Fundraising Guidance for Registered Charities

Here are a few questions that Canadian charities can ask themselves to understand their fundraising ratios.

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Here are some frequently asked questions about the CRA’s Fundraising Guidance.

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The CRA Fundraising Guidance is an important document for boards of directors to understand and to ensure that their charity complies with the requirements of the fundraising guidance.  Here are some questions that a board of a Canadian charity may wish to ask in relation to the Fundraising Guiance.

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The Ontario Public Guardian and Trustee in its publication Charitable Fundraising: Tips for Directors and Trustees sets out a number factors for charities to consider before signing a fundraising contract.  If the fundraising contract is potentially large or you are uncertain about legal requirements relating to fundraising it may be best to retain a charity lawyer that is knowledgeable about legal requirements for Canadian charities.

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Here is some thoughts on special purpose fundraising from the Ontario Public Guardian and Trustee.

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The CRA notes in its Fundraising Guidance that “Generally, the CRA uses a series of progressive compliance measures. In some cases of non-compliance, the CRA uses education letters or compliance agreements. The CRA can also impose a monetary penalty, suspend a charity’s tax-receipting privileges, or revoke a charity’s registered status. Although revocation is generally the last resort, the Income Tax Act allows revocation at any time—when it is appropriate to the circumstances.”

While telemarketing is allowed by Canadian charities they must be very careful in its use.

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There has been some public concern expressed about executive compensation at charities.  It is important that charities have appropriate mechanisms to ensure that the charity is neither paying executives too little or too much for the services provided.  If you pay too little you might find out too late that the executive is moving on - the cost to a charity of such change at the top can in some cases be substantial.  As well, paying too little has a cascading effect on all salaries in the organization and the charity may have trouble keeping people at different levels.  If you pay too much you are not effectively using the assets of a charity, you will have others in your organization feeling that they are not sufficiently compensated and you will quite legitimately upset various stakeholders such as the public, media and CRA.

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