Frequently asked questions

CEOs and leadership teams at Canadian charities who want to see where their organization stands against its peers and the giving market, and where it could grow. Each feature report is written with a particular reader in mind, from the CFO to fundraising and marketing leadership.

Four feature reports a year, one each quarter (Q1 Peer Profiles, Q2 Giving Market Outlook, Q3 Donor Motivation Index and Q4 Peer Landscape), each with an executive brief and board-ready charts. Every quarter you also receive summaries of new third-party research, notable campaigns from major and large charities, and related sector items. See Pricing for the full list.

No. There is a single subscription, and every subscriber receives the full package. Only the price varies, by revenue band.

No. Tideline works like a shared analyst for the sector. Rather than each charity paying for its own peer and market research, subscribers share the cost of one analyst, and each receives packages built around its own organization. There is one subscription at published prices, with no proposals, project scoping or hourly billing.

Yes. All four quarterly packages are purpose-built for each individual subscribing charity.

Currently, Tideline reports are available for the International Aid sector. Social Services and Health sectors are coming soon!

Charity financial returns (T3010s) filed with the CRA, Statistics Canada data, third-party sector research, and charities' annual reports, websites and campaign materials. Audited statements are used to check the T3010 figures. See How We Work.

Not always, and that's expected. Every figure comes from the T3010 each charity files with the CRA, read the same way for every charity, so charities are compared like for like. Audited statements follow accounting standards and each charity's own categories. Tideline has checked its figures against the audited statements of 15 charities: totals and the split of spending match closely, and most differences are in how revenue is split by source. Tideline never adjusts one charity's figures to match its own statements.

Charities file their T3010 up to six months after their year-end, so each Peer Landscape describes the last full year (FY2025 in the 2026 edition), compared with two years earlier. It shows where charities stand and how they got there, not this year's results. The Giving Market Outlook and the quarterly updates bring in more recent market information.

No. Shares are of Tideline's peer set: in International Aid, 85 charities with at least $1 million in revenue and three years of returns. Smaller charities and newer ones are outside it, so a share of the peer set is not a share of all Canadian giving to the cause.

No. Tideline shows where your charity sits, what the numbers suggest and which peers are worth studying, and turns that into questions for your leadership team and board. Your leadership knows its own context better than the data does. Tideline doesn't offer consulting or strategy advice.

Only your charity. Commentary about your charity appears only in your own package. Other charities are named in the briefs only when they lead, for example as the largest or fastest growing, and no named charity's pay figures are ever shown.

$8,000 a year for charities with revenue of $100 million and over, $6,000 for $50 to $100 million, $4,000 for $10 to $50 million, and $2,000 for $1 to $10 million. Prices are in Canadian dollars.

By your charity's total annual revenue, as reported on its current T3010. We'll confirm your band before sending an invoice.

It keeps Tideline within reach for smaller charities while larger ones, who would otherwise spend more producing this work in-house, pay a larger share.

Not at present. Tideline Insights is not registered for HST/GST, so invoices show the subscription price only. If that changes, subscribers will be told in advance.

Tideline is designed for charities with revenue of $1 million or more. If you're smaller and interested, get in touch.

Once a year, in advance. The subscription year follows the calendar year, and renewal invoices are sent in early December so they can be included in budgets for the year ahead. Payment is due within 30 days.

You're billed from the current quarter to the end of the year. You receive the current quarter's package right away, plus the remaining packages as they're released, then renew for the full calendar year in January. If you'd also like packages from earlier quarters, you can purchase them at the standard per-quarter rate.

Yes. We'll prepare a preview edition of your own charity's Peer Landscape brief: your charity's figures, the brief's structure and the board questions it answers, with the peer-set findings kept for the full brief. Request a preview.

Subscriptions run for a 12-month term, or the remainder of the calendar year if you join mid-year. You'll receive notice before your term ends, so you can decide whether to renew.

The executive briefs and charts are made to go straight into your board and committee packages.