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text-align: right; September 11, 2017
text-align: right; Kate Bahen, Managing Director
If you give, check out for St. Maarten and Barbuda, and consider
#_ftn1″ name=”_ftnref1″ style=”color: #808080; 1. In fact, between 3-4 million people were affected in the Caribbean, including those who had temporary power outages, with another 6 million affected in Florida.
Hurricanes give people warnings, providing people days to prepare. This results in significantly fewer fatalities than other natural disasters. Currently, Hurricane Irma has killed 37 people, compared with Hurricane Harvey’s toll of 70, and the Mexican earthquake that happened just last week that killed at least 90 #_ftn3″ name=”_ftnref3″ style=”color: #808080; 3. This is not a “life and death” situation.The material destruction is widespread and recovery will be costly. But by and large, human life is not at stake.
High-profile disasters present charities with the opportunity to raise donations.  16 Canadian charities have registered with Canada Helps, launching fundraising appeals for those affected by Hurricane Irma
Canadian donors can “fix” this “donation distribution problem” by being informed.

1. WHERE are the greatest needs? In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, the most affected areas are the sparsely populated outer islands, namely Barbuda, St. Maarten, and WHAT are the greatest needs? In these early days, the greatest needs appear to be infrastructure recovery – clearing roads, debris removal, and restoring power. This is not typical “charity work”.  Instead, in developed countries, it is handled by governments, military (the Dutch, French and British military have come in to help in the disaster recovery and restore law and order), and power companies (Alberta’s Fortis has deployed to Turks and Caicos) #_ftn7″ name=”_ftnref7″ style=”color: #808080; 7, for Hurricane Irma we recommend:
   For disaster recovery in the British Virgin Islands, population 35,000, hit by Hurricane Irma on September 8, 2017, , unlike Virgin Unite US and Virgin Unite UK. Canadian donors can give to these other charities but will not receive a donation receipt. Other Canadian charities are raising funds but these will be directed to relief efforts across the Caribbean not specifically the BVI. Charity Intelligence has no recommendations for Canadian donors looking for donations to support the BVI. Among charities, British Red Cross is leading relief efforts and is a distinct charity different from Canadian Red Cross.
   For St. Maarten /St. Martin, a Dutch and French island, population 74,210, hit by Hurricane Irma on September 7, 2017, #_ftn8″ name=”_ftnref8″ style=”color: #808080; 8
   Link to donate to https://www.samaritanspurse.ca/article/emergency-airlift-takes-hurricane-relief-supplies-to-the-caribbean/ Samaritan’s Purse Canada 
   Canada’s #_ftn9″ name=”_ftnref9″ style=”color: #808080; 9.
   Link to donate to https://www.canadahelps.org/dn/31770 Global Medic 
   Barbuda, the outer island with 2,800 people is 140 has been doing development work for over 30 years. Oxfam Canada helped in Cuba in the recovery from Hurricanes Ike and Paloma (both in 2008) focusing on supporting co-operative farmers– in a disaster response, everybody needs help. The young, the old, men and women, boys and girls. Please avoid donating to charities that just focus on children or girl’s education.
   “– lessons #_ftn11″ name=”_ftnref11″ style=”color: #808080; 11, particularly in hurricane-affected countries that get tropical rains, reiterated in Nepal earthquake disaster response. Corrugated steel roofing, rebar, cinder blocks, concrete homes are more impactful shelter relief. These people affected had houses with roofs, walls, kitchens, and furniture. Living in a tarp tent is not appropriate “recovery”.
   #_ftn12″ name=”_ftnref12″ style=”color: #808080; 12. Hygiene kits include laundry powdered soap, disposable razors, shaving cream, toilet paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste, . Give .
    
   http://www.charityintelligence.ca/ www.charityintelligence.ca
   Twitter @CharityIntel
   Charitable Registration Number: 80340 7956 RR0001
   Sources:
   Christopher Sherman, “Death toll now at 90 as aftershocks rattle Mexico” Chicago Tribune, September 10, British Red Cross, “You can save lives” Hurricane Irma appeal, September 7, Saundra Schimmelpfennig, “The Dirty Truth About Disaster Fund Raising”, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, March 29, Canadian News Wire, “Samaritan’s Purse to help victims of Hurricane Irma”, September 8, hurricane
   
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World Vision Canada answers the question “how is money spent?”. Here World Vision Canada presents an overhead chart of spending, noting it spends 80.5% on programs on a 5-year average. 

Donors ask Charity Intelligence “how much of my donation goes to the cause?” Charity Intelligence uses a fundraising cost ratio that shows, for every dollar donated, 72% goes to programs in the most recent year. 

 
The subtle differences in ratios produce different numbers. It depends upon which question donors are asking.

