Royal Botanical Gardens
Charitable organization · Hamilton, Ontario · BN 133500850RR0001 · Public Amenities · website
Source: T3010 return, FPE 2024-12-31. Split of total expenditures ($26,314,458) as filed with the CRA.
Royal Botanical Gardens is a charitable organization based in Hamilton, Ontario, classified by the CRA under public amenities. In its fiscal year ending December 31, 2024, it reported $21M in revenue and $26.3M in expenditures. Spending exceeded revenue that year — the gap came out of reserves.
Its funding that year was roughly 7% from donations, 10% from government, 5% from other charities. In 2024, 29 other registered charities reported granting it a combined $1.4M.
Compared with 46 public-amenity charities of similar size, its share of spending on mission — charitable programs plus grants to other charities — ranked above 64% of peers. Its fundraising cost per donated dollar was higher than 82% of that peer group. Its highest-paid position fell in the $200,000–249,999 range. The charity reported 115 permanent full-time positions.
In its own words
We dedicate our expertise in horticulture conservation science education and the arts - together with our unique gardens facilities and natural lands - to inspire and nature society's commitment to the environment.
Ongoing-program description from its T3010 filing, verbatim.
The ledger, 2020–2024
| Year | Revenue | Spending | Programs | Fundraising | Gifts out | Net assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $21M | $26.3M | $22.5M | $1.1M | $397K | $8.1M |
| 2023 | $28M | $26.3M | $20.4M | $838K | $1.8M | $8.7M |
| 2022 | $24.7M | $22.1M | $18.8M | $593K | — | $9.4M |
| 2021 | $20.6M | $17.8M | $14.9M | $590K | — | $10.1M |
| 2020 | $20.2M | $18.3M | $15.3M | $509K | — | $9.3M |
Revenue printed in red where the year ran a deficit. Fiscal years by period end.
Money between charities, 2024
Received $1.4M from 29 charities:
- Patrick J McNally Charitable Foundation$750K
- Incite Foundation for the Arts$185K
- Charitable Gift Funds Canada Foundation$152K
- The Canadian Red Cross Society$70K
- Aqueduct Foundation$61K
- Takla Foundation$30K
- Hamilton Community Foundation$27K
- BenefAction Foundation$27K
- The Catherine and Maxwell Meighen Foundation$20K
- Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation$20K
- The K M Hunter Charitable Foundation$15K
- Canadahelps Canadon$13K
- The Allen and Milli Gould Family Foundation$10K
- Burlington Community Foundation$9,333
- Douglas A. Flett Foundation$6,000
- The Norman and Margaret Jewison Charitable Foundation$5,000
- Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada$5,000
- Canada Gives$5,000
- Canadian Online Giving Foundation$3,962
- London Community Foundation$2,000
- The Bruce Trail Conservancy$1,184
- Link Charity Canada Inc$1,160
- Strategic Charitable Giving Foundation$1,100
- Fondation Philantra Philantra Foundation$1,000
- Strategic Charitable Giving Foundation$889
As reported on the donors’ own T3010 qualified-donee schedules.
What it pays
Its ten highest-paid positions, by band:
- $200,000–249,9991 position
- $160,000–199,9992 positions
- $120,000–159,9991 position
- $80,000–119,9996 positions
- Permanent full-time positions115
- Total compensation, all staff$13.5M
Schedule 3 of its 2024 return. The CRA discloses bands, not names or exact salaries.
Check the source
Every figure on this page is from Royal Botanical Gardens’s own T3010 filings, published by the Canada Revenue Agency. Verify against the CRA’s charities listing (search BN 133500850RR0001), or read how we compute the receipt.