One Response to “CBC Raises $3m for charity”

Anon says:

That’s good news! 

I wish  our Valentine’s Day fundraising at the TBC would go to the food banks, too. I don’t think the Heart & Stroke Foundation needs anymore money from us.

Heart-stroke charity builds huge war chest TheStar.com – Ontario – Heart-stroke charity builds huge war chest STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO Cyclists are seen in Toronto during the 20th anniversary of the Becel Heart & Stroke Ride for Heart event to raise money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Has $130 million in cash as fundraising continues November 29, 2007 Kevin Donovan
STAFF REPORTER

The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario has a whopping $130 million war chest of donor dollars saved up over many years. This is by far the largest buildup of savings by a Canadian charity that raises money in the name of a disease, and the charity continues to aggressively ask for more. Heart and Stroke donors were dismayed to learn this news. "When I give a dollar I expect it will be put to good use," said Joyce Brown, 67, of St. Catharines, a pensioner who annually gives $100 to the charity, often as memorial donations when a friend has died of heart disease, which also killed both of Brown’s parents. "It’s hard for me to say that I am going to sacrifice my pension so they have more money to play with," Brown said in an interview. She will donate again when the charity has made a significant reduction to its reserves. The charity’s chief executive officer, Rocco Rossi, acknowledged his charity needs to spend more on good works. He said the board of directors has "internally restricted" a big chunk of the war chest (charity documents say more than $60 million) for increased spending on multi-year research efforts and other programs. In a statement to the Star, the charity said these excess funds will be "dispensed on a yearly basis allowing the Foundation to hold recipients accountable and to ensure that milestones are met before they receive the next instalment." Rossi still intends to fundraise. He’s known for his personal pitches – such as riding a bike 1,900 kilometres from Rainy River to the foot of Yonge St. in Toronto and paddling a kayak from Toronto to Ottawa. Next February he aims to climb Seven Summits (tall buildings in Toronto) to raise $1 million for life-saving defibrillators to be placed in arenas and other buildings in communities around the province. "I am desperate to raise dollars because heart and stroke is the No. 1 killer of Canadians," Rossi said in an interview. Heart and Stroke could easily part with $1 million to buy those defibrillators today, but won’t, preferring instead to ask the public for more money. The charity raises about $120 million yearly, mainly from donations and lottery sales. Roughly half of that amount goes to fundraising, administration and other costs. The $60-65 million left over is available for good works, but, historically, large amounts have not been spent. Rossi was hired in 2005, studied the issue for two years, then developed a plan that focuses on long-term medical research and campaigns aimed at reducing high blood pressure and improving the diets of Ontario residents. Last year, Heart and Stroke gave out $40 million in research grants and spent $21 million on health promotion and community programs, a minor increase (of $1.5 million) over the previous year. Charities that hoard donor dollars are part of a growing trend, the Star‘s research has found. A look at the 68,000 Canadian charities that consistently rely on donor dollars shows that their bank accounts and investments have grown 35 per cent in the past five years, from $17 billion in 2001 to $23 billion in 2005, the most recent period for which data is available. (Other Canadian charities, such as hospitals and school boards, get the majority of their funds from government. The savings accounts of those charities are also increasing.) Among Canada’s many disease-related charities, the Heart and Stroke Foundation has the biggest war chest. It had $114 million by 2006, and last year reached $130 million thanks to major bequests from donors. Next in line is the Canadian Cancer Society (Ontario Division) with $40 million in cash and long-term investments. The two charities are similar in size. Chief executive officer of the Cancer Society, Peter Goodhand, said it needs money to fund ongoing research – but must not hoard cash. He wonders if its reserves are too high. "Our philosophy is to get donor money to the mission quickly. It is not our philosophy to build up money for the sake of building up money. That does not serve the donor," says Goodhand. Most other disease-related charities (that is, charities that raise money for diabetes, Crohn’s disease and colitis, and multiple sclerosis) have between $5 million and $30 million in cash and investments at any given time. Back in the mid-1980s, the Heart and Stroke Foundation was in the red – it raised $10 million a year and spent $11 million on good works, fundraising and management expenses. Past president Rick Gallop credits the introduction of lotteries, volunteer fundraising and a more business-like approach for changing the financial picture. When he left in 2002, the charity was bringing in more than $100 million in revenue and the war chest was $94 million. "Money was coming in faster than we were organized to spend it for a while," Gallop recalls. By law, a charity must "devote substantially all its resources to charitable activities," a spokesperson for the federal Charities Directorate explained. That’s a rule for all types of charity income, including regular donations, proceeds from lotteries, coin boxes, clothing drives, and so on. In practice, though, the Directorate only takes a hard look at revenue from tax-receipted donations. Charities must spend 80 per cent of the tax-receipted money on good works each year, and Rossi says Heart and Stroke complies with that rule. The reason charities like Heart and Stroke are able to build up war chests is that, more and more, they are receiving income that does not qualify for a tax receipt – such as lottery revenue. Rossi said he wants to carefully spend donor money. "I am not interested in cutting cheques just to draw down reserves," he said. The charity’s chief financial officer, Bill Thomas, said research applications are reviewed each year and the charity has gradually been increasing the amount spent ($40 million in both 2006 and 2007, up from $30 million in 2003). He said there are other grant applications not deemed worthy of funding. "We would have been frivolous to invest this money in lower-rated grants," Thomas said. One thing the charity has spent more on in recent years is salaries and fundraising. Salaries for staff are up from $15.3 million in 2003 to $18.9 million last year, and Thomas cited "competitive salary requirements" as one reason. The charity would not disclose Rossi’s salary. Rossi said since few other charities disclose salaries, disclosing salaries at his charity would "likely cause donor confusion" as there would be little comparative data. In the same three years, fundraising costs have risen from $47.7 million to $58.3 million. Perusing the Heart and Stroke website, and its printed pitches to donors (called "asks" in the charity world), it’s clear they keep asking for more. People are asked to buy a ticket in the "Biggest Ever" lottery to help people "lead better lives." Another pitch asks you to sign up to make a monthly donation to support "life-saving research." Rossi’s own fundraising pitches include the new "Rocco’s Everest Challenge" next February. In his pitch to prospective donors, Rossi writes that 35,000 to 45,000 Canadians have heart attacks each year, most outside hospital. He says the survival rate is just 5 per cent, but early treatment with a defibrillator raises that to 50 per cent. His Everest Challenge promises he will climb seven tall buildings often enough over one weekend to equal the height of Mt. Everest. "Rocco’s Goal: $1 million" the pitch states, inviting sponsors from the public. Internal charity documents show the charity has ambitious plans for future fundraising. It has typically relied on small donations from individuals (the average annual donation is about $30) and has concluded its fundraising "lags" behind other charities. Heart and Stroke wants to attract "high-end givers," both corporate and individual. Donors who want to check out their charities’ cash and investments can search the Charities Directorate website at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/charities/. Type in the name of the charity and pull up its financial statements (cash is on line 4100 and investments 4140). These forms record investments at cost, but the real value can be higher or lower depending on the investment market.   What is foundation thinking? TheStar.com – comment – What is foundation thinking? November 30, 2007 Heart-stroke charity builds huge war chest Nov. 29 I was disgusted to read that the Heart and Stroke Foundation has saved up $130 million in donations over many years. But I was even more disgusted to find that less than half the money raised goes to worthwhile causes and about half goes to fundraising and administration costs. That is reprehensible. It should take a lesson from the charity Sleeping Children Around the World, where 100 per cent of all monies donated are used to help needy children who are far worse off than most Canadians. Shame on the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Bob Elder, Mississauga




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