Many Canadian charities have an object that allows them to make gifts to qualified donees. Some charities only have that object, and that is the only object they can use while others may have that object along with other objects. Some charities may not have a gifts to qualified donees object, but they still may be able to make gifts to qualified donees based on their other objects.
Having a gift to qualified donee clause can be a very powerful tool for grantmaking, and some charities use it to disburse tens of millions of dollars a year. It does, however, have a number of limitations if you are looking for flexibility and innovation.
While, in essence, making a gift to a qualified donee may seem like a simple proposition, there are actually a number of complexities and rules in this area. Furthermore, changes introduced to the Income Tax Act (Canada) in June 2022 make some gifts to qualified donees more complicated and potentially risky.
In this 1-hr course, we will discuss the following:
- Who should care about objects?
- Why even have a course on this?
- What is a gift to qualified donee clause?
- Statistics
- Charity Law Basics
- Designation – Private, Public and Charitable Org.
- Every charity is different
- Two Examples of Grantmaking
- What is a Qualified Donee?
- Legal Objects/Purposes
- Purposes vs. Activities
- Not all “gifts” to QDs are actually gifts
- How do you know if an organization is a qualified donee?
- Changes to objects when already registered charity
- Corporate Changes Such as ONCA
- Are your assets restricted?
- Disbursement Quota
- What are you spending money on?
- Anti-Avoidance and Designated Gifts
- Conduits
- Directed Donations
This course will be of interest to those who are involved with governance and grantmaking at Canadian registered charities, especially foundations that only have a qualified donee object.
It will also be of help to professional advisors, such as lawyers, accountants, investment advisors, and others who work with Canadian registered charities and want to understand their regulatory obligations as it relates to grantmaking and making gifts to qualified donees.