The charitable sector in Canada is constantly evolving. What should be considered charitable, how people give, and how organizations interact with their donors and volunteers are regular topics of discussion for improvement. Here are some of our preferred resources to help bring you up to speed on key issues in our sector.

1. UnCharitable: Uncharitable is a book turned movie by Dan Pallotta that will likely cause you to rethink how charities should operate to solve some of the greatest humanitarian problems they are tasked with.

2. Research Reports: Several leading philanthropic organizations in Canada produce research reports that are incredible learning resources. We especially recommend…

• Influence, Affluence & Opportunity: Donor-advised Funds in Canada from KCI and the CAGP Foundation

• UnFunded from Foundations for Black Communities

• Canadian charities giving to Indigenous Charities and Qualified Donees from Blumbergs and Redsky Fundraising

• Trust and Transformation: Canadian Women and Philanthropy from TD Private Giving Foundation

• Shifting Power Dynamics: Equity, diversity and inclusion in the nonprofit sector from Imagine Canada

• The Giving Report from Canada Helps

3. Follow philanthropy-based news sources to stay up to date. Some of our favourites include Future of Good and the Philanthropist Journal.  

Here are a couple of initial questions to consider:

1. What are your top three values and why are they important to you?

   Hint: Ask yourself, “What are the top three experiences that have impacted my life?”. What values do you associate with these experiences?

   Hint: You may want to begin by exploring what you learned from your family or close friends. What positive values express those teachings?

2. What hopes do you have for your family and/or society in general in terms of charitable giving?

The next step is to identify the causes you would like to support, ensuring they align with your values. Here are some additional questions to consider:

• What problem(s) are you looking to address and what is the cause(s) of the problem(s)?

• What are the causes you care about most?

• Do you want to partner with a charity that has a national or international scope, or do you prefer to focus on your local community or region?

• Do you prefer to work with well-established charities or more grass-roots organizations?

• What impact do you hope to achieve?

Once you have narrowed in on your areas of interest, you can shift your focus to identifying and researching organizations that are aligned with your charitable objectives. Here are some resources to help you conduct your search:

1. Canada Helps: As the largest Canadian online donation and fundraising platform, Canada Helps offers an excellent search feature that allows users to filter their search on specific charitable sectors, regions, and mission scopes (local/regional vs. provincial vs. national vs. international). Canada Helps also offers resources like helpful blog posts, a crisis relief page, and the Unite for Change online giving movement to help you find specific organizations to support.

2. Charity Intelligence Canada: Charity Intelligence offers high-quality, evidence-based research into charities across Canada. Not only can you search on a charity you are interested in to learn about its financial details and demonstrated impact, but they also offer lists like the Top 10 Impact Charities each year.

3. Charity Data: Charity Data analyzes information from charities’ T3010 annual return to CRA and provide historical financial data on organizations you may be interested in supporting.

It is important to keep in mind that Benefaction fundholders must grant to organizations that are recognized as charities or other qualified donees by the Canada Revenue Agency. We recommend using the charity’s listing search on CRA’s website, which contains basic details about the charity and a CRA Registration Number. CRA also has a list of all qualified donees.

Finally, there is additional screening you can conduct if you have a charity you are interested in supporting. Benefaction has prepared a Charity Assessment checklist  that donors and advisors can use to guide their review process for a particular organization. Most importantly, we recommend that you reach out to the charity you are considering supporting to ask them directly any questions you may have. They will be more than happy to provide you with information to get to know their work better.

One of the key elements of strategic philanthropy is one’s ability to create a legacy. With a Fund at Benefaction this can take on many different forms. You can engage family and friends to support the grant-making from your Fund . You can also appoint successors to your Fund to carry out grant-making after you pass. Alternatively, you can appoint the Directors of Benefaction as the successor to your Fund and we will carry out your philanthropic wishes upon your passing to ensure the organizations you care about continue to receive support. The possibilities are endless.

"Our Fund was established to allow the 11 members of our family (aged 14 to 80) to focus their individual giving and build knowledge of the charitable sector. On their birthday, each member of the family makes a gift of $500 to the charity of their choice. During the year, the family comes together to make one-off gifts to support people in need as the result of natural and man-made disasters. Benefaction has helped facilitate our family giving." - Sjogren Family Fund