How to read a charity's numbers.

Short answers to the questions donors actually ask, each with the figures behind it computed live from F2024 CRA filings. No jargon without a definition.

What is a charity's overhead ratio, and what is normal in Canada?
Overhead is management, administration and fundraising as a share of spending. Across 51,298 Canadian operating charities the median is 12%. What the figure means and what it does not.
What does “cents to the cause” mean?
Cents to the cause is how much of each dollar a charity spent went to its programs. The Canadian median is 89¢. How it is computed from the T3010 and what it leaves out.
How much should a charity hold in reserves?
Charity Compass measures reserves as cash and investments divided by a year of program spending. The Canadian median is 0.8 yr; 35% hold under half a year. What thin and thick reserves can and cannot tell you.
How do I check if a charity is registered in Canada?
Look it up on the CRA's List of Charities by name or registration number. What registered means, what it does not, and how Charity Compass links every profile to the listing.
Do I get a tax receipt for donating to a charity in Canada?
Only a registered charity can issue an official donation receipt. What the receipt must show, which gifts qualify, and how the federal and provincial credits work in plain terms.
What is a T3010, and what does it tell a donor?
The T3010 is the annual return every registered Canadian charity files with the CRA. What is in it, where to read one, and how Charity Compass turns its lines into figures.
What is the difference between a foundation and a charitable organization?
Canada registers charities as charitable organizations, public foundations or private foundations. 72,356 operate programs; 11,405 mostly grant. Why the two need different yardsticks.
Why is a charity “not rated” by Charity Intelligence?
Charity Intelligence's analysts review about 819 of Canada's registered charities. What a rating covers, why most charities have none, and why an absent rating says nothing bad.
How do I choose a charity to donate to in Canada?
A five-step method for first-time donors: name the change you want, confirm registration, read the charity's own words, check the figures in context, then give directly.
How much do Canadian charities spend on fundraising?
Fundraising is T3010 line 5020. What counts, why it varies by kind of charity, the CRA's guidance on fundraising ratios, and how to read it beside program spending.
Which Canadian charities are mostly government-funded, and does it matter?
20% of Canadian operating charities get most of their revenue from government. What that means for a donor, how the T3010 records it, and how to see it on any profile.
What is a charity registration number (BN) in Canada?
Every registered Canadian charity has a 15-character business number ending in RR0001 or similar. How to read it, where to find it, and how to look a charity up by it.
What are the top charities in Canada?
There is no official ranking of Canadian charities, and no filing measures results. What the public record does support, and the 100 charities an independent analyst rates five stars.