What is your opinion of Oxfam Canada and CUSO?

May 21, 2020 9:47 AM

I have been contributing to these organizations for over 20 years and wonder, for example, if their work is still valuable and whether they are lean in their operations. I didn't really think about them much until the recent Oxfam UK scandal. There seem to be a lot of people with experience in non profit sector here that may be helpful.
posted by canoehead to Work & Money (2 answers total)

You can check with Charity Intelligence Canada, a watchdog that uses publicly available info to evaluate charitable orgs on several points:

• FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY Audited financial statements for current and previous years available on the charity’s website.
• RESULTS REPORTING Grade based on the charity's public reporting of the work it does and the results it achieves.
• DEMONSTRATED IMPACT The demonstrated impact per dollar Ci [Charity Intelligence] calculates from available program information.
• NEED FOR FUNDING Charity's cash and investments (funding reserves) relative to how much it spends on programs in most recent year.
• CENTS TO THE CAUSE For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus), cents available for programs.

Their evaluation of Oxfam Canada

Their evaluation of CUSO

These are basic evaluations—you can register for more in-depth details—but I find them to be pretty informative.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:12 PM on May 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

The older and larger a charity gets, the less lean they tend to become. There are many reasons for this, including mission dilution and becoming part of the charitable-industrial complex. CI is respected in the nonprofit sector here, but their coverage is quite small, so there are many worthwhile charities that they have no information on.

If you're looking for better impact, maybe research who works in your interest areas on CanadaHelps (CI evaluation: CanadaHelps) and cross-reference with any available CI reports?
posted by scruss at 12:51 PM on May 21, 2020 [1 favorite]