Canadian Feed The Children
STAR RATINGCi's Star Rating is calculated based on the following independent metrics: |
✔+
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.
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.
71%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 71 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Canadian Feed The Children:
Canadian Feed the Children is a 5-star charity. It is financially transparent and has reasonable overhead costs. It also has an average results reporting grade of B. Charity Intelligence has given it a rating of Good for its demonstrated impact per dollar spent.
Founded in 1986, Canadian Feed the Children (CFTC) works to help end poverty through sustainable development work. It aims to improve food security, provide education, and create strong and sustainable development. CFTC works in Canada, Bolivia, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Uganda.
Canadian Feed the Children is categorized as an international development charity. Yet since 2019, its Canadian programs receive significantly more program money than its international programs.
At the time of this report, CFTC’s 2022 annual report is not yet available. Results below refer to 2021.
Canadian Programs – 70% of program and grant spending in 2021 ($3.4m). In Canada, CFTC works with 31 Indigenous communities to improve access to nutritious food and create food security. In 2021, these programs supported 14,347 people. CFTC provided 869,975 meals. Of these meals, 54,124 meals were distributed to 1,971 households as part of its covid-19 relief program. CFTC funded 520 gardens and one greenhouse in 2021. The gardens produced 1,152 kg of fresh produce. As part of its Canadian spending, CFTC granted $783k in 2021. Of this, its largest grant was $152k to Elsipogtog First Nation in New Brunswick.
International Programs – 30% of program and grant spending in 2021 ($1.4m). Internationally, CFTC uses a child sponsorship model. For $33 a month, donors can sponsor a child in Bolivia, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Uganda. With these funds, CFTC provides meals to kids in school, improves school facilities, and trains teachers. It also teaches parents how to grow more food, improve their skills, and earn an income through small businesses. In 2021, CFTC distributed 1,277,256 meals in these countries. It supported 133,045 people in 80 communities. 20,182 children benefited from education programs in these countries. 19,259 people benefitted from CFTC’s livelihood programs.
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Results and Impact
Canadian Feed the Children completed a 6-year food security project in Ghana in 2018. It reports reducing the hunger gap (the time between harvests when food and income is scarce) from five months down to zero. It reports that after its program, the farmers’ maize yields had more than doubled. The program's male farmers saw a 3x increase in groundnut yields, and the female farmers saw a a 5x increase. The economic development part of the program also helped farmers increase income from side businesses such as soap making and basket weaving.
CFTC reports that with its help, farmers in Ethiopia and Ghana increased their farm productivity up to 83% in 2019. It also reports that in Bolivia, 78% of participants in a vegetable production and marketing training program increased their income by 35%.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Canadian Feed the Children’s results and impact.
Charity Intelligence gave Canadian Feed the Children an impact rating of Good for demonstrated social impact per dollar spent.
Impact Rating: Good

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Finances
In 2022, CFTC received $7.5m in donations. Fundraising costs were 18% of donations and administrative costs were 11% of revenues (less investment income). Total overhead costs are 29%. For each dollar donated, 71 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.
Reserve funds of $4.6m can cover program and grant costs for just under nine months at the 2022 level.
According to its T3010 filing with the CRA, in 2022 Canadian Feed the Children paid external fundraisers $250k to raise $102k for a total cost of $0.41 per dollar raised.
This charity report is an update that has been sent to Canadian Feed the Children for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated on August 25, 2023 by Emily Downing.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending December
|
2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
---|---|---|---|
Administrative costs as % of revenues | 11.5% | 9.7% | 12.0% |
Fundraising costs as % of donations | 17.7% | 17.3% | 22.0% |
Total overhead spending | 29.2% | 27.0% | 34.0% |
Program cost coverage (%) | 71.5% | 113.8% | 106.4% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
---|---|---|---|
Donations | 7,500 | 8,782 | 7,473 |
Government funding | 500 | 0 | 20 |
Investment income | (1) | 105 | 101 |
Other income | 40 | 84 | 178 |
Total revenues | 8,038 | 8,971 | 7,773 |
Program costs - International | 2,045 | 1,463 | 1,351 |
Program costs - Canada | 3,732 | 2,604 | 2,036 |
Grants | 696 | 783 | 542 |
Administrative costs | 924 | 860 | 923 |
Fundraising costs | 1,327 | 1,515 | 1,645 |
Total spending | 8,723 | 7,226 | 6,498 |
Cash flow from operations | (685) | 1,745 | 1,275 |
Capital spending | 202 | 37 | 175 |
Funding reserves | 4,625 | 5,523 | 4,180 |
Note: Canadian Feed the Children's audited financial statements do not disclose government funding separately from donations. Therefore, Charity Intelligence used the government funding from Canadian Feed the Children's T3010 filing with the CRA and backed out the amount from Canadian donations. Similarly, Ci reports international program spending and gifts to qualified donees from the charity’s T3010 filing with the CRA and backed out the amounts of Canadian program spending. Ci adjusted for changes in deferred revenues, affecting total revenue by ($754k) in F2022, $1.1m in F2021, $685k in F2020. Ci removed amortization from program, administrative, and fundraising costs according to Note 5 of the financial statements.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
1 |
$160k - $200k |
1 |
$120k - $160k |
3 |
$80k - $120k |
5 |
$40k - $80k |
0 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2022
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Comments & Contact
Comments added by the Charity:
In 2020, Canadian Feed The Children (CFTC) joined together with families and communities in Bolivia, Canada, Ethiopia, Uganda and Ghana to achieve significant impact for children. In 2019 we provided over 3 million meals to help support children through school and community programs.
We take a community-led approach to development, and work with local partners to help people achieve long-term change for children, families and communities. Our focus is on food security and education as catalysts of change, and capacity-strengthens that ensures sustainability of our programs.
We sincerely thank our supporters and community partners, whose continued support helps create a world where children thrive.
CFTC relies entirely on voluntary donations. To learn more about CFTC and the opportunities to support children and families in Canada, and around the world, please visit canadianfeedthechildren.ca or call 1-800-387-1221. Join us!
Added by Charity Intelligence:
In The News: Canadian donors please note that, thankfully, Canadian Feed The Children does not have any association whatsoever with the US charity Feed the Children. It is not connected with or associated with the US charity that has poor ratings.
Charity Contact
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 416-757-3318