Canada’s Children’s Hospital Foundations

What Canada’s Children’s Hospital Foundations does

Canada's Children's Hospital Foundations (CCHF) is a Canadian not-for-profit organization established in 2017 and headquartered in Toronto that operates as the largest single non-government funder of child health in Canada. It functions as an umbrella coordinating body for a national network of 13 independent children's hospital foundations spanning British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Maritimes (Nova Scotia). CCHF manages and operates Children's Miracle Network in Canada, running three peer-to-peer sub-programs — Extra Life (gamer-led fundraising), Play Yellow (golf events with Jack and Barbara Nicklaus), and Dance Marathon (student-led) — alongside seasonal corporate campaigns such as Walmart Canada's Spark a Miracle, Dairy Queen's Miracle Treat Day, and 7-Eleven's Giving Tuesday cookie fundraiser. Revenue flows to CCHF from long-term national retail and corporate partnerships (Walmart Canada, Costco, 7-Eleven, Sobeys, RE/MAX, The Brick, People's Jewellers, DQ, IHOP, Lids), multi-year philanthropic commitments (Sobey Foundation, TD Bank Group's 10-year adolescent-health pledge, Thistledown Foundation's $26M gift), and direct individual donations processed through the DonorDrive platform integrated with PayPal Braintree and Extra Life infrastructure. All designated donations remain local to the relevant member hospital foundation.

The underlying technology stack is built around an online donation and partner-enablement platform rather than internally developed AI. The public donation infrastructure runs on DonorDrive (with PayPal Braintree and Extra Life as payment partners), is hosted on WordPress, and is bilingual EN/FR with WCAG accessibility conformance and Quebec Law 25 compliance. CCHF's strategic differentiation at the network level is its funded research portfolio — including the ThinkRare AI algorithm at CHEO (reported 71% diagnostic accuracy for pediatric rare diseases vs. 33% conventional), the KidSONO pediatric point-of-care ultrasound training platform, the OLINK Proteomics Platform at Children's Hospital London, the Translational Genomics Hub at WCHRI/Stollery, and SickKids' Health Equity Data Initiative — though these capabilities are built and operated by member hospitals, not by CCHF itself.

CCHF's go-to-market is a partnership-led model: it sells national purpose-driven campaigns to large Canadian corporations (long-term checkout-counter fundraising, employee engagement through Extra Life, payroll deduction), while relying on its member foundations to handle local donor stewardship. Pricing is non-commercial (donation-based with flexible amounts and tax receipts); there are no subscription tiers or per-seat fees. Leadership comprises President and CEO Adam Starkman (who succeeded Mark Hierlihy), VP of Marketing, Engagement & Analytics Brady Hambleton, and Board Chair Jennifer Gillivan (President & CEO of the IWK Foundation). In 2025, the network raised more than $62 million CAD across its 13 member foundations.

Name

Canada’s Children’s Hospital Foundations

Legal name

Canada's Children's Hospital Foundations

Website

https://childrenshospitals.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Canada's Children's Hospital Foundations (CCHF) is a Toronto-based not-for-profit (founded 2017) that coordinates fundraising for a national network of 13 Canadian children's hospital foundations, manages Children's Miracle Network in Canada, and runs national corporate and peer-to-peer campaigns such as Walmart Canada's Spark a Miracle and Extra Life.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pediatric Healthcare Philanthropy

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132)

akta.pro primary industry

Health & Medical Research Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Corporate Foundations & CSR Grantmaking (BPAGAKAC), Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

Keywords

• Pediatric healthcare fundraising
• Children's hospital philanthropy
• Corporate charity partnerships
• Peer-to-peer fundraising programs
• Nonprofit healthcare donations

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Corporate Partnership / Co-branded In-store Fundraising: Long-term national partnerships with major retailers (Walmart, 7-Eleven, Costco, DQ, The Brick, People's Jewellers, Lids, Sobeys, IHOP, etc.) where customers donate at checkout, round up transactions or purchase specific products. 100% of donations stay local to the relevant hospital foundation. Example: Walmart Spark a Miracle raised $5.7M in 2024 and $230M+ since 1994.
2. Direct Individual Donations (Online, Phone, Mail): Undesignated donations collected year-round via DonorDrive online portal, phone and mail. 60% of undesignated donations historically arrive in Q4. Donations support member hospital foundations in addressing urgent pediatric needs.
3. Specialty CMN Programs (Extra Life, Play Yellow, Dance Marathon): Year-round peer-to-peer fundraising programs: Extra Life gaming marathons (USD $132M+ raised globally since 2008), Play Yellow golf events (with Jack and Barbara Nicklaus / PGA), Dance Marathon (high school and postsecondary). Participants register and raise pledges through personal fundraising pages.
4. Multi-Year Strategic Giving Initiatives (A Family of Support, TD Adolescent Health): Long-term national initiatives with marquee donors such as Sobey Foundation and Sobeys Inc. (A Family of Support: Child & Youth Mental Health Initiative, $3M+ since 2020) and TD Bank Group (10-year commitment to adolescent health). These provide multi-year recurring funding.
5. Major Gifts / Capital Gifts from Private Foundations: Major one-time gifts from private foundations such as the Thistledown Foundation ($26 million gift to Canada's children's hospitals). Provide large lump-sum capital support.
6. Payroll Deduction Programs: Workplace payroll giving in support of Children's Miracle Network, where donor personal information is shared only with the selected local hospital foundation and the employer.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Core offering

Canada's Children's Hospital Foundations (CCHF) is a national not-for-profit umbrella organization that raises funds for a network of 13 children's hospital foundations across Canada, operating Children's Miracle Network (CMN) in Canada. It enables national corporate partners to run purpose-driven campaigns (Walmart, Costco, 7-Eleven, Sobeys, RE/MAX, DQ, IHOP, The Brick, Lids, People's Jewellers) and runs peer-to-peer sub-programs (Extra Life, Play Yellow, Dance Marathon), directing 100% of designated donations to the relevant local member hospital foundation.

