January 2010
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/31/2010 |
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It may take a while to know the full story but so far the headlines are “Baptist group accused of child-trafficking in Haiti ” http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/haiti/baptist-group-accused-of-child-trafficking-in-haiti/article1450829/ or “Haiti ‘orphans’ case: Misunderstanding or kidnap?” from the BBC.
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/27/2010 |
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Canadian Charity Law
Here is a reminder from the Charities Directorate of CRA that one registered charity should not issue an official donation receipt to another registered charity. So for example if a foundation gives another registered charity funds the recipient charity does not provide an official donation receipt.
Here is the schedule for Being Good at Doing Good: Safeguarding Yourself and your Charity in a Complex World. There is an amazing line up of speakers. CLIP_Conference_Schedule.pdf Check out the topics and speakers and register while you can at http://www.capacitybuilders.ca/clip/conference/index.php for the early bird rate for this CLIP conference. Here is a flyer if you want to circulate to your charities, their boards, volunteers and staff. Flyer for Being Good at Doing Good
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/25/2010 |
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The telethon had 2.4 million viewers and raised over $20 million dollars.
For information on the conference see: http://www.capacitybuilders.ca/clip/conference/index.php The conference is sponsored by the Canada Revenue Agency and I am helping Capacity Builders organize this charity conference.
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/25/2010 |
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The Canadian Government recently announced that they will be lifting the cap of $50 million for matching funds.
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/24/2010 |
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This article by Laura Payton is particularly timely.
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/22/2010 |
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Earthquake in Haiti: Québec Announces That Donations Made by February 28, 2010 Will Be Deductible in 2009
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/21/2010 |
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Here are some suggestions for donating to a Canadian charity in a disaster such as we recently saw in Haiti.
Here is a press release from the law firm Scarfone Hawkins LLP on this case. The defendants are Rochester Financial Limited, Promittere Capital Group Inc., Promittere Asset Management Ltd., Banyan Tree Foundation and national law firm Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP. Here is the Scarfone Hawkins LLP press release dated Jan 21 2010. Here is a copy of the Reasons for Decision of Justice Lax dated January 19 2010
To help with Haiti Relief the Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency will temporarily be working on weekends “Note: As a temporary measure, the Charities Directorate is providing additional telephone service for donors and charities who want information about donations toward earthquake relief in Haiti. The telephone service is now extended to weekends, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time.” This is an excellent idea and will be helpful to many Canadians. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/whtsnw/tms/rthqk-haiti-eng.html
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/19/2010 |
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Here is copy of Section 168 of the Canadian Income Tax Act which deals with revoking registration of a registered charity or RCAAA. Registration can be revoked for a number of differrent reasons.
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/19/2010 |
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Recently a US Report on major embezzlements by Marquet International was released. The report covers only one type of fraud namely embezzlement or the misappropriation of resources by an employee or agent of an organization for his or her own purposes. What is interesting is first the high number of non-profits who suffer from embezzlements. “Non-profit and religious organizations accounted for more than 11 percent of all the incidents, consistent with our 2008 findings.”
Here is some useful information from the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs on why it is better to donate cash rather than goods during a disaster.
The Haiti Earthquake shows quite vividly how difficult and complicated international charitable activities can be. From logistical issues to security, careful planning, preparation and having the requisite experience and people on the ground are important. At an upcoming conference in Toronto called Being Good at Doing Good (http://www.capacitybuilders.ca/clip/conference/index.php), supported by the Canada Revenue Agency, there will be extensive discussion of how charities must be careful to maximize their organization’s effectiveness and prevent your resources from being misused both locally and internationally. There will be a number of excellent speakers and topics on the difficulties and requirements for international operations and some of them will incorporate updates and lessons learned from Haiti.
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/16/2010 |
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Keep the lines and internet sites busy. Donate to reputable, experienced, knowledgeable Canadian aid organizations that already have operations in Haiti such as the members of the Humanitarian Coalition (http://www.thehumanitariancoalition.ca/) or Doctors Without Borders Canada (http://www.msf.ca/) Here is an article on the outpouring of support by Canadian donors.
