Nellie's
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.
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.
83%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 83 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Nellie's:
Nellie’s is a three-star financially transparency charity with a below-average B- results reporting grade. It has both a reasonable amount of overhead spending and a reasonable reserve fund size. For every dollar donated, 83 cents are available to go to the cause.
Founded in 1973, Nellie’s was created to address the lack of dedicated women’s shelters in Toronto. The charity runs a 38-bed emergency shelter and offers financial support to women facing eviction. It also provides meals, counselling, and other support services. According to the charity, 81,332 women and girls were victims of partner violence in 2022, and 68% of Nellie’s clients are victims of gender-based violence.
Nellie’s runs three programs: Emergency Shelter, Transitional Housing, and Community Services. The charity spent $3.1m on its programs in the fiscal year ending in March 2024 (F2024). The charity did not disclose how much it spent on each of these three programs in its latest annual report nor its audited financial statements at the time of this update.
Emergency Shelter includes housing provided by Nellie’s 38-bed Toronto shelter. According to the charity, women stayed for an average of six months in F2024 and four months in F2023. The charity reportedly housed over 285 women at its shelter in F2024. Nellie’s also ran 60 peer support workshops at its shelter attended by 105 people in F2024.
Transitional Housing includes funding Nellie’s provides to women at-risk of homelessness and eviction, as well as personalized housing plans for those hoping to live independently. In F2024, the charity provided rent subsidies to 146 women.
Community Services include Nellie’s food bank and other community subprograms. In F2024, Nellie’s provided 5,400 food baskets to over 6,240 families. 85 seniors also participated at the charity’s Senior Socialization subprogram in F2024. According to Nellie’s, this subprogram helped elderly clients feel more integrated to their community.
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Results and Impact
In F2024, Nellie’s housed over 285 women fleeing domestic violence. These women stayed an average of six months in F2024.
According to the charity, without rent subsidies, the 146 women who received financial support in F2024 would likely be evicted and fall into homelessness.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not completely represent Nellie’s results and impact.
Charity Intelligence has not yet rated Nellie’s on demonstrated social impact per dollar spent (n/r). This does not affect its star rating.
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Finances
Although Nellie's audited financial statements provide some disclosure on how much it spent on program, administrative, and fundraising activities, it did not break out its staffing costs between these three activities. This means Nellie's follows line-item costing, which is against financial reporting best practices.
During F2024, Nellie’s received $1.4m worth of donations and $2.4m worth of government funding, representing 36% and 61% of total revenue. Administrative costs are 8% of total revenue less investment income and fundraising costs are 9% of donations. This results in 17% total overhead spending and means that for every dollar donated, 83 cents are available to go to the cause.
Nellie’s spent $3.1m on its programs during F2024, a 24% increase from $2.5m spent in F2023. The charity also has a $383k operating surplus in F2024 – a 73% decrease from the $1.4m operating surplus it had in F2023.
At the end of F2024, Nellie’s had $3.1m in net reserve funds (cash and investments) that covers 98% or nearly one year of its annual program spending.
Profile updated by Julian Dranitsaris on March 24, 2025. Comments and corrections may be forthcoming.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending March
|
2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 8.3% | 5.1% | 6.1% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 8.8% | 6.1% | 6.5% |
| Total overhead spending | 17.2% | 11.2% | 12.5% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | 98.3% | 139.4% | 92.9% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $s |
2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 1,432,657 | 1,465,757 | 1,467,901 |
| Government funding | 2,405,353 | 2,653,576 | 2,616,093 |
| Investment income | 106,726 | 109,341 | 45,324 |
| Total revenues | 3,944,736 | 4,228,674 | 4,129,318 |
| Program costs | 3,115,441 | 2,519,472 | 3,384,765 |
| Administrative costs | 319,257 | 211,679 | 246,950 |
| Fundraising costs | 126,694 | 88,775 | 95,087 |
| Total spending | 3,561,392 | 2,819,927 | 3,726,802 |
| Cash flow from operations | 383,344 | 1,408,747 | 402,516 |
| Capital spending | 701,858 | 62,128 | 990,627 |
| Funding reserves | 3,061,923 | 3,510,950 | 3,145,006 |
Note: 1. CHANGES IN DEFERRED GOVERNMENT FUNDING: Nellie’s follows deferred accounting, meaning Ci adjusted revenues and expenses to show donors financial information on a consistent basis. Ci adjusted government funding for changes in deferred government grants, affecting revenue by ($400k), $396k, and ($26k) in F2024, F2023, and F2022, respectively. 2. CHANGES IN DEFERRED CAPITAL CONTRIBUTION: Ci adjusted for changes in deferred government funding used for capital expenditures. This affected revenue by ($379k), ($135k), and ($31k) in F2024, F2023, and F2022, respectively. 3. ADJUSTMENT FOR GST REBATE RECEIVABLE: Ci adjusted government funding for changes accounts receivable related to outstanding GST rebates owed to the charity. This affected revenue by $84k, $40k, and $95k in F2024, F2023, and F2022, respectively. 5. MARY PRITCHARD FUND: Ci backed out outlays from the Mary Pritchard Fund, affecting expenses by ($nil), ($nil), and $1k in F2024, F2023, and F2022, respectively. 5. AMORTIZATION: Ci backed out amortization on pro-rata basis from program, administrative, and fundraising costs.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
0 |
$120k - $160k |
1 |
$80k - $120k |
2 |
$40k - $80k |
7 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2024
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Comments & Contact
Comments added by the Charity:
Charity Contact
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