Charities don’t want broken crap. We may smile politely and thank you when you drop off stained clothing, broken toys, or your 8 year old computer. That is because we were raised to be polite not because we want it. The City of Toronto says it best “All organizations want working items (unless otherwise specified). […]
How do you know which charities to trust?
It’s hard as a member of the public to decide if a charity is worthy of your support. When trying to evaluate a charity, Imagine Canada has produced a great littleGuide to Giving that offers some easy, no cost ways to check out a charity. Check out the charity on the Canada Revenue Agency website. […]
How to be a better charity Board member
Interested in some good quality education as a Board member but not sure where to turn? Recently, I attending the Institute for Corporate Directors Not-For-Profit Governance Essentials program. There is a scholarship program for charity employees to attend sponsored by TELUS and Royal Bank. Is f-r-e-e- more in line with your Charity’s budget? Altruvest has […]
(Pssst event volunteers) Running a charity auction could get you into a whole lotta tax trouble
Are you are a volunteer for a fundraising event? Did you know that running a charity auction at your event can get you into a lot, (and I do mean a lot) of tax trouble?Why? Donated goods transactions, particularly in Canada, are rife with fraud. This makes CRA understandably grumpy. This leads to point #2 It is […]
Where on earth can you donate gently used medical equipment?
“Hi, my parent has passed away and I have a hospital bed that we bought that was only used for a few weeks. Can I donate it to your charity?” Whether is is a parent, grandparent, or other relative, many of us find we have medical equipment we no longer need. This always breaks my […]
Charity begins with a simple “hello”
Right now Toronto is in the midst of the PanAm Games so Toronto, an already sprawling and confusing city to navigate at the best of times, is now hosting visitors from all around the world. The super-smart folks at the Toronto Foundation and Toronto Star decided to invite us residents to form part of […]
generosity is more than just a small drop of the soul
generosity is more than just a small drop of the soul every good thing does not have to have some dark and devastating consequence sometimes a smile and the time of day is just a gsture of good faith and patience with the poor old shrews of fate theyve been at that loom for so […]
Why not run a charity without employees?
Volunteers are awesome. There are some areas where volunteers are particularly strong. These days many volunteers are looking for intense, short-term projects – the challenge is that much charity work is ongoing. The donor public is rightly concerned about ensuring money is well spent. Sometimes that veers into questioning why charities can’t be completely run […]
We need to talk frankly about charity metrics
Went to a great luncheon today on Philanthropy at the Canadian Club of Toronto. The speakers were talking about increased emphasis on metrics. Don’t get me wrong – I love measuring results, I love outcomes. But … if we are going to move to measurement and outcomes as a key component of philanthropy then the […]
Failure is the acceptable cost of innovation for social good
In business, risk is connected to return – the higher the risk, the higher the return. The problem with risk is failure, particularly failure in the charitable sector is something that the donor public and charity employees are reluctant to embrace. If we are going to actually solve some of the big problems of our […]