595 Parkside Drive, Suite 2
Waterloo, ON N2L 0C7
President & CEO: Dr. Dorothy Nyambi
Board Chair: Jenny Shantz

Charitable Reg. #:10769 1057 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.

Fair

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.

89%

CENTS TO THE CAUSE

For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 89 cents are available for programs.



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OVERVIEW

About MEDA:

Founded in 1953, Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) is a global Christian development organization that aims to reduce poverty by boosting local economies, investing in low-income entrepreneurs, and helping small businesses receive training and financial services. It describes its approach as creating “business solutions” to poverty. MEDA’s vision is to give all people the ability to provide for their families and improve their communities. In F2020, MEDA supported 23 projects in 58 countries across Africa, Asia, Central America, and Europe.

MEDA groups its projects into five main program areas: Impact Investment, Market Systems, Environment and Climate Change, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, and Inclusive Financial Services. It does not provide a spending breakdown for its programs.

MEDA partners with people living in poverty around the world to help start their own businesses or grow their ventures through loans and impact investing. In F2020, MEDA reports that it helped 196,270 clients directly, such as entrepreneurs, small businesses, partner agencies, and women’s and farming cooperatives. It states that its services also helped 1,705,957 people indirectly, such as household members and workers employed by small businesses. In Kenya and Rwanda, MEDA provided a US$1 million loan to BPI East Africa LLC to invest in local women entrepreneurs. In F2020, MEDA also funded projects that provided 8,355 clients in Kenya with green technology to help run their businesses more efficiently. In Tanzania, MEDA’s partners installed solar panels capable of producing more than 261,400 watts of energy.

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Results and Impact

Between 2011 and 2014, MEDA funded the Women Empowerment Through Livestock Development (WELD) project in Pakistan. WELD trained women farmers and entrepreneurs in livestock and dairy production, with the goal of increasing incomes for 75,000 women. In 2020, MEDA surveyed 346 clients to measure outcomes of the WELD program. It found that 80% of dairy farmers and 89% of entrepreneurs reported higher incomes in the five years after receiving training. On average, clients reported a six-fold increase in farming income and a 20-fold increase in entrepreneurial income.

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

Charity Intelligence has rated Mennonite Economic Development Associates as Fair impact based on demonstrated impact per dollar spent.

Impact Rating: Fair

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Finances

Mennonite Economic Development Associates reports its Canadian audited financial statements in US dollars, and consolidates its Canadian, US, and European operations. Ci has therefore presented consolidated figures below in USD.

MEDA received $2.8m USD, or roughly $3.5m CAD, in Canadian donations in F2020. It also received $7.7m USD in international contributions (22% of revenues) and $22.9m USD in Canadian government funding (66% of revenues). MEDA’s financial statements do not report separate administrative and fundraising costs. Combined overhead costs are 11% of revenues. For every dollar donated to the charity, 89 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

MEDA has net funding reserves of $12.5m USD. Using its existing reserves, the charity can cover around 41% or less than five months of annual program costs.

MEDA’s audited financial statements disclose Sarona Asset Management, a private investment firm in Waterloo, Ontario, as a related party. MEDA holds a 10% ownership in Sarona Asset Management and paid it $476k in management fees during the year.

Charity Intelligence has sent this update to Mennonite Economic Development Associates for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated June 18, 2021 by Eric Zhao.

Financial Review


Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending June
202020192018
Fundraising & admin costs as % of revenues 11.1%10.1%11.6%
Total overhead spending 11.1%10.1%11.6%
Program cost coverage (%) 41.4%43.8%54.1%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $000s
202020192018
Donations 2,8273,3843,363
International donations 7,67412,9769,503
Government funding 22,89022,80919,822
Business activities (net) 179202213
Other income 260110323
Total revenues 33,83139,48133,225
Program costs - International 29,43330,37325,218
Program costs - Canada 837695890
Fundraising & administrative costs 3,7463,9983,864
Other costs 626321293
Total spending 34,64335,38730,264
Cash flow from operations (812)4,0942,961
Capital spending 117799830
Funding reserves 12,52713,61714,125

Note: MEDA’s financial analysis is reported in US dollars. Ci included contributions, grants, contracts, and consulting fees received by MEDA US and MEDA Europa in international donations, and adjusted the amounts by intercompany eliminations. MEDA’s financial statements do not disclose government funding separately from general grant funding. As such, Ci reported all grants, contracts, and fees received by MEDA Canada in government funding. Since social impact investing is a core program of MEDA, Ci included realized investment income in international programs rather than revenues, along with unrealized losses. This affected revenues and expenses by ($592k) in F2020, ($388k) in F2019, and ($348k) in F2018. According to its financial notes, MEDA allocated all of its support and management costs to either programs or fundraising. Ci removed support costs allocated to programs and reported them in combined overhead costs. Ci reported interest costs in other expenses rather than overhead costs. Ci removed amortization from overhead costs.

Salary Information

Full-time staff: 63

Avg. compensation: $117,171

Top 10 staff salary range:

$350k +
0
$300k - $350k
0
$250k - $300k
0
$200k - $250k
0
$160k - $200k
6
$120k - $160k
2
$80k - $120k
2
$40k - $80k
0
< $40k
0

Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2020

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Comments & Contact

Comments added by the Charity:

No comments have been added by the charity.

Charity Contact

Website: www.meda.org
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 1-800-665-7026

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Charitable Registration Number: 80340 7956 RR0001