Charities Connection

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CRA news, information, and events for registered charities

Charities Connection is an electronic publication that gives registered charities information on technical issues, new guidance and policy changes, CRA initiatives, and reminders.

No. 7 – June 2011

• 2011 Federal Budget
• Education and training for charity volunteers
• Charities and giving webpage update
• New guidance on using an intermediary to carry out a charity’s activities in Canada
• Reminder to file your Form T3010, Registered Charity Information Return
• Prime Minister’s Volunteer Awards

2011 Federal Budget

On June 6, 2011, the Minister of Finance presented the 2011 Federal Budget, which proposed several measures affecting registered charities and other qualified donees. Information on how the budget affects RCAAAs, registered charities, and other qualified donees, can be found at Budget 2011 - Changes for charities and other qualified donees. Stay tuned! We will be updating our webpage as information becomes available.

Budget 2011 can be seen in its entirety at Budget 2011.

Education and training for charity volunteers

Volunteers usually come to a charity with a passion to help others, or to make a difference in their community. But one challenge they may face in taking on more responsibility is the often daunting task of knowing the rules a charity has to play by.

One way that volunteers or charity employees can learn those rules – especially the ones that come from the Income Tax Act – is by participating in the training given by several sector organizations through the Charities Partnership and Outreach Program.

Sector organizations funded through this program provide a variety of training opportunities to suit any volunteer. Training can take the form of face-to-face sessions, for instance, or a volunteer can simply go to the organization’s site and watch a video on a given topic. This is particularly helpful for charities operating in outlying areas, whose volunteers may not have the luxury of time or funds to travel in order to receive proper training.

Training can cover such topics as:

• fundraising practices
• transparency and accountability
• education on tax shelter issues

This training is a useful alternative to the charity information sessions conducted by the Charities Directorate every year, because it is provided by organizations familiar with sector constraints and aware of all the requirements that charities have to juggle.

Organizations providing this training are funded by the Canada Revenue Agency through a transfer payment program under which they undertake to develop and deliver innovative compliance-focused education and training programs to registered charities.

More information on this program can be found at Charities Partnership and Outreach Program. To access a list of all the projects funded by CRA, click on this funded projects link. There you will find funding details, project summaries, and links to the websites of participating organizations.

Charities and Giving webpage update

The Charities Directorate recently made changes to the way we display policy and guidance products. A new Alphabetical index of all policies and guidance is now available. This centralized list organizes all guidance products into one list by keyword and will make it easier to find our products.

If you have any suggestions for improving our Alphabetical index, or if you see a policy that needs updating, please contact us at: consultation-policy-politique@cra-arc.gc.ca.

New Guidance on using an intermediary to carry out a charity's activities within Canada

The Canada Revenue Agency has released Guidance CG-004, Using an Intermediary to Carry out a Charity's Activities within Canada.

Reminder to file your Form T3010, Registered Charity Information Return

Charities with fiscal periods ending December 31, 2010, must file Form T3010-1, Registered Charity Information Return, by June 30, 2011. Your registered status can be revoked if you don’t file. Information regarding the T3010 is available at our Annual information return (T3010) pages.

Did you know that the public and the media routinely use the Charities Listings to review charities’ T3010s and often request financial statements? This is one of the reasons why you should complete your T3010 accurately. The Charities Directorate offers educational resources for charities, such as webinars and videos, to help you complete this return. View Completing the Registered Charity Information Return T3010-1 for more information.

Prime Minister's Volunteer Awards

On January 7, 2011, the Prime Minister announced the creation of the Prime Minister's Volunteer Awards (PMVA) to recognize the exceptional contributions of volunteers, local businesses and innovative not-for-profit organizations in improving the well-being of families and their communities. The Prime Minister's Volunteer Awards program consists of 17 awards in total, at the national and regional level.

Please visit the Prime Minister's website at www.pm.gc.ca/awards for updates on the launch and the program.

Learn more

• Charities Webinars are free, interactive, internet-based presentations.

Contact us

• Email your comments about this edition of Charities Connection.
• Contact the Charities Directorate.

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Date modified:

2014-07-30