Terry Fox Foundation

150-8960 University High Street
Burnaby, BC V5A 4Y6
Executive Director: Michael Mazza
Board Chair: Bill Pristanski

Charitable Reg. #:10809 9979 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.

65%

CENTS TO THE CAUSE

For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 65 cents are available for programs.



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OVERVIEW

About Terry Fox Foundation:

Terry Fox Foundation is an average 3-star Canadian charity. It reduced its cancer research in 2021, which may be covid related, resulting in large funding reserves covering more than 5 years of cancer program spending. The charity is financially transparent and has an average grade in results reporting. 

Founded in 1988, Terry Fox Foundation (TFF) raises funds and awareness for cancer research. The charity was founded to honour the legacy of Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope. Terry Fox was diagnosed with bone cancer in 1977 and ran 5,373 km across Canada to raise awareness and money for cancer research. He died in 1981 after cancer spread to his lungs. TFF’s mission is to realize Terry Fox’s vision of a cancer-free world by funding cancer research. 

Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI) is a research funding organization closely related to Terry Fox Foundation. Founded in 2007, it receives and redistributes almost all TFF’s grant spending. TFRI funds translational research, which is research that translates lab discoveries into new treatments and technologies. TFRI also supports research on causes, treatments, and technologies related to various cancers. 

Terry Fox Foundation and TFRI distributed $14.2m in cash grants for cancer research in F2021. $2.2m of this was spent by TFF on international programs and grants. The remainder was distributed in research grants by TFRI. 

TFRI funded 44 research projects at 94 institutions across Canada. TFRI uses an international panel of experts to allocate funds and claims to only fund the top 5% of Canadian researchers and their science. The charity funded 385 researchers in F2021.

TFRI is also co-funding a new cancer research network called the Digital Health and Discovery Platform (DHDP). The research network is a central data platform for hospitals, researchers, and industry partners to share knowledge and resources. The project aims to make precision medicine and personalized clinical care available to all Canadians through artificial intelligence. The Terry Fox Foundation spent $904k on the project in F2021.

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Results and Impact

TFRI funds and reports on many promising cancer research projects every year. 

In 2020, the Province of BC announced establishing a lung cancer screening program, the first of its kind in Canada. Evidence for the program was provided, in part, by research funded through TFRI. The charity states that early detection is key to improving outcomes for lung cancer patients.

A clinical trial partially funded by the TFRI in 2020 revealed a more effective way to treat metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The trial found that administering abiraterone before enzalutamide (rather than the other way around) delayed cancer progression by an average of four months.

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

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Finances

In the following financial analysis, Ci consolidated Terry Fox Foundation with Terry Fox Research Institute.

Terry Fox Foundation received $18.4m in Canadian donations and $677k in international donations in F2021. Administrative costs are 16% of revenues, and fundraising costs are 19% of donations. This results in a total overhead cost of 35%. For every dollar donated, 65 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

TFF has total funding reserves of $89.8m, which can cover 5.8 years of annual program costs or 3.7 years based on average program costs over the past three years. These funding reserves cover TFF’s multi-year research grant commitments. TFF reports grant commitments of $46.3m over the next six years (F2022 to F2027), of which $1.5m is for international research organizations and $44.8m is for TFRI. Notably, TFRI’s audited financial statements report grant commitments of $45.3m over the same period, $44.8m of which is listed as supported by TFF.

TFF holds $63.3m in investments, of which 65% is held in bonds, 35% is in Canadian and foreign equities, and 1% is in term deposits and GICs. With a total investment income of $8.9m, TFF earned a 14% return in F2021 compared to a -1% return in F2020.

In addition to reported salary information, TFRI spent $936k and TFF spent $912k on professional and consulting fees. Compensation figures for staff do not include these consulting fees. 

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

Updated on June 10, 2022 by Ann Lei.

Financial Review


Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending March
202120202019
Administrative costs as % of revenues 16.2%14.8%12.1%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 18.7%18.0%20.1%
Total overhead spending 34.8%32.8%32.2%
Program cost coverage (%) 585.2%277.4%263.1%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $000s
202120202019
Donations 18,36424,84623,315
International donations 6771,3061,463
Government funding 1,8737144
Business activities (net) 377276128
Investment income 8,569(809)3,393
Other income 381710
Total revenues 29,89925,70728,352
Program costs - International 2,1561,7791,318
Program costs - Canada 13,18222,60426,872
Administrative costs 3,4473,9223,016
Fundraising costs 3,4294,4694,682
Total spending 22,21432,77535,888
Cash flow from operations 7,685(7,067)(7,536)
Capital spending 1575216
Funding reserves 89,75567,65074,171

Note: Transfers between TFF and TFRI of $13.6m in F2021, $23.8m in F2020, and $28.1m in F2019 were excluded from revenue. Sale of merchandise is reported net of costs in business activities, reducing revenues and expenses by $511k in F2021, $675k in F2020, and $613k in F2019. Investment income is reported net of investment management fees reducing revenue and expenses by $320k in F2021, $307k in F2020, and $341k in F2019. Amortization of capital assets is backed out of administrative and fundraising costs on a pro-rata basis.

Salary Information

Full-time staff: 49

Avg. compensation: $64,749

Top 10 staff salary range:

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

Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2021

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Comments & Contact

Comments added by the Charity:

No comments have been added by the charity.

Charity Contact

Website: www.terryfox.org
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 1-604-200-0541

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Charitable Registration Number: 80340 7956 RR0001