The Documentary Media Society
Publicly funded institution · Vancouver, British Columbia · BN 854305331RR0001 · Arts · website
Source: T3010 return, FPE 2024-08-31. Split of total expenditures ($774,586) as filed with the CRA.
The Documentary Media Society is a charitable organization based in Vancouver, British Columbia, classified by the CRA under arts. 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 August 31, 2024, it reported $733K in revenue and $775K in expenditures.
Its funding that year was roughly 18% from donations, 51% from government. Government funding is the majority of its budget. In 2024, 3 other registered charities reported granting it a combined $4,540.
Compared with 355 arts institutions of similar size, its share of spending on mission — charitable programs plus grants to other charities — ranked above 70% of peers. Its highest-paid positions fell in the $40,000–79,999 range (3 positions in that band). The charity reported 3 permanent full-time positions.
In its own words
Our most recent festival held May 2 thru 12 2024 was a more robust ambitious event with a total of 83 films in the program 72 in-person screenings 47 filmmaker Q&As nine in-person industry events and six social events. We were very pleased to welcome audiences to theatrical venues and bring visiting filmmakers to the festival; DOXA hosted 41 Canadian filmmakers/guests and eight international filmmakers/artists. Audiences and filmmakers alike were immensely grateful to view films together and learn from each other through post-screening Q&As and in-person Industry events.
Ongoing-program description from its T3010 filing, verbatim.
The ledger, 2020–2024
| Year | Revenue | Spending | Programs | Fundraising | Gifts out | Net assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $733K | $775K | $668K | $18K | — | $121K |
| 2023 | $828K | $825K | $658K | $66K | — | $163K |
| 2022 | $672K | $674K | $529K | $32K | — | $160K |
| 2021 | $701K | $705K | $487K | $37K | — | $163K |
| 2020 | $563K | $491K | $365K | $67K | — | $166K |
Revenue printed in red where the year ran a deficit. Fiscal years by period end.
Money between charities, 2024
Received $4,540 from 3 charities:
As reported on the donors’ own T3010 qualified-donee schedules.
What it pays
Its ten highest-paid positions, by band:
- $40,000–79,9993 positions
- Permanent full-time positions3
- Total compensation, all staff$368K
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 The Documentary Media Society’s own T3010 filings, published by the Canada Revenue Agency. Verify against the CRA’s charities listing (search BN 854305331RR0001), or read how we compute the receipt.