The financial data comes from the charities’ 2008 Canada Revenue Agency T3010 information returns.

The charities on our list are the biggest charities in Canada terms of both tax-receipted donations and non-tax receipted money received through fundraising. We excluded some organizations not generally thought of as charities, such as churches and universities.

Charities were divided up into nine categories. Culture Arts & Research, Environment, Fundraising Organizations, Health/Health Services, Hospital Foundations, Health/Medical Services, International Aid & Development, Other, Religion and Social Services. Fundraising organizations were defined as organizations with more than 60% of their expenses going to outside charities.

OVERALL CHARITY EFFICIENCY (MAX 10 POINTS)

1) The amounts spent on charitable programs and donated to other charities were added up and divided by the total expenses.

2) Then points were awarded based on these ranges:

Regular charities
10 points for 85%-100%, 7.5 points for 75%-85%, 5 points for 65%-75%, 2.5 points for 60%-65%, 0 points for less than 60%.

Fundraising organizations and hospital foundations
10 points for 90%-100%, 7.5 points for 80%-90%, 5 points for 75-80%, 2.5 points for 70%-75%, 0 points for less than 70%.

3) Scores were totaled and a normalized across each type of charity. This ensured we compared each charity to other similarly structured charities in the same category.

FUNDRAISING EFFICIENCY (MAX 10 POINTS)

1) Fundraising costs were divided by the total of money raised through tax-receipted donations and money raised through fundraising.

2) Then points were awarded based on these ranges:

Regular charities
10 points for $0 to $10; 7.5 points for $10-$20, 5 points for $20-$30, 2.5 points for $30-$35, zero points for more than $35.

Fundraising organizations and hospital foundations
10 points for $0-$5, 7.5 points for $5-$10, 5 points for $10-$20, 2.5 points for $20-$30, 0 points for more than $30.

3) Scores were totaled and a normalized across each type of charity. This ensured we compared each charity to other similarly structured charities in the same category.

GOVERNANCE (MAX 10 POINTS + 1 BONUS POINT)

1) Half of the points in this category are awarded based on a short governance questionnaire that we sent out to all 100 charities. A charity got half of one point for each of the following questions they answered yes to. If the organization didn’t respond to the questionnaire after a follow up phone call, they received zero out of five points. Here are the questions:

Does the board of directors of your organization approve the budget?

Does the board of directors of your organization approve the CRA filings?

Does the board of directors of your organization approve the audited financial statements?

Does the board of directors of your organization approve the fundraising policies?

Does the board of directors of your organization approve the governance policies?

Does the CEO have a formal CEO performance review at least once every two years?

Does the organization have a formal strategic plan?

Does it have a process in place for measuring program effectiveness?

Does the organization have a conflict of interest policy covering board members and staff?

Has it adopted an ethical code, such as the one created by Imagine Canada?

2) The other five points in this category were given for transparency.

Charities that had completed audited financial statements on their website were given four points. If they posted only partial financial statements online, or if they provided us with complete audited financial statements only upon request, we gave them two points. If they refused to provide financial statements, or didn’t respond at all, they got zero points.

If the organization had a privacy policy on its website explaining how personal information was used, it got another point.

Charities that disclosed their CEOs’ exact salary on our questionnaire were awarded one bonus point in this category.

3) Scores were totaled and a normalized across each type of charity. This ensured we compared each charity to other similarly structured charities in the same category.

RESERVES (MAX 5 POINTS)

1) Liabilities and capital assets were subtracted from assets, and that total was divided by overall expenses. Some charities, such as hospitals and art galleries, were not measured in terms of reserves, as reserves are generally not held in those sectors.

2) Points were awarded for the amount of reserves as follows: 0 points for less than one month in reserve, 2.5 points for 1-3 months, 5 points for 3 months to 3 years, 2.5 points for 3 years to 5 years, 0 points for more than 5 years.

3) Scores were totaled and a normalized across each type of charity. This ensured we compared each charity to other similarly structured charities in the same category.

FINAL SCORE

The overall score for each charity was as follows:

Maximum of 10 points for charity efficiency

Maximum of 10 points for fundraising efficiency

Maximum of 10 points for governance and 1 bonus point for salary disclosure

Maximum of 5 points for reserves for all charities (other than hospitals and museums)

Each charity’s total out of a maximum of 35 + the bonus point (30 + bonus point for hospitals and museums) was converted to a percentage out of 100. These percentages were then normalized by category of charity to the total charity population.