Here is a CBC article on how scammers and cyber criminals are trying to exploit the generosity of people. Save yourself the disappointment and embarrassment and if you are interested in helping people in Haiti donate to an experienced Canadian aid organization that has operations in Haiti such as the members of the Humanitarian Coalition (http://www.thehumanitariancoalition.ca/) or Doctors Without Borders Canada (http://www.msf.ca/)
Here is some information from CIDA with respect to their Haiti donation matching program
http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/acdi-cida/ACDI-CIDA.nsf/eng/JOS-114172324-U9P
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/15/2010 |
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New corporate non-profit acts
Here is a link to a PDF document from the BC Ministry of Finance on the BC Society Act Review http://www.fin.gov.bc.ca/society_act_review.pdf The document raises a number of important policy issues with non-profit corporate law that may be of interest to even those outside of BC.
One release is a caution encouraging Canadians to be an informed donor and see part of the CRA website on being an informed donor. The other is a reminder that in a disaster the urge by some to set up a new organization may not be the best course of action may be to donate or help “existing qualified donees (e.g., other registered charities) that have the experience, resources, and infrastructures already in place to respond rapidly and effectively in such locations.” http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/whtsnw/tms/rthqk-haiti-eng.html I very much agree with such advice.
There are many different ways that you can help. One way is to make a donation to the Humanitarian Coalition. The Humanitarian Coalition is comprised of CARE Canada, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam-Québec and Save the Children Canada. These four agencies are working together to address the devastation caused by the earthquake. http://www.thehumanitariancoalition.ca/
The CRA put out a Tax Alert today - they identified that in the last fiscal year (2008-2009) they had “reassessed over 20,000 individuals who had participated in at least 1 of 20 unacceptable tax shelter gifting arrangements.” Also they noted in the Tax Alert that when they prosecuted for fraud or tax evasion “Convictions were obtained in 98% of the cases prosecuted.” If you have been bamboozled by a charity gifting tax shelter promoter consider making a voluntary disclosure under the VDP.
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/12/2010 |
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I will be speaking on “Ensuring Good Board Governance and Basic Legal Compliance for a Canadian Foundation” at the 7th Annual Foundation, Endowment & Not For Profit Investment Summit organized by the Strategy Institute http://www.strategyinstitute.com/021710_feni7/Foundation_2010.pdf
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/07/2010 |
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As of 2009 Canadian charities need to file the T3010B form for year ends after January 1, 2009. For almost all charities they have no more use for the T3010A. CRA has removed the old T3010A form because so many charities were mistakenly filing the t3010A when in fact they should be filing the T3010B Anyway there are reasons that one may want to look at a T3010A including if you are making application for reregistration and you are required to complete the T3010A or you are wondering about the CRA database and what number aligns with what question. Anyway CRA has done a good job hiding the form to keep it away from you those who might mistakenly use it. Here is a copy of the T3010A if you require http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/formspubs/prioryear/t3010a/README.html
The preliminary schedule for Being Good at Doing Good: Safeguarding Yourself and your Charity in a Complex World was released today http://www.capacitybuilders.ca/clip/conference/documents/PreliminarySchedule.pdf Check out the topics and speakers and register while you can for this CLIP conference.
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/06/2010 |
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The Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency has put an open call for people to comment on existing policies and guidance of the Charities Directorate. For a number of years the CRA engaged in extensive consultation with the sector and this is a continuation of that effort.
Through the Charity Law Information Program I will be delivering over 30 online webinars over the next two months. They are priced at $25 per webinar. The webinars are listed at http://www.capacitybuilders.ca/clip Here is a coupon code xq42k that allows you to register for free for any webinar as long as the registration takes place before February 1, 2010. http://www.capacitybuilders.ca/clip/clip.php
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/06/2010 |
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The CRA has updated its guide P113 Gifts and Income Tax for 2009. For the document see http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/p113/README.html This document will be of interest to donors, their professional advisors and charities.
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/03/2010 |
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My CanadianCharity channel on Twitter is growing rapidly. I have 117 people following me (and most are not even family) You can access it at http://twitter.com/canadiancharity It covers legal, ethical and practical issues with charities in Canada. A great way to keep up to date if you have a Twitter account. Some other ways of keeping up to date are to join CRA’s mailing list at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/esrvc-srvce/mllst/sbscrbchrts-eng.html (it takes exactly 4.5 seconds). You can also join the Blumbergs Charity Law mailing list at http://www.globalphilanthropy.ca/index.php/pages/subscribe/ for monthly updates. It takes about 10 seconds to sign up - well worth the investment of time! [I now have 145 followers on Twitter as Jan 18, 2010]
