Avoiding ‘Charity’ Scams

With generous tax benefits and 86,000 charities, it’s not surprising that some people try to abuse the system. Blumberg’s SmartGiving.ca helps Canadians understand how to avoid being duped by a charity scam. We also help foundations, philanthropists and corporations with grantmaking and due diligence on charities.

CRA’s Charities Listing vs. Blumbergs’ Charity Data 2020

With changes in May 2019 in which CRA removed about 10 years of public information from the Charities Listing, the differences between the CRA’s Charities Listing and the Blumbergs’ CharityData.ca portal have grown. This article will try to show you…

Blumbergs’ COVID-19 FAQs for Registered Charities and Non-profits

Blumbergs will soon be releasing a large number of FAQ pages on our website specifically for common questions and issues affecting Canadian registered charities and non-profit corporations during the COVID-19 crisis.  In the meantime, here are some of the FAQs…

Blumbergs’ Canadian Charity Law Boot Camp 2020 -now online

Blumbergs is pleased to announce that we will be hosting Blumbergs’ Canadian Charity Law Boot Camp again on Monday, April 20, 2020. An easy enough date to remember!   This is a one-day boot camp on compliance and standards issues for…

Class action lawsuit certified for GLGI donation scheme

The Canadian Lawyer has an article Class action certified for “sham” charitable donation tax scheme.  It discusses the class action lawsuit against a number of defendants dealing with the “Global Learning Gifting Initiative Charitable Donation Program” and how that class…

Australian Wildfires and Canadian donors

We all see from the media the terrible wildfires in Australia.  Some Canadian donors or charities have wanted to assist with the relief and recovery efforts as well as research and prevention.  Here are a few thoughts specific to the…

The war on philanthropy that does not exist, apparently continues!

The Wall Street Journal on January 8, 2020 in an opinion piece entitled “The War on Philanthropy:  Private giving achieves what government can’t—which is why authoritarians hate it” basically provides an unabashed defence of philanthropy and response to those who…

Dramatic changes to the CRA Charities Listing

CRA has recently updated its Charities Listing and the most notable change is the fact that they have reduced the amount of information available on each Canadian registered charity. The Charities Listing used to have up to 15 years of data…

Fundamentals of Receipting by Canadian Charities

Properly issuing official donation receipts has been challenging for many registered charities.  According to the CRA, 89% of registered charities that are audited by CRA are not correctly issuing official donation receipts.  Issuing incorrect receipts can result in revocation or…

Fundamentals of the T3010 and Transparency for Canadian Charities

Every year Canadian registered charities must file the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return with the Charities Directorate of CRA. In June 2019 Canadian registered charities will be able to file the T3010 online which will make the process easier and…

Canadian Charity Legal Checklist by Mark Blumberg – April 2019

Here is our new Canadian Charity Legal Checklist.  For those who are interested in reviewing legal compliance for their registered charity, they may find the checklist helpful.   If you require legal assistance and wish to retain our law firm then please…

CFA Society of Toronto 2019 Wealth Conference

I will be speaking at the CFA Society of Toronto 2019 Wealth Conference on May 1, 2019 dealing with the topic ​”Professional Advisors and Philanthropy: Helping clients and yourself navigate philanthropy”.  You can register for the program here.  Here is the…