There are 86,000 charities in Canada and based on CRA data, 56% have revenues less than $200,000. A recent Bloomberg study found that 67% of revenue for larger charities is from government sources (federal, provincial and municipal). For example, over 75% of revenue for hospitals is from government. Canada Helps' The Giving Report 2023 found that the overall percentage of people who donated to charities dropped to 28 per cent from 36 per cent between 2010 and 2022.
Although donations to Ukrainian Refugees declined it still received 11.7% of donations, and we hope to transfer a substantial amount in March to support trauma therapy and children’s programs.
The continued support for ERSO (Estonian National Symphony) is for the purchase of string instruments, and this year the money was used for the purchase of a cello from Germany and a contrabass that is currently on order from Germany. Support for ERSO and the Pärnu Music Festival account for 70.5% of donations. This support of the Pärnu Music Festival is much appreciated by Neeme and Paavo Jarvi, who have worked to grow the festival audience from several hundred to several thousand. Each year they invite upcoming Estonian stars to "training camp" for 3 weeks. The training camp includes sessions for conductors, string and brass sections. Both the training camp and the festival have gained prestige throughout Europe and are again planned for July 2024.
The Children’s Fund is used to support Estonian children, who need assistance due to circumstances, physical, emotional or mental traumas and was supported by 7% of donations. These situations may be related to health, education or community challenges. We received funding requests from the Pärnu and Saaremaa Women's Support Centers, but have only been able to support Pärnu to date. The Estonian Relief Committee in NYC has continued to support our efforts and sent Pärnu 3,000 USD and together with EERO Canada donations, we have been able to support most of the need in Pärnu. We received more donations at the end of December and following their next quarterly report will transfer this to Pärnu, and some funds to Saaremaa.
EERO 2023 TalTech Scholarship applicants were reviewed by Christina Luik, who drafted a summary and scored the candidates. The results were confirmed by the Board of Directors and this year approved 2 scholarships:
1. Silver Vahtsein from Saaremaa, who is studying Electroenergy and Mechanics. He is on the TalTech Formula Student Team Estonia and a Sailing instructor.
2. Erik Vain from Tallinn, who studies Product Development and Robotics and is the President of the MTÜ Engineering Students Association.
Other activities in 2023 include the sponsorship of Vabariigi aastapäev in Toronto, meetings in Estonia with key contacts at TalTech, Pagulasabi, the Ministry of Culture, ERSO, Pärnu Music Festival, and Pärnu Womens Support Center. We discussed funding, upcoming priorities and needs, fundraising and potential events.
Although several projects have been considered, not every proposal is financially viable. All projects require a legal contract to be in place to ensure that EERO Canada reporting and compliance requirements are fulfilled, and that recipients know their obligations. Our focus continues to be supporting the changing needs in Estonia and honoring the wishes of our donors. Tax receipts for 2023 were distributed in early February 2024, and we again sponsored the TES Vabariigi aastapäev in Toronto.
Many thanks for your ongoing support, and may next year be better for everyone.
Mari Ann Tammark
