January 19, 2010

Canadian charities and embezzlement - when the river runs dry, the jagged rocks are revealed

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.”

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January 18, 2010

Why donate cash rather than goods in a crisis -some good thoughts from DFAIT

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.

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January 16, 2010

Haiti Earthquake highlights difficulties for Canadian charities conducting international operations

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.

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Outpouring of support for Haiti by Canadians so great that charity servers are crashing!!

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.

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Donating to Haitian Earthquake Relief - beware of charity scams taking advantage of the situation

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/)

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January 15, 2010

CIDA’s Key Facts about the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund -are your charity’s donations being matched

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

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BC Society Act review in 2010 - comments requested by April 2010

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.

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January 13, 2010

CRA puts out two releases related to Haiti Earthquake - be an informed donor

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. 

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Haiti Earthquake - How you can help - It does not help to wait!

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/

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January 12, 2010

CRA issues Tax Alert on Voluntary Disclosure Program - “Come to us, before we go to you”

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. 

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