La Leche League Canada 2019 Annual Report
Signed Statement Financial Position
please note due to distance this is the unsigned document
pdf copy available; 2018-19 Annual Report
Message from the Board
Our volunteer Leaders across Canada have continued to serve families in their communities hosting their monthly meetings, helping correspondence via phone and email, outreach in community interactions, and now more on social media channels. Our volunteers are the core of our services. We are building a stronger organisation that has the support and resources our volunteers need in order to help the families in their communities.
The 2018-2019 fiscal year theme was Equity and Inclusion for La Leche League Canada (LLLC). LLLC introduced an Equity and Inclusion Policy, guidelines on inclusive language, and has begun to hold discussions with our parent organisation La Leche League International (LLLI) regarding our experience and how to lead changes at the international level as well. We always strive to support our volunteer Leaders, and felt that focusing on Equity and Inclusion was long overdue, so we focused solely on this one topic over the past year.
Last year we began streamlining and looking for efficiencies in our day-to-day operations and expenditures. This enabled us in 2019 to review our bookkeeping accounts to better see trends in expenses as well as fundraising to move our efforts forward where they are most needed and most effective.
Since the introduction of our Equity and Inclusion Policy last July, we have learned a lot about ourselves as an organisation, our history, and where we must change and grow. Equity and inclusion may be one of the most difficult topics to manage as an organisation, but one that we see as necessary to meet the needs of supporting all Canadian families. We are grateful to our volunteers who have supported our goals and embraced the recent changes. We hope that this annual report shows our commitment to being an open, honest, and transparent organisation with a full commitment to Equity and Inclusion for the future.
Jennifer Iwata - LLLC Board Chair
Who we are
La Leche League Canada is a registered non-profit that provides mother-to-mother/parent-to-parent/peer support for pregnant women, new parents and beyond. We are parents like you who have breastfed or chestfed our own children and now volunteer to support others to reach their goals. As volunteer Leaders we are accredited within La Leche League Canada after a detailed training program and have access to current scientific and legal information to help support others.
Connection and respect are at the heart of what we do and we strive to ensure that all families are welcomed and reflected in every aspect of La Leche League Canada, including in our volunteer Leaders. We believe that nobody knows your baby or family better than you and that everyone deserves the right circle of support in which to raise their children.
La Leche League Canada is a national registered Canadian charity and part of a global organization, La Leche League International (LLLI), LLLC has been supporting families in Canada for over fifty years.
What we do
In person, by phone, online, and in informal Group meetings our volunteer Leaders will be there to support you by providing evidence-based information on breastfeeding and human milk. We live and parent in the communities we serve and tailor programs to the needs of each community.
Our goal of supporting parents in raising happy, healthy children in every Canadian province and territory is shared by the health care system. LLLC contributes to this common goal by building connections, sharing resources, and providing education programs such as our Health Care Provider seminars across Canada.
There is no cost to receive support from a Leader and all regular informal Group meetings are free of charge.
It is our privilege to support families during the exciting first days, weeks, months and even years of raising children. Welcome - we are here for you.
Where we come from
Our Leaders are located across Canada. Some lead Groups with multiple co-Leaders while others are in more isolated locations running Groups alone.
With today’s technology and globalization we try to ensure all Leaders feel connected to provide the services in their community no matter where they come from.
LLLC Stats *statistics are based on LLLC data as of August 2019
The People
Volunteers are at the heart of what we do. 
The five basic responsibilities of a Leader are:
- lead series meetings with the public
- help others over the phone, in person, or via online communication platforms (facebook, skype, etc.)
- stay up to date with the latest information
- manage their Group activities
- work with Leader Applicants and those considering LLL leadership
During volunteer week in April 2019, LLLC shared some of the letters we received from the mothers, parents, and families whom our volunteer Leaders have helped this past year. We are proud of the commitment our volunteers have to serving the communities in which they live, and we continue to seek opportunities to bring attention to the amazing work that our Leaders do.
Leader Accreditation Department
Initiated 97 new Leader applications
Published 4 issues each of Chrysalis, the LLLC newsletter for Leader Applicants and Butterfly, the LLLC newsletter for the applicants’ supporting Leaders
2018 year in review
April - June
Provided our volunteers with organization wide supported email accounts using individual names and Group names @lllc.ca
Equity and Inclusion Policy passed and rolled out to all of our volunteers and staff
July - September
Everyone enjoyed much needed time off with friends and family this year
October - December 
Hosted Health Professional Seminar full-day workshop on topics such as the Code, addressing conflicts of interest, supplementation of breastfeeding and the infant microbiome
Equity and Inclusion Committee updated the language used on our Group pages for meeting announcements;
Here are the new options available;
- All breastfeeding, chestfeeding, or pregnant parents; and supporters who are women
- Prenatal; expectant parents and supporters
- Everyone welcome; parents and supporters
LLLC Alberta/NWT partnered with the Lethbridge and Westwind Early Years Coalitions to host Deborah MacNamara, a clinical counsellor, educator and author of Rest Play Grow for a Family Conference in Raymond and Lethbridge, Wednesday afternoon, October 3rd the topic was– Gut Feelings, Listening to the Skin Within
Fall Appeal Launched with a goal of $15,000 was surpassed and the final amount received of $23,217
2019
January - March
Secured new firm to perform Annual Financial Review
Reached over 400 health care professionals at the Best Start Health Nexus conference in February and provided information for both La Leche League Canada and Ligue La Leche
Issued newly designed and updated brochures now with more inclusive language
Fundraising 
Fundraising at LLLC is an activity shared by all. At the Group and Area level, Leaders come together at spaghetti dinners, garage sales and clothing swaps to raise money to sustain their Group and Area activities. Leaders work hard to identify and organize events and sales that are profitable, appealing to young families and feasible to deliver with their volunteer teams.
At the national level, our campaigns focus on raising money and in-kind donations to ensure that every Group receives basic funding, regardless of their own fundraising, and to provide shared services and programs that facilitate and support the work of Leaders across Canada. Recognizing that most donors have a long-term relationship to LLLC and that one-time donations still make up the bulk of our fundraising, we refocused our bi-annual appeals this year to all of those with whom we have existing connections.
The Fall Appeal has historically been the most successful campaign each year. This year we focused on helping overcome challenges, and we exceeded our goal by asking our volunteer Leaders to share the campaign across all social media streams, within emails to their Group contacts, and with anyone they have connected with as part of their work serving local families.
Our Leaders give freely of their time and expertise to families and it will always be our commitment that our support and information is available to parents at no cost. Recognizing that the early years of parenthood can be the ones when it is the most difficult to budget for charitable giving, we are grateful for every small donation. We appreciate the ongoing support of those whose parenting journeys and wider communities have benefited from our support over the year.
Financials
| Financial Summary |
2018-2019 |
2017-2018 | % change |
| INCOME | $108,417 | $99,689 | +8.8 |
|
donations & fundraising |
89,640 |
63,843 |
40.4 |
| INCOME EXPENSES | $9,122 | $15,827 | -42.4 |
|
donation & fundraising costs |
1,169 |
0 |
|
| OPERATING EXPENSES | $81,452 | $82,086 | -0.8 |
|
advertising |
242 811 9,733 6,102 23,841 27,105 13,618 |
3,273 1,291 9,841 7,657 16,962 28,764 14,295 |
-92.6 -37.2 -1.0 -20.3 40.4 -5.8 -4.7 |
| NET INCOME | $17,843 | $2,298 | +676.5 |
** Final Reviewed 2018-2019 Financial Statements will be available after the 2019 Annual General Meeting
La Leche League Canada
PO Box 147
