Giving to Charities

We make it easy. You make it count.

Canadian foundations and donor advised funds (DAFs) are an indispensable tool that help you create a long-term philanthropic legacy for your preferred charitable causes.

Once you set up a Canada Gives Foundation account, your donations will be invested, providing a long-term funding base for your annual charitable giving. As a result, many philanthropists build stronger engagements with their favoured charities as they work to make a lasting impact in the lives of others.

You have questions, we have answers

How is giving from a foundation different than making a donation to a charity?

A donation to a registered charity generates a tax receipt for the donor. If a donor has set up a private foundation or a donor advised fund at a public foundation, a tax receipt is issued for all gifts made to the foundation. Disbursements to charities from the foundation (called grants) are received by charities as gifts, but receipts are sent to the foundation and not to the donor.

What charities can you support with gifts (grants) from a Canada Gives Foundation account?

Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has policies and guidelines for eligible recipients of charitable gifts/grants from a Canadian foundation or donor advised fund (DAF) account. The annual grants from your Canada Gives donor advised foundation account must comply with these rules.

Any funds disbursed from your foundation account must be given to CRA designated ‘qualified donees’, which includes more than 86,000 Canadian charities, plus a few other types of organizations. Many not-for-profit organizations do not have a charitable registration number, and are not considered qualified donees.

Once you select the charities that you wish to receive grants from your foundation account, our due diligence process ensures they are qualified donees before processing these gifts.

How much can I give away from my foundation account?

Canada Gives will provide calculations and guidelines for your annual disbursements. Canada Revenue Agency has a minimum requirement, but there are no longer regulations that affect the maximum level of funding. Canada Gives also puts no restrictions on the maximum amount you can gift to charities from your foundation account. You decide the amount to grant each year from your foundation, and which charities you wish to support.

Once you make that important decision, you simply send us a list of the charities you’ve selected and how much each should receive by email, fax or with a completed Grant Recommendation Form.

Then our team handles the rest, including sending the cheques and letters to each charity you select.

What’s the process?

Canada Gives completes the due diligence on the charities that the foundation account holder has selected to ensure they are eligible, qualified donees, and that the address and contact information is current
Once each charity is approved, Canada Gives issues the cheque and sends a letter on behalf of the donor’s foundation account, while also tracking receipts from the recipient charity
The donor who has set up a foundation at Canada Gives decides whether they wish to be identified to the charity who receives the gift, or remain anonymous
A complete listing of all the charities funded from a Canada Gives Foundation account are itemized on the Consolidated Quarterly Report for the current year; a Total Grant Report can also be provided for any time period, so donors can enjoy seeing the impact their foundation account is making

Estate Gifts

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Giving Profile

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Philanthropy Tool

Your legacy starts here

Canada Gives Charitable Registration #83306 2144 RR0001.
You can find us in the Charities Directorate at www.cra-arc.gc.ca

Toronto | Collingwood | Edmonton

1 (844) 583-4483

Canada Gives offices are located on the traditional territory of Indigenous peoples dating back countless generations. We want to show our respect for their contributions and recognize the role of treaty making in what is now Canada. Hundreds of years after the first treaties were signed, they are still relevant today. We seek to do better, to continue to recognize, learn, and grow—in friendship and community, Nation-to-Nation.

Canada Gives Charitable Registration #83306 2144 RR0001.
You can find us in the Charities Directorate at www.cra-arc.gc.ca

Toronto | Collingwood | Edmonton

1 (844) 583-4483

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