Fundraising & Administration FAQ

Our fundraising activities provide the majority of funding for our programs for children, so we appreciate each and every response to our outreach initiatives. We always want to ensure your preferences are respected, so if you have received a request for support and have questions or comments, please e-mail or call our Supporter Services team.

How does Canadian Feed The Children raise money?

We are primarily funded through the generous donations of thousands of individual Canadians who share our mission to help reduce the impact of poverty on children. They donate in support of our programs through direct mail campaigns, telephone fundraising, direct dialogue fundraising, child sponsorship, Everyday Heroes monthly donations, online donations, project support and public events. We also receive major individual, corporate and foundation support, and have received some government (Canadian International Development Agency) program funding.

Fiscal responsibility is important to us and is achieved through our mandate to focus resources on the children and communities we serve; to be highly accountable to our donors; and to uphold our vital programming principles, which have been adapted from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Current fundraising outreach initiatives

To enhance the well-being of children and the self-sufficiency of their families and communities in Canada and around the world, we raise funds to operate our programs and generate awareness of their importance. Here are a few of the ways we do that:

Direct mail

Throughout the year, we send support mailings to our present and potential supporters. The package usually includes a letter from our Executive Director or one of our Program Managers telling our story, raising issues of child poverty and providing the opportunity to donate. Supporters can respond by making a donation via return mail using credit card or cheque payments, calling to make a telephone donation, or visiting our website to make a secure online donation.

Trading names

A common practice among many charities to reach potential supporters in a cost-effective way is name-trading. Some of our support mailings are sent to names and addresses provided to us by other like-minded charities. If you received a mailing from Canadian Feed The Children and would like to know how we obtained your name for this purpose, you can call our Supporter Services team and we will be happy to inform you which charity provided us with your name (the code just above the address will be needed). You can then contact the other charity directly with your instructions.

Direct dialogue

We have a presence on city streets and door-to-door in several cities across the country offering community members information about Canadian Feed The Children and the opportunity to support children affected by poverty through monthly support. Supporters can sign up to sponsor a child or give monthly using a credit card or cheque, but no cash will be accepted.

Telephone fundraising

We have an ongoing telephone fundraising campaign across Canada, delivered by a third-party provider with call centres in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland. We work hard to ensure our telephone representatives have the most up-to-date and accurate information about child poverty and our specific programs, and are as helpful and respectful as possible to our supporters. You can choose to donate over the phone using a credit card or banking information, arrange to have a pledge package mailed to you or be directed to a website to donate online to the country you wish to support. Read about Canada’s National and our own internal Do Not Call List.

Are your telephone fundraisers volunteers or paid workers?

Our telephone representatives are trained workers employed by a third-party provider.

What percentage of your budget goes toward programs?

In 2010, we directed 83 per cent of our $15.7 million in expenditures to our programs for children; 12 per cent was directed to fundraising activities; and 5 per cent went to administration expenses. In addition to funding important development work in six countries, we also provided life-saving medicines to vulnerable children and families in Uganda.

How do I know my money is reaching the people who need it?

We conduct regular monitoring of all our projects, including discussions with the families we support, internal audits, external audits and third-party independent evaluations so that we ensure consistent delivery of services to those who need it most. We have extensive accountability measures in place to ensure every dollar is used in the most effective way.

We are a member of Imagine Canada’s Ethical Code Program, which lays out a set of standards for charitable organizations to manage and report their financial affairs responsibly. By adhering to these standards, we are complying with generally accepted practices for soliciting and managing donor dollars. We also proudly adhere to the Ethical Code of the Canadian Council of International Co-operation and to the Ethical Principles of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Check out all the ways you can support children with Canadian Feed The Children.