions from revenue. This affected revenues by ($1.2m), ($879k), and ($664k) in F2023, F2022, and F2021 respectively. 4. CAPITAL ASSET CONTRIBUTIONS: Ci also added contributions from deferred capital assets. This affected revenues by $228k, $1.2m, and $4.6m in F2023, F2022, and F2021 respectively.

Salary Information

Full-time staff: 112

Avg. compensation: $65,057

Top 10 staff salary range:

$350k +
0
$300k - $350k
1
$250k - $300k
0
$200k - $250k
2
$160k - $200k
0
$120k - $160k
2
$80k - $120k
5
$40k - $80k
0
< $40k
0

Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2023

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Comments & Contact

Comments added by the Charity:

Second Harvest provided the following update and comments on August 1, 2024:

Ongoing Food Rescue Operations 

  • In F2023, Second Harvest rescued and redistributed 74.4 million pounds of food to more than 4,400 non-profits in Canada. This is a 40% increase from the 53.3 million pounds of food rescued and redistributed in F2022.
  • The food was 42% produce, 9% meat & alternatives, 13% dairy & dairy alternatives, 9% baked goods and snacks, 11% bread and grains, 5% water and beverages, 8% prepared foods, and 3% condiments.  
  • 87% of rescued and redistributed food was perishable.
  • 64% of rescued and redistributed food is classified as nutrient-dense.
  • In F2023, we rescued food with the assistance of more than 7,500 food donors

Feeding Our Future (FOF) 

  • In F2023, Second Harvest provided more than 29,100 healthy meal for 2,351 children and youth at 22 camp programs in Toronto. 
  • This program was supported by 270 volunteers, which donated 958 hours of work. 

Harvest Kitchens 

  • In F2023, through the Harvest Kitchens program, Second Harvest supported 65 non-profits with 354,700 meals in Toronto.

Environmental Impact 

  • Second Harvest averted an estimated 241 million pounds of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere in F2023. 
  • An estimated 48.9 billion litres of water were prevented from going to waste through Second Harvest’s work. 

Training & Education Initiatives 

  • In F2023, Second Harvest reached more than 7,500 individuals and 849 non-profits through Training and Education Initiatives, including 1,458 children and youth. 

Hungry for Change

  • In December 2023, Second Harvest surveyed more than 1,400 non-profit organizations with charitable food programs across Canada to examine the anticipated need for food charity in Canada in 2024. In January 2024, Second Harvest published findings from this survey, finding that these charities anticipated an increase of 18% in additional demand, translating to more than one million people accessing food charity for the very first time in 2024.

 

Charity Contact

Website: www.secondharvest.ca
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 416-408-2594
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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.

 

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Charitable Registration Number: 80340 7956 RR0001

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