Grantmaking

Over the last 15 years, our firm has developed many resources to assist funders in their giving and to bring more transparency to the charity sector, including:

• our SmartGiving.ca website – provides information to donors and grantmakers on due diligence and gifts to charities;
• our CharityData.ca portal – the largest portal of data in Canada on the Canadian charity system, with information on all Canadian registered charities dating back 19 years;
• our CanadianCharityLaw.ca website – includes over 2,600 blogs, including many relating to transparency, grantmaking, due diligence, compliance, and governance; and
• our collection of extensive Access to Information and Privacy requests on the charitable sector, and publication of hundreds of CRA letters regarding problematic charities that have been revoked as a result of a CRA audit.

At Blumbergs, our lawyers and consultants have extensive experience in reviewing charities and their operations.  Mark Blumberg has worked on compliance issues in the charity sector for almost 30 years.

In addition, over the last two decades, our firm has worked with many large charities, philanthropists, foundations, and government departments to assist with due diligence on non-profits and charities.

Areas that we can assist within the grantmaking space include:

• Development of internal grantmaking policies;
• Changes to governing documents to allow for greater flexibility in grantmaking;
• Governance and approvals processes;
• Board and staff education on compliance requirements and grantmaking
• Due diligence on grantees (whether qualified donees or non-qualified donees) including reviewing T3010 annual forms and financial statements;
• Reviewing grant application processes;
• Negotiations relating to gifts;
• Preparing and modifying gift agreements and template gift agreements;
• Preparing grant agreements with non-qualified donees (such as non-profits or foreign charities) and other measures of control that need to be in place;
• Establishing a reporting framework for grantees;
• Investment and payout issues;
• Advising on system requirements for maintaining books and records; and
• General compliance issues relating to the operation of registered charities.

We work with our clients to understand issues that are of importance to them and to establish an appropriate due diligence model. Different clients have varying sensitivities to different issues – including legal, practical, and reputational issues. We also try to work out a budget that is appropriate for the needs of the client. In some cases, our clients have significant staff or resources that they can use, and our role is more to assist them with the due diligence model and to evaluate certain issues that may arise out of their own due diligence. In other cases, where clients have minimal staff, we can assist them with the whole grantmaking process.

If you wish to retain our law firm to assist your charity or foundation with grantmaking, you can contact us.

Grantmaking Top Resources

• • Restricted Gifts – Managing the Opportunities and Dangers of Restricted Charitable Gifts  (Online Course)
  • Canadian Charities Working with Non-Charities in Canada (Online Course)
  • Foreign Activities and Canadian Charities (Online Course)
  • New CRA Guidance on Grants to Grantees: Some preliminary comments
  • Some initial issues for a new Canadian grantmaking foundation
  • Top Fallacies about Canadian Private Foundations in Canada in 2022
  • Dramatic changes to charity audits by CRA over the last few years
  • Grantmaking in Canada can be improved immensely but eliminating structured arrangements is dangerous and a red herring to the real problems with our sector
  • Canadian charities giving to Indigenous Charities and Qualified Donees – 2018
  • Canadian charities giving to Indigenous Charities and Qualified Donees – 2019
  • Report “Unfunded: Black Communities Overlooked by Canadian Philanthropy” released – shows miniscule funding of Black groups
  • Trying to do grantmaking in Canada better
  • What is a Qualified donee under the Income Tax Act Canada in 2020? How many are there?
  • Blumbergs’ Canadian Charity Legal Checklist for Working with Intermediaries in Canada
  • Canadian Charities Working with Non-Charities in Canada – A Very Simplified View of the Process
  • Finance Proposes Changes to Disbursement Quota for Charities and Some Increased Transparency