First Funds Society
Publicly funded institution · Vancouver, British Columbia · BN 871320404RR0001 · Organizations Relieving Poverty
Source: T3010 return, FPE 2024-12-31. Split of total expenditures ($988,579) as filed with the CRA.
First Funds Society is a charitable organization based in Vancouver, British Columbia, classified by the CRA under organizations relieving poverty. It appears on the charity register the way hospitals, universities, and other publicly funded bodies do — to issue tax receipts — rather than as a donation-driven charity in the usual sense. In its fiscal year ending December 31, 2024, it reported $1.1M in revenue and $989K in expenditures.
Its funding that year was roughly 10% from donations, 83% from government. Government funding is the majority of its budget. In 2024, 3 other registered charities reported granting it a combined $166K.
Compared with 1,618 poverty-relief institutions of similar size, its share of spending on mission — charitable programs plus grants to other charities — ranked above 95% of peers. Its highest-paid positions fell in the $80,000–119,999 range (3 positions in that band). The charity reported 4 permanent full-time positions.
Revenue has grown substantially over its filings on record here, from $694K in 2020 to $1.1M in 2024. Its filed list of directors and trustees shows 5 names.
In its own words
The Community Voice Mail (CVM) program provides free voice mail to people who are homeless and/or phoneless in crisis and transition. The program currently serves the Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley regions and Calgary. The Coordinated Access program will develop and lay the groundwork for an effective implementation of a Coordinated Access system which is a community-wide system that streamlines the process for people experiencing homelessness to access housing and support services needed to permanently end their homelessness.
Ongoing-program description from its T3010 filing, verbatim.
The ledger, 2020–2024
| Year | Revenue | Spending | Programs | Fundraising | Gifts out | Net assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1.1M | $989K | $986K | — | — | $394K |
| 2023 | $1.1M | $1M | $1M | — | $1,000 | $277K |
| 2022 | $1.6M | $1.5M | $1.4M | — | — | $205K |
| 2021 | $1.3M | $1.3M | $1.3M | — | — | $103K |
| 2020 | $694K | $670K | $666K | — | — | $85K |
Revenue printed in red where the year ran a deficit. Fiscal years by period end.
Money between charities, 2024
Received $166K from 3 charities:
As reported on the donors’ own T3010 qualified-donee schedules.
What it pays
Its ten highest-paid positions, by band:
- $80,000–119,9993 positions
- $40,000–79,9991 position
- Permanent full-time positions4
- Total compensation, all staff$364K
Schedule 3 of its 2024 return. The CRA discloses bands, not names or exact salaries.
Directors & trustees (2024)
Marge White (director/vice-president); Faye Poirier (director/treasurer); Claire Marshall (director/secretary); Kent Patenaude (director/president); Dan Smith (director).
As listed on its 2024 return.
Check the source
Every figure on this page is from First Funds Society’s own T3010 filings, published by the Canada Revenue Agency. Verify against the CRA’s charities listing (search BN 871320404RR0001), or read how we compute the receipt.