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On January 22, Australian Red Cross gave an https://www.redcross.org.au/news-and-media/media-centre/media-releases/statement-on-response-22-jan update on its plans to spend the $115 million in donations received. While the Daily Mail’s headline of 10% budgeted for administrative costs drew knee-jerk reactions, criticisms about delays in distributing aid are valid. In disaster response, speed matters.
Australian Red Cross response has been painfully slow. It began raising donations in July 2019 and only 6% has been paid out.

Skeptics quip that “the cheapest form of charity is just handing the money out”

In the May 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire response, Canadian Red Cross got 30% of donations received out to victims in the first 30 days. Working with Canadian banks, Canadian Red Cross did an initial direct cash transfer on Day 5. With additional donations, it distributed a second cash transfer on Day 25. Through corporate partnerships, Canadian Red Cross e-transferred a total of $75 million to more than 38,000 registered households in less than 30 days.
 “We are keen to get the money out but we also need to make sure it’s getting where it’s needed. We must manage the money so we are not scammed … we want to make sure we are protecting donors’ funds.”
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“This is not in the spirit of what Australians gave that money”,
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It has been nearly a week now and we are still stunned in disbelief, shock and sorrow over this tragic loss of Canadian lives. 57 Canadians were killed in what is apparently an error, a missile shot down an airplane taking off from Tehran airport, filled with many Canadians flying home.
Our Iranian community is strong. But even the strong need help in times of tragic loss. Families of the victims will likely have significant costs traveling to Iran to claim the remains of their loved ones, grief counseling, and support.
What does Canada do next? Our flags hang at half-mast. We hold vigils. We hug our Iranian community. We walk through pain together. There will be a fight for justice, but this will likely take years of inter-government negotiations.
For those wanting to show support through donations, there is the Canada Strong fund.  
Canada Strong fund replicates the Toronto Strong fund that raised money for the victims of Toronto’s van attack and Danforth shooting in 2018.
It’s very important donors understand what donations will go towards. For the Canada Strong fund, it clearly states “All donations will be granted to those affected.”
Toronto businessman, Mohamad Fakih, CEO of Paramount Fine Foods will personally cover any administrative costs so that all donations go directly to the family of victims. #_ftn1″ name=”_ftnref1 [1]
It will be administered by Toronto Community Foundation, although will be national in scope. Lawyers from Dentons Canada will provide oversight. Hopefully auditors too.
 To  https://torontofoundation.ca/canadastrongcampaign donate online to Canada Strong fund.
 
Regionally, there is also a  https://www.gofundme.com/f/36x3n-memorial-fundraiser?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1 gofundme honouring the 27 Edmonton students lost. Money will pay for a funeral in Edmonton, a permanent memorial and any excess funds will fund scholarships to university students. 
Other gofundme pages are apparently being blocked for containing the word “Iran” that triggers automatic shut downs.
 
“do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world… So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally.” L.R. Knost 
#_ftnref1″ name=”_ftn1 [1] Chris Fox, “ https://www.cp24.com/news/canada-strong-fund-launched-to-raise-money-for-families-of-victims-in-deadly-plane-crash-1.4764788 ’Canada Strong’ fund launched to raise money for families of victims in deadly plane crash” CP24
 

Website visits exceed 512,600 making Charity Intelligence donors’ “go-to trusted source for information on Canadian charities”. It has become one of the most visited charity websites in the world.

, the , and said Charity Intelligence is “a leading source of information on the real-world impact of Canadian giving” and “the most complete and accurate information about charity finances in the country”.

Currently, we have impact analysis completed on 203 charities – 547 to go! We believe Charity Intelligence is the world’s most used, most relevant impact analysis of charities. Charity Intelligence’s remain the most popular post with donors.

In 2019, we updated 457 charity reports so you have the most recent and relevant information to make your giving decisions. From this, we repeated the .

A new website to handle more visits, with a modern, more engaging layout so you can better find information on charities, whether using a desktop or a smartphone.

As 2019 comes to an end, many, many thanks to all of you. Ten years ago most said doing charity research was pointless, “who cares”, “who takes the time to research a charity”. Well, hundreds of thousands of Canadians care passionately about their giving, being informed, and giving for impact.
Your support makes charity research, ratings and reports happen – and helps transform Canadian giving.
Best wishes for 2020,
Your Ci Team
 
If you find Charity Intelligence’s research useful in your giving, please consider . Being entirely funded by donors like you maintains our independence and objectivity to help Canadians be informed in their giving. Canadians donate over $17 billion each year. This giving could achieve tremendous results. We hope Charity Intelligence’s research helps Canadians give better.

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There is a new way in giving, a revolution of sorts. These articles have guided Charity Intelligence’s strategy to support Canadians to adopt an investor mindset in giving. While these are old articles originally published in 2003 and 2006, they are still as relevant today. 
If you are interested in reading more, please contact us and we will share additional books and articles we’ve found essential in our work.
Harvard Business Review’s 2003 article ” https://store.hbr.org/product/nonprofit-sector-s-100-billion-opportunity/r0305g?sku=R0305G-PDF-ENG The Nonprofit Sector’s $100 Billion Opportunity” by Bill Bradley, Paul Jansen, and Les Silverman

Key highlights:
“Donors rarely search out the most effective or efficient nonprofits; they support organizations they’re already familiar with … the reluctance to benchmark.”
“Donors will play an important role in meeting the challenges as well. They should take on a “social investor” mindset.
“If donors actively researched the performance of individual nonprofit service providers and supported only those with a proven record of success, they’d eventually squeeze the underperformers out of business”… bring “market forces” to bear…”Through shared information about which programs really work, organizations will be forced to improve effectiveness to survive.”
“Seizing the opportunity may also require the creation of new institutions – which would make performance information widely available to donors.”
And Charity Intelligence began.
 
The Economist, ” https://www.economist.com/special-report/2006/02/25/the-business-of-giving The business of giving: wealth and philanthropy”, Special Report, February 25th, 2006.

New donors are becoming more business-like about the way their money is used.”

Matthew Bishop, The Economist US Business Editor and Bureau Chief, co-author of Philanthrocapitalism: How Giving Can Save the World
 

 

images/Top-10-Overall.pdf
A growing niche of donors each year is looking for terrific charities to support, particularly those that have measurable, proven, and high impact.
“Impact” and “investing” are buzzwords often bantered around by charities. Many charities have marketing slogans saying they “make a difference”. Charity Intelligence’s rigorous analysis measures this “difference” – the impact – that charities make.
Like all investments, returns vary considerably. Some charities have high impact, some charities have low impact. Of the 203 Canadian charities that we’ve analysed, these Top 10 have the highest measurable impact. Our calculations estimate that these Top 10 Impact Charities deliver average returns of seven times on the dollar, compared with average returns of 1-2 times on the dollar.
The 2019 Top 10 Impact Charities cover frontline charities providing social services in Canada as well as international programs. Many of these programs bring evidence-based, life-saving interventions to developing countries, like clean water and vaccinations, which can produce high impact per dollar. Because of this, six of this year’s Top 10 Impact Charities work overseas in developing countries.
text-align: left; 2019 Top 10 Impact Charities based on demonstrated impact per dollar donated (listed alphabetically):