Here are the Ontario Public Guardian and Trustee’s Tips for Managing Fundraising Risks. Tips for Managing Fundraising Risks Directors and trustees who wish to avoid complaints about a charity’s fundraising practices and the use of charitable property should follow the…
Here is a copy of the Annotated T3010B from CLIP. It will be updated periodically to include different information from different sources. The Charity Law Information Program (CLIP) is a project of Capacity Builders, funded by the Canada Revenue Agency.…
Imagine Canada just released “A Proposal to Implement Voluntary Standards of Excellence in Canada’s Voluntary Sector”.
I recently read a short article by Adam Rothwell of Intelligent Giving in the UK. He argues that UK charities are not very transparent. I am not sure that the situation is any different here in Canada. In an article…
CRA has just published a reminder to charities that “Issuing receipts Caution: Gifts of services. A registered charity is not permitted to issue an official donation receipt for a gift of service. At law, a gift is a voluntary transfer…
David Baines, a reporter with the Vancouver Sun, recently wrote an article on a telemarketing firm Xentel DM Inc.. It is entitled “Charity fundraisers not so charitable”. The article is at or http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:nNTR88K0xPUJ:www.vancouversun.com/story_print.html%3Fid%3D1450998%26sponsor%3D+xentel+vancouver+sun&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca
I recently read a draft paper entitled Regulating Self-Regulation in the Charitable Sector: Innovation or Contradiction? by Susan D. Phillips, Professor and Director of the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carlton University. It is very well written and…
[Here is CRA’s 2012 updated fundraising guidance information – ] CRA has just released its Guidance on Fundraising by Canadian charities. You can see the document in English at: and in French at: It is 35 pages…
Cassels Brock & Blackwell has just been hit with a major lawsuit over a tax shelter scheme. Here is a copy of the Statement of Claim in Lipson v Cassels Brock Blackwell LLP. None of the allegations in the statement…
Here is a “Checklist for Charities on Avoiding Terrorist Abuse” put out by the Charity Directorate of Canada Revenue Agency. It is a concise and helpful tool for charities to use to ensure that their resources are not misused by…
What are the hallmarks of a good charity. Boy that is hard. Easier to know what are the hallmarks of a bad charity. Well luckily the UK Charity Commission has come up with the following 6 hallmarks for a good…
There is an interesting article in a newsletter entitled Global Trends in NGO Law published by the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law. In this article it discusses how many countries are restricting charities and philanthropists from funding projects or operating…
According to CRA In 2008, the value of charity tax shelter gifting arrangements has been reduced by 1/2. This is an important victory for CRA in curbing some of the more extreme charity tax shelter arrangements. At the 2009 National…
The Canadian legal and philanthropic publication The Philanthropist is now both online and FREE. You just need to register and will find some very good articles on different issues affecting charities and non-profits in Canada. You can reach the website…
The OECD acknowledges that “a crackdown on tax havens and cross-border tax evasion will help developing countries to raise more revenues to pay for much-needed schools, roads and hospitals…” The OECD also says that “improving the effectiveness of developing countries’…
The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed an appeal with costs by the Choson Kallah Fund of Toronto to a Federal Court of Appeal decision which I had written on previously at: CRA Revokes Choson Kallah Fund of Toronto as…
Here is a copy of a draft paper delivered by Terry de March, Director General of the Charities Directorate, at a conference in Australia. At some point in the future, CRA may have a consultation on this topic and the…
In the recent Federal Court of Appeal case Universal Aide Society v Minister of National Revenue, 2009 FCA 107 (F.C.A. Apr 02, 2009), the court denied an injunction by the charity to prevent the CRA from publishing a Notice of…
The Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn announces an investment of $3.1 million to assist small and rural charities understand their legal and compliance requirements Charities and Partnership Outreach Program The Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn announces an investment of $3.1 million to assist small…
The Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) recently dealt with a case called The Millennium Charitable Foundation (The Millennium Charitable Foundation vs. MNR 2008 FCA 414). In The Millennium Charitable Foundation case the law firm of Miller Thomson LLP, which represented…
The Canadian Bar Association and Ontario Bar Association Charity and Not-for-Profit Law Sections and the Continuing Legal Education Committee are presenting the 2009 National Charity Law Symposium. You can come and hear me speak about what’s new with foreign activities…
CRA just put out a easy to read and understand list of “Factors that will prevent an organization from being registered as a charity”. Perhaps CRA put out this list because with 4000 new organizations putting in applications every year…
For those interested in celebrating National Avoid a Charity Scam Day you might find this interesting.
Here is some statistical information on Charity Scams – Costing Us All A Lot. Just to give some perspective far more funds flow to charity tax avoidance schemes in Canada than to all the money spent by Canadian charities on…