Gulnaz plays with her daughter at her brother’s house. She has travelled to her relatives’ place in Peshawar to get her treatment due to the unavailability of medicines, the treatment is not available in Pakistan. in Peshawar, Pakistan, on 26 May 2022.

Foundation giving

Support from Canadian foundations helps MSF maintain its independence and bring medical care to those who need it most.

As a Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) partner, you will help us maintain our independence, so we can respond rapidly with critical medical care to people most in need, wherever they may be – those facing humanitarian crises you may have heard about, and many others that don’t receive media attention.

We are an international medical humanitarian organization with a strong ethical focus and strive to continually innovate and improve what we do. Transparency, accountability, and reflection are inherent in our work and part of our commitment to you as a partner.

“Part of our mission is to advance health, so we provide flexible support for the important work of MSF, especially its efforts to care for people in some of the world’s most neglected crises.”

Eric St-Pierre, Executive Director, Trottier Family Foundation

“Since 2000, the Donner Canadian Foundation has supported the work of MSF. With the knowledge of MSF’s exemplary care and the nature of global crises, the foundation has been providing general support, so MSF has the flexibility to respond to current and future emergencies.”

Amy Buskirk, Program Director, Donner Canadian Foundation

How your donation is used

In 2021, we spent more than 80 per cent of money raised globally on our medical projects and advocacy work. Roughly five per cent was spent on administration costs. The rest was reinvested in fundraising.

*Other income:

Interest/investment income
Equipment and services sold to other organizations
Investment subsidizes recorded as income
Other revenues
Merchandising

When you donate to MSF, you fuel the delivery of medical aid to the people who need it most, no matter where they are or whether they have hit the headlines.

Your money pays for millions of consultations, operations, treatments and vaccinations every year. As an organization, we work to spend your money in the most efficient way and to help those in greatest need. But how do we do it?

At MSF we deliver care directly rather than through local partner organizations. We set up and run medical services, train staff and respond to fast moving emergencies, as well as longer-term crises. This means the money you trust to MSF is spent by MSF.

When you donate to MSF Canada, the money is banked and then directed to the country where the need is greatest. This is coordinated across our offices and our projects in over 70 countries, but none of the funds we send to the frontline are spent on international administration costs.

Essential costs

There are essential costs for any organization and a small percentage of the money we raise – just three percent – is used for salaries and running costs in Canada.

Another 12 percent is reinvested in fundraising to keep the money coming in for our overseas work (and for every dollar spent we receive five dollars back). The rest pays for healthcare.

Money for emergencies

When an emergency breaks – such as an earthquake, an epidemic or a conflict – MSF can respond immediately. This is because we encourage donors to give unrestricted funds, which means we can spend them where the need is greatest.

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, MSF has a significant emergency fund. This means there is no delay in mobilizing, no wait for government funds to be released and no lag as donation appeals are launched; we can act immediately and then replenish this fund with new donations.

Once the money reaches the medical programs it is carefully managed by the project teams. It is subject to a rigorous accounting system, with every penny logged and all the information flowing back to the headquarters and our donors – transparency and accountability are essential.

Our principles

The way we raise and spend money upholds our core principles – independence, neutrality and impartiality. We very rarely take money from governments; the vast majority of our donations come from private donors, like you.

This means they come with no strings attached and allow us to provide medical care where the need is greatest. It is you, our donors, who fuel our work. Thank you.

Interested in becoming an MSF foundation partner?

We are always looking to connect with foundations whose interests and values align with ours.

Our staff will help you find the best possible fit for your foundation. You could choose to support an emergency appeal, a specific MSF project, an area of work based on current needs or allow us to use your donation where it is most needed. Contact our Foundations Officer below to learn more about partnership opportunities with MSF today.

Alexandra Mateer
Foundations Officer
alexandra.mateer@toronto.msf.org

Why support MSF

MSF publishes an annual Impact Report, which highlights how our supporters in Canada help enable our critical medical work in more than 70 countries around the world. For more comprehensive and detailed information on our finances, please visit our Impact and accountability page. There you will also find a complete overview of how and where your donations are spent in MSF’s annual International Activity Report and our International Financial Report.

LEARN MORE