Onboarding & Procedures
Canada Gives does all the administration, record-keeping and reporting for your Foundation account. You and your family decide how to manage and disburse funds according to your own philanthropic objectives, selecting the charities you wish to support every year.
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Once you set up a Canada Gives Foundation account, you can make one or many donations at any time and receive a tax receipt for each gift. Donations can also be made by friends, family and businesses. The official tax receipt will be issued to each donor, but the funds will be added to the specific Canada Gives Foundation.
Download and complete the Charitable Donation of Securities in Kind form with your advisor. Fax a copy to Canada Gives and mail the original.
Download and complete the Charitable Donation of Cash form. Your cash or money order should be made payable to Canada Gives, and be directed to your own DAF Foundation account.
Donate to an existing foundation account with our easy on-line service.
An official tax receipt for the fair market value of every donation will be issued promptly upon receipt of the gift. All receipts are tracked and reported on your Consolidated Quarterly Report; a copy of any receipt can be generated for your tax advisor upon request.
Once a Canada Gives Foundation account is opened and the primary donor has made a donation, Canada Gives will open an investment account to hold the assets.
Both traditional and socially responsible investments can be selected for foundation assets, but there are strict guidelines on how the total investment portfolio is managed, the quality of securities and diversification requirements.
The Board of Directors at Canada Gives has the fiduciary duty to manage the assets according to these regulations, and can delegate the investment management to a qualified advisor or portfolio manager. We encourage donors to select the investment manager or advisor that they trust, or to choose from our list of managers.
Every private and public foundation must file detailed annual information returns and financial statements with Canada Revenue Agency, which are publicly posted on the CRA website. Since your Canada Gives Foundation account is administered under the umbrella registration of Canada Gives, all of your financial information remains undisclosed.
Canada Gives will provide regular consolidated reporting on Your Foundation account for each fiscal year, as well as specific activity reports upon request. This quarterly report has two components – “Business” and “Granting.”
The “Business” portion includes the Balance in Your Account; a listing of Donations, including any disposition losses; and details of the Investment Portfolio as well as quarterly Investment Gains and Losses and annual Fees.
The “Granting” portion itemizes each of your disbursements to charities. As the account holder, you decide how much to grant each year and which charities to support. Canada Gives provides you with a calculation for both the CRA minimum and a suggested maximum amount to guide your decisions, as well as a summary of the charities you have selected and the amounts they have received from your account.
A Canada Gives Foundation account enables you to support the charities that are important to you over any period of time.
All of the donations that you make into your Canada Gives Foundation account are invested, and disbursements are made to the charities you select each year. These annual disbursements to charities are called grants, and they do not generate a tax receipt.
How Much Can I Give Away Each Year?
Canada Gives will calculate the minimum disbursement required by Canada Revenue Agency from your Foundation account at the end of each year. We will also provide a suggested maximum, calculated as the total investment growth from the prior year.
You decide the total amount to grant each year, and which charities to support. Canada Gives will do the rest.
Most active family foundations select and fund charities through a grant application process. Now Canada Gives Foundations can join these leading funders in the not for profit sector.
By listing your Canada Gives Foundation Profile in Grant Connect, an innovative research tool developed by Imagine Canada, your Foundation will receive requests from charities akin to a job application.
Likewise, a grant application is a simple, standardized way to learn more about charities whose work aligns with your interests, and empowers you to evaluate whether or not you’d like to support them.
As a Canada Gives Foundation, you can explore whether this service will help you expand your reach and impact in the not for profit sector.
Foundation Account Application Forms
Charitable Donation Forms
Selecting Charities Form
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
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.
Call Us - 1 (844) 583-4483
Online Client Portal Portal Access