Product overview

Canada's Children's Hospital Foundations (CCHF) is a not-for-profit umbrella organization (established 2017) that operates a platform-plus-modules architecture: the core service is the CCHF Partnership Program and Member Foundations Network connecting national corporate partners with the 13-member children's hospital foundation network, and on top of this it manages and operates Children's Miracle Network (CMN) in Canada. Children's Miracle Network is the umbrella fundraising brand, under which three sub-program modules are offered — Extra Life (gamer-led fundraising since 2008), Play Yellow (Nicklaus/PGA golf fundraising), and Dance Marathon (student-led fundraising) — together with seasonal corporate campaigns such as Spark a Miracle (Walmart), Giving Tuesday, and Miracle Treat Day (Dairy Queen). Annual flagship outputs include the CCHF Impact Report (2025 edition reporting $62M+ raised) and the DonorDrive/PayPal Braintree-powered donation website that lets donors transact against local member hospitals and Extra Life events.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Extra Life: A Children's Miracle Network program that unites gamers in 24-hour gaming marathons to raise funds for children's hospitals; managed by CCHF in Canada and has raised over $132 million USD since 2008.
• Play Yellow
• Dance Marathon

Products and services

• Children's Miracle Network (Canada) National fundraising brand managed and operated in Canada by CCHF that raises funds and awareness for 13 children's hospital foundations across Canada; every dollar stays local to support critical treatments, pediatric equipment, and life-saving research. Encompasses partner campaigns (Walmart, Costco, 7-Eleven, DQ, IHOP, The Brick, Lids, etc.) and programs such as Extra Life, Play Yellow, and Dance Marathon.
• Extra Life Year-round CMN program since 2008 that unites gamers in 24-hour gaming marathons, livestreams, tabletop RPGs, and board games to raise funds for their local children's hospital. Has cumulatively raised over $132 million USD across North America and is integrated as a donation/event platform via extra-life.org.
• Play Yellow Golf-focused CMN initiative alongside Jack and Barbara Nicklaus and the PGA that raises unrestricted funds for children's hospital foundations through local courses, golf pros, celebrities, and pediatric ambassadors.
• Dance Marathon Student-led CMN movement involving high school and postsecondary students across Canada, organizing dance marathons to raise critical funding for children's hospitals.
• CCHF Partnership Program National partnership offering for corporations, enabling high-profile purpose-driven campaigns across Canada that engage employees and customers while raising funds for the 13 children's hospital foundations in CCHF's network. Tied to programs including Spark a Miracle (Walmart), Giving Tuesday, Miracle Treat Day (Dairy Queen), and Extra Life.

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability1 record

Feature7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation: CCHF member foundation for Alberta (Edmonton). Comparable donor base, event programming, and corporate partner roster; an in-network regional foundation with a similar fundraising scale and mission.
• Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation: CCHF member foundation for Calgary and southern Alberta. Operates a comparable mix of corporate partnerships, individual giving, and peer-to-peer programs; home of the KidSONO pediatric ultrasound training platform referenced in CCHF materials.
• IWK Foundation: CCHF member foundation for the Maritime provinces (Nova Scotia). Comparable regional pediatric fundraising operation; the IWK Foundation's CEO (Jennifer Gillivan) also serves as CCHF Board Chair, illustrating the close governance overlap.
• SickKids Foundation: One of CCHF's 13 member foundations and Canada's largest pediatric hospital fundraising organization. Competes for the same donor pool and corporate partnerships at the local level, and runs parallel research-funding and capital-campaign programs.
• BC Children's Hospital Foundation: CCHF member foundation serving British Columbia's pediatric hospital. Operates independent major-gift, monthly-donor, and event fundraising programs that compete with CCHF national campaigns for the same Western Canadian donor base.
• CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation: CCHF member foundation for Quebec's largest pediatric hospital. Comparable pediatric health fundraising mandate with a French-language donor base; operates within CCHF's bilingual national framework.
• CHEO Foundation: CCHF member foundation for Eastern Ontario. Comparable fundraising scope, donor development approach, and corporate partnership structure; directly comparable as a regional pediatric hospital foundation within the CCHF network.
• Children's Miracle Network (U.S.): The parent U.S. organization of the Children's Miracle Network brand that CCHF operates in Canada. Operates the same fundraising model (Extra Life, Dance Marathon, Play Yellow) and corporate partner playbook across North American children's hospitals, making it the most direct functional peer.

Broad incumbents

• Ronald McDonald House Charities Canada: National pediatric-focused charity that, like CCHF, raises funds through corporate partnerships (McDonald's), individual donations, and major gifts. Operates a broader family-services mandate rather than direct hospital funding, making it an adjacent incumbent in pediatric healthcare philanthropy.
• United Way Canada: Largest federated workplace-giving campaign operator in Canada. Competes with CCHF for payroll deduction and corporate partnership dollars, and for HNW/major-gift attention across the same donor universe, though its mandate extends well beyond pediatric health.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/childrenshospitals.ca
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cchf-childrens-hospitals
• Instagraminstagram.com/childrenshospitals.ca
• Xx.com/cchfoundations

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Canada’s Children’s Hospital Foundations