Source: World Vision Canada, Annual Impact Report 2016 #_edn2″ name=”_ednref2 [2]
 

Source: Charity Intelligence’s reporting on World Vision Canada’s Overhead Costs on Donations³.

“How much of my donation goes to the cause?” is the most common question donors ask Charity Intelligence. Our job is to answer donors’ questions. We believe facts and context helps donors be informed and give intelligently.

 
Over the last five years, World Vision Canada’s fundraising costs averaged 21.7%. World Vision Canada’s support costs also include administrative costs, which have ranged from 4.8% to 5.9% of total revenues.
Please note: There is a minor difference between the CRA calculation of fundraising costs and Charity Intelligence’s calculation. Using the CRA method, World Vision’s fundraising costs are 22.6%. Charity Intelligence uses the audited financial statements and calculates a lower 22.1% fundraising cost. This is due to World Vision Canada reporting $6.6m in “donations from other registered charities” in F2016. Donations received from family foundations and churches are excluded from the CRA calculation but included in Charity Intelligence’s calculation. #_edn5″ name=”_ednref5 [5] This is not a significant difference.

Charity Intelligence’s calculation of “how much of my donation goes to the cause” has one big caveat – it is based on average fundraising costs and average administrative costs. It is, as the CRA Charities Directorate says, a “global calculation”. Donors need to know that different types of fundraising have different costs; direct mail, runs, gala dinners, and golf tournaments are fundraising types that have higher costs. On-line donations, monthly giving, and mailed-in cheques typically have lower costs. Furthermore, to a degree, fundraising has fixed costs; donors giving $100,000 will likely have significantly lower fundraising costs than a donor giving $100. The exact fundraising costs on a specific donation will vary depending how you give, and how much you give.
Similarly, with administrative costs, Charity Intelligence assumes that a charity’s administrative costs are borne equally by all revenue streams: donations, government grants, fees for service and business profits. In short, no funder gets a “free ride” from paying its fair share of support costs.
By using global averages for a charity, Charity Intelligence’s calculation of how much of a donation goes to the cause is not an exact figure for a specific donation.
 
Sources:
 
#_ednref1″ name=”_edn1  

1. #_ednref2″ name=”_edn2 World Vision Canada, Annual Impact Report 2016 Canada Highlights http://sites.worldvision.ca/annualreport/assets/pdf/WVC_AnnualReport_2016.pdf http://sites.worldvision.ca/annualreport/assets/pdf/WVC_AnnualReport_2016.pdf

 

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December 5, 2018:
disaster responses bring out the best in Canadian generosity, and also an opportunity for other charities to raise money. The line-up of charities fundraising to https://www.canadahelps.org/en/crisis-relief-centre/2017-british-columbia-wildfires/#donate help BC Wildfire evacuees is nicely limited. Some charities may have the best of intentions but are less effective or experienced. With limited information, donors need to parse the “



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text-align: right; Greg Thomson, Kate Bahen
July 4, 2017: Great news. A new charity, Colorectal Cancer Canada, is formed through the merger of two small charities and . Canada’s very fragmented cancer charity space just got a bit less so. At last count, Canada has more than 278 cancer charities. Charity Intelligence has seen significant areas of overlap in activities of many of these charities. This merger has natural fit with both charities working on the same cancer with similar activities. Colon Cancer Canada and Colorectal Cancer Association both focus on public awareness, advocacy for screening, and providing support for Canadians with colorectal cancer. This merger is a great example for other charities to consider. When it comes to donor dollars being used most efficiently, duplication in efforts needs to be eliminated.
This is the second cancer charity merger in the last 12 months. The merger between https://www.charityintelligence.ca/news-and-views/ci-articles?id=213 Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and Canadian Cancer Society announced in October 2016 is a mega-merger, 100 times bigger than this merger. Combining Colon Cancer Canada’s $1.1 million in annual donations and Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada’s $0.9 million from donations and special fundraising events will create a charity with about $2 million in total size. The combined Canadian Cancer Society and Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation will be an estimated $209 million.
Both Colon Cancer Canada and Colorectal Cancer Association are relatively new charities, founded in 1996 and 1998, respectively, and run by people affected by colon cancer. Colon Cancer Canada was founded by Bunny Schwartz who lost both her sister and husband to colon cancer, both of whom were only 46 years old. Colon Cancer Canada was co-founded with Amy Elmaleh, who lost her mother, Bunny’s sister. This aunt-niece combination built Canada’s largest colon cancer charity. Similarly, Colorectal Cancer Association was founded in 1998 by Barry Stein, a Stage 4 metastasis colon cancer survivor. Stein becomes the new charity’s President and CEO. This personal experience focuses charities on impact and filling the gaps.
What Colorectal Cancer Canada may look like
Going forward, Colorectal Cancer Canada intends to balance its budget, reversing yearly deficits. On a pro-forma basis, it had a significant deficit of $120,182 in 2014 and a $17,757 deficit in 2015. Colon Cancer Canada brings more cash;  the combined funding reserves will be $807,311, covering just over half a year’s program costs, indicating a need for funding. With Colorectal Cancer Association’s greater cost efficiency, the amalgamated charity will be within what Charity Intelligence deems a reasonable range with 69 cents of every dollar donated going to the cause.
Research grants will likely be curtailed or discontinued. With amalgamation, all previous donor funding commitments will be honoured. Colon Cancer Canada had previously spent 16% of its operating budget on research grants. With donations dropping in 2015, research grants were 8% of program spending. Going forward, research grants is likely not an area where Colorectal Cancer Canada sees the highest impact. Cancer research is very expensive for smaller charities. While cancer research is a popular area for giving, donors should recognize that, with colorectal cancer, more research isn’t the most pressing need. The greatest way to save the most lives is promoting early screening.
Charity Intelligence hopes Colorectal Cancer Canada will have full financial transparency, posting its audited financial statements on its website, and reporting to donors its progress in annual reports. With this, Colorectal Cancer Canada would be highly-rated and one of the top-rated cancer charities in Canada. Charity Intelligence will be reporting on Colorectal Cancer Canada in the future.

