Finance Committee Report is a Disappointment By: Adam Aptowitzer Several years after hearings into charitable donation incentives were first proposed by Member of Parliament Peter Braid, we finally have the report of the Parliamentary Finance Committee. Unfortunately, it seems that the after years of anticipation the final report is neutered of any real effect because […]
CHECK THOSE RECEIPTS In Alberta, and potentially in some of the other provinces that have regulated fundraising, there may already be confusion about receipts issued by entities referred to as “charitable organizations”. Now, potentially because of the new super credit that was announced for first time donors in the Federal Budget delivered on March 21st, […]
No Obligation for Charity to issue a Receipt for a Gift By Arthur Drache We have made the point in articles gone by that there is no obligation on a charity to issue a receipt for a gift though of course a refusal to do so would raise serious questions in the minds of donors […]
Why Every Charity Should Consider Incorporation Before a group can be registered as a charity, there has to actually be some legal thing to register. This means that every charity faces the choice of which legal structure to use. A charity can be constituted as a trust, an unincorporated association, or a corporation. People generally […]
Virtual Currencies: Implications for Charities By Brent Randall Virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin, have been steadily increasing in popularity. At the time of this writing, one Bitcoin is valued at nearly $90 CAD. While an explanation of the exact nature of Bitcoin is outside of our scope, what can be said with certainty is that […]
Quick Our Basement is Flooding – Call a Lawyer By: Adam Aptowitzer There are times being a lawyer is a bit like being a plumber. Like a plumber, a lawyer is called when an organization is being built, and like a plumber we are called in an emergency. But that is where the similarity ends, […]
Employee Directed Gift to a Charity by Arthur Drache Making a charitable donation in honour of or in memory of a third party is of course a common event. In such a case, the donor will normally get a receipt for tax purposes and the charity will arrange for the fact of the donation to […]
The Impact of Business Activities on Your Organization by Brent Randall If you operate an organization that engages in business activities (which CRA defines as deriving revenues from the provision of goods and/or services), the nature and goals of this business can help determine whether charitable registration is suitable for your group. Charities are able […]
A Fiduciary Obligation Does Not (Necessarily) a Fiduciary Make Regular readers may recall the article we wrote (click here) on the topic of officer liability. There we commented on circumstances in which officers of corporations under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (CNCA) (whether continued to it or incorporated there) will be exposed to personal liability. […]
IDEAS FOR ADVANCED FUNDRAISING by Adam Aptowitzer Given the competition for donor dollars it is surprising that gifts of non-qualified securities do not attract more attention. These types of securities are usually shares or debt of private corporations. As private corporations and their shareholders form a significant segment of the Canadian economy, charities can ill […]