Ontario · Registered charity
WORD-PLAY: READING IN THE CITY
WORD-PLAY: READING IN THE CITY (Ontario) receives grants from 5 organizations whose Canada Revenue Agency filings report C$122,533 to it, the largest being THE GEORGE CEDRIC METCALF CHARITABLE FOUNDATION (C$50,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
Against its field
WORD-PLAY: READING IN THE CITY's revenue fell 87% between 2017 and 2023.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,005 support of schools and education nonprofits under $100k, FY2023
Three funders worth looking at
Grantmakers with no record of funding this organization, ranked by how strongly the co-funder graph and the mission embeddings agree. The evidence is in section 03.
- Copernicus Lodge Auxiliarylocal
- The Lewitt Family Foundationportfolio match
- The Peter and Eleanor Daniels Foundationportfolio match
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
38% of WORD-PLAY: READING IN THE CITY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (87% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 2 funders, grant income fell C$14k → C$763.
From the CRA filings of WORD-PLAY: READING IN THE CITY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024 is still being filed and is shown unshaded; it does not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
WORD-PLAY: READING IN THE CITY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 41% of grant income and the top three 95%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
100% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund WORD-PLAY: READING IN THE CITY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 64% · 2018 61% · 2019 52% · 2020 50% · 2021 66% · 2022 100% · 2023 69% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024 is still being filed and is shown unshaded; it does not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
100% of WORD-PLAY: READING IN THE CITY's grant income comes from Ontario funders.
In-province vs out-of-province, by year
Funder regions come from each funder’s own filing. C$35k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 region is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024 is still being filed and is shown unshaded; it does not move any figure on this page.
Funders to approach
Grantmakers that don’t fund you yet, surfaced two ways: they back organizations that share your funders, or their grantees resemble your mission. The ones both signals agree on come first. Your 5 funders put you under-funded among the 400 organizations that share them.
- Copernicus Lodge AuxiliarylocalON · funds 2 organizations near you
- The Lewitt Family Foundationportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- The Peter and Eleanor Daniels Foundationportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- The Leonard Charitiesportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- The Fyfe Foundationportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- The Lewis Cohen Family Foundationportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Havergal Collegeportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- The Marjorie and Joseph Wright Memorial Foundationportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Johansen-Larsen Foundationportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- McLean Smits Family Foundationportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Toronto Parks and Trees Foundationportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Homeless Connect TorontolocalON · funds 2 organizations near you
From the co-funder graph (funders backing at least two comparable organizations, shrunk for grantee count, donor-advised and mega-funds excluded) and the universe embeddings. A research starting point; overlap is association, not a guarantee of fit.
Organizations like WORD-PLAY: READING IN THE CITY
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every charity on the CRA register — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Ontario
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own T3010 return, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
96% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Questions and answers
- Who funds WORD-PLAY: READING IN THE CITY?
- WORD-PLAY: READING IN THE CITY (Ontario) receives grants from 5 organizations whose Canada Revenue Agency filings report C$122,533 to it, the largest being THE GEORGE CEDRIC METCALF CHARITABLE FOUNDATION (C$50,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WORD-PLAY: READING IN THE CITY have?
- Canada Revenue Agency filings report 5 organizations giving C$122,533 in grants to WORD-PLAY: READING IN THE CITY, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WORD-PLAY: READING IN THE CITY?
- THE GEORGE CEDRIC METCALF CHARITABLE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with C$50,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WORD-PLAY: READING IN THE CITY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Ontario.
These figures are read directly from the CRA's published T3010 data: this organization’s own return for FY2023 (financials across 2017–2023), and the filings of 5 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported September 23, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · View the T3010 on the CRA register