 

As mammograms led to lower breast cancer deaths, scientists estimate colonoscopies and fecal occult blood tests could reduce colorectal cancers by 33%-90%. For every 1% pickup in screening rates, colorectal deaths are estimated to drop by 3%.
Colorectal cancer is Canada’s second most diagnosed cancer (13% of annual cancer diagnoses²) and second deadliest cancer, accounting for 12% of all cancer deaths. The 5-year survival rate for colorectal cancer improved from 55% to 64% from 1994 to 2008, the most recent reported figures. In 2017, an estimated 9,400 Canadians will die of colorectal cancer.
Donate to the “Under-Funded Four” cancers: lung, colorectal, stomach, and pancreatic
Colorectal cancer is one of Canada’s “Under-funded Four” cancers along with pancreatic, stomach, and lung relative to their deadly impact on Canadians³. These Under-funded Four cancers account for 46% of potential years of life lost to cancer in Canada. Donating to these cancers is where donors have the best opportunity for real impact by filling a tragic funding gap. In Canada, 94% of cancer donations fund breast cancer, children’s cancers, leukemia and prostate cancer. The Under-funded Four cancers receive only 1.6% of donations. Breast cancer receives $691 in donations per “potential years of life lost” whereas the Under-funded Four receive only $5 in donations. While cancer giving is very personal, Charity Intelligence hopes donors start giving in terms of lives taken, rather than survivors.
Recently an alarming trend in colorectal cancer has emerged. Rates of colorectal cancer are steadily rising among Millennials and Generation X (born after 1980). Scouring through cancer records from 1981 to 2010, Dr. Prithwish De at Cancer Care Ontario found rates of colorectal cancer rose 6.7% in people aged 15-29⁴. Similar patterns are seen in the US with rising incidence rates in colorectal cancer among adults younger than 50⁵. These reasons remain unknown.
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#_ednref1″ name=”_edn1 Sources:
1. Bowel Cancer UK “Delay introducing new screening test” https://www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/media-centre/news-and-blog/delay-in-introduction-of-new-screening-test-is-putting-lives-at-risk/ https://www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/media-centre/news-and-blog/delay-in-introduction-of-new-screening-test-is-putting-lives-at-risk/
2. Canadian Cancer Statistics 2017 p.25.   http://www.cancer.ca/~/media/cancer.ca/CW/cancer%20information/cancer%20101/Canadian%20cancer%20statistics/Canadian-Cancer-Statistics-2017-EN.pdf?la=en http://www.cancer.ca/~/media/cancer.ca/CW/cancer%20information/cancer%20101/Canadian%20cancer%20statistics/Canadian-Cancer-Statistics-2017-EN.pdf?la=en
3. Charity Intelligence Canada, “Cancer in Canada” April 2011 https://www.charityintelligence.ca/cancer-in-canada https://www.charityintelligence.ca/cancer-in-canada
4. Carmen Chai, “Why are colon cancer rates in Gen Xers and Millennials in Canada rising?” Global News March 2, 2017 http://globalnews.ca/news/3283310/why-are-colon-cancer-rates-in-gen-xers-and-millennials-in-canada-rising/ http://globalnews.ca/news/3283310/why-are-colon-cancer-rates-in-gen-xers-and-millennials-in-canada-rising/
5.   Canadian Cancer Statistics 2017 p.25. ibid.