Don't Let Your Donations Be Wasted - Charity Intelligence Releases its 2020 Top Impact Charities

TORONTO, Nov. 19, 2020 /CNW/ -Today Charity Intelligence released its 2020 Top 10 Impact Charities to direct Canadian donors, who are putting much greater scrutiny into their giving, to the charities making the greatest impact.

Most charities claim that they "make a difference" in the lives of those they work with. Charity Intelligence's rigorous analysis measures the difference, or the impact, charities actually make to see how each dollar we give can have the most bang for the buck.

$17 billion was given to charities by Canadian donors last year and a significant portion of that is wasted, going to the wrong charities. Based on our work, up to 40 per cent of donations may be wasted by donors giving based solely on the reputation of the charity or by getting distracted by salaries or administrative costs.

"Some charities create a lot of change with the donations given to them. Others have almost nothing to show for the money coming from donors" says Greg Thomson, Director of Research at Charity Intelligence. "Of the 260 Canadian charities we analysed for impact, these Top 10 have the highest measurable demonstrated impact. Our calculations estimate this group of Top 10 Impact Charities delivers average returns of almost seven dollars for every dollar donated, compared with average returns of 1-2 dollars."

The 2020 Top 10 Impact Charities cover frontline charities providing social services in Canada as well as international programs. Many of these programs bring evidence-based programs to developing countries, like clean water and education, which can produce high impact per dollar. Because of this, seven of this year's Top 10 Impact Charities work overseas in developing countries.

2020 Top 10 Impact Charities

Charity	Location	Sector
Against Malaria Foundation Canada	Montreal, QC	International – Health
Canadian Foodgrains Bank	Winnipeg, MB	International – Food Bank
The Citizen's Foundation – New	Oakville, ON	International – Education
East York Learning Experience	Toronto, ON	Education
effect:hope – New	Markham, ON	International – Health
Fresh Start Recovery	Calgary, AB	Addiction Recovery
JUMP Math	Toronto, ON	National – Education
Lifewater Canada	Thunder Bay, ON	International – Water
Operation Eyesight Universal	Calgary, AB	International – Health
War Child Canada	Toronto, ON	International – Education

More information on the Top 10 Impact Charities is available on our website.

To meet Canadian donors' growing demand for impact charities, Ci also released 5 additional lists of charities with top impact:

• Top 10 Canadian Impact Charities, charities with high-impact programs in Canada
• Top 10 International Impact Charities, Canadian charities with high-impact programs operating overseas
• Top 10 Impact: Canadian Youth Charities, charities creating high-impact results for youth in Canada
• Top 5 Impact: Calgary Charities 
• Top 5 Impact: Toronto Charities

These Top Impact Charities are a breed apart from the over 800 Canadian charities we report on and rate. Charity Intelligence's star ratings are based on an assessment of 5 objective aspects: 1. donor reporting, 2. financial transparency, 3. funding need, 4. cents to the cause, and 5. demonstrated impact. The 5-Star rated charities based on these metrics are listed in the 2020 100 Highest Rated Charities report.

The demonstrated impact rating is different and looks at only one aspect: for every dollar you donate, what's the measurable return?

Rather than just heart-warming stories, impact donors feel good about proven results, data quality, and strong counterfactuals. Recently a charity asked, "wouldn't you agree that making a child smile is priceless?" Our answer is "no". Impact donors always consider opportunity costs. Impact donors are pragmatic. Money is a scarce resource. If comparing two charities where one charity saves lives for $100,000 each and a second charity saves lives for $20,000 each, impact donors will support the second charity that creates 5 times the impact per dollar. Five lives saved compared with one life saved for the same donation. Impact donors give for the highest returns – the biggest bang for the buck.

Some call Charity Intelligence a "charity watchdog". We see ourselves as research analysts who help Canadian donors give better. Yes, we hold charities to account for the generous support they receive from Canadian donors and expect them to be financially transparent, and yes, we call out exorbitant overhead costs or charities that don't need more funding. Similarly, each giving season we also call out the best impact charities we've found. Charity Intelligence's reports are independent and objective – charities do not pay for ratings or accreditation.

About Charity Intelligence: Charity Intelligence researches Canadian charities for donors. Charity Intelligence's reports and ratings help Canadians give confidently. With greater confidence, people say they gave 32% more money. Charity Intelligence reviews and rates over 800 Canadian charities and provides in-depth reports on philanthropic sectors like Canada's environment, cancer research, and homelessness. Today, over 430,000 users come to Charity Intelligence's website (www.charityintelligence.ca) as a go-to trusted source for information on Canadian charities. Through rigorous and independent research, Charity Intelligence helps donors be informed and give intelligently. Charity Intelligence aims to assist Canada's dynamic sector to be more transparent, accountable and focused on results.

SOURCE Charity Intelligence Canada

For more information, or to schedule an interview, please contact Greg Thomson at [email protected]

Related Links

www.charityintelligence.ca