Hope Mission is a 2-star, financially transparent charity with a Low impact rating. It has a below-average B- results reporting grade. Its reserves can cover just over two months of its annual program spending and it has 21% overhead. For every dollar donated, 79 cents are available to go to the cause.

Founded in 1929, Hope Mission is a Christian charity operating in Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, and Wetaskiwin. It provides emergency shelter, transitional housing, addiction recovery, school meals, and youth summer camp programs for those in need. Hope Mission runs its programs out of eight buildings: Program for the Homeless shelter, R.W. Tegler Youth Centre, Brightwood Ranch, Women’s Centre, Bethany Homes, Calgary Hope, Red Deer Hope, and Wetaskiwin Hope.

Hope Mission’s programs include housing, addictions recovery, and homelessness prevention. It spent $46.2m on its programs in the December 2024 fiscal year.

Housing was the majority of Hope Mission’s program spending and includes both immediate care provided at its emergency shelters and long-term housing provided at its transitional housing locations. In F2024, 8,321 unique people (8,961 in F2023) accessed a Hope Mission shelter. The charity also provided 916 people access to transitional housing in F2024.

Recovery includes Hope Mission’s addictions recovery programs as well as services provided by its nursing clinic. In F2024, the charity admitted 287 people into addictions recovery programs and provided medical aid to 2,210 people.

Prevention includes Hope Mission’s outreach services aimed at preventing youth homelessness. These include afterschool programs, youth summer camps, and school lunch programs. In F2024, the charity provided lunches to youths at 108 schools (89 in F2023) and admitted 590 children to its summer camps.

Hope Mission’s audited financial statements follow activity-based costing – a best practice. Its financials include schedules that clearly separate program, administrative, and fundraising costs.

The charity received $21.7m in donations in F2024 (38% of total revenue) and $28.8m of government funding (50% of revenue).

Administrative costs are 6% of total revenue and fundraising costs are 15% of donations. Its 21% overhead spending means that for every dollar donated, 79 cents are available to go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.

Hope Mission spent $46.2m on its programs in F2024 – a 35% increase from $34.1m spent in F2023. The charity did not disclose details on what this increase in spending financed in its public reporting at the time of this profile update.

It also spent $10.9m on capital asset purchases in F2024 related to building renovations and equipment purchases.

At the end of F2024, Hope Mission had $7.8m of reserve funds (cash and investments). Its reserves can cover 17% or slightly over two months of its annual program spending.

Questions? Contact jdranitsaris@charityintelligence.ca