Blueprint Fundraising

New fundraising policy from the Canada Revenue Agency

Canada Revenue Agency has finally released a policy on Fundraising by Registered Charities. The document outlines policies and practices that the CRA uses when it reviews annual information returns filed by registered charities and explains the CRA’s views on issues relevant to fundraising expenditures.

Some of the highlights:

Ratio of fundraising costs to fundraising revenue

• Under 35% – Unlikely to generate questions or concerns.
• 35% and above – The CRA will examine the average ratio over recent years to determine if there is a trend of high fundraising costs. The higher the ratio, the more likely it is that there will be concerns and a need for a more detailed assessment of expenditures.
• Above 70% – This level will raise concerns with the CRA. The charity must be able to provide an explanation and rationale for this level of expenditure to show that it is in compliance; otherwise, it will not be acceptable.

Best practices

1. Prudent planning processes.
2. Appropriate procurement processes.
3. Good staffing processes.
4. Ongoing management and supervision of fundraising practice.
5. Adequate evaluation processes.
6. Use made of volunteer time and volunteered services or resources.
7. Disclosure of fundraising costs, revenues, and practice (including cause-related or social marketing arrangements).

Areas of concern that could lead to further review

1. Sole-source fundraising contracts without proof of fair market value.
2. Non-arm’s length fundraising contracts without proof of fair market value.
3. Fundraising initiatives or arrangements that are not well-documented.
4. Fundraising merchandise purchases that are not at arm’s length, not at fair market value, or not purchased to increase fundraising revenue.
5. Activities where most of the gross revenues go to contracted non-charitable parties.
6. Commission-based fundraiser remuneration or payment of fundraisers based on amount or number of donations.
7. Total resources devoted to fundraising exceeding total resources devoted to program activities.
8. Misrepresentations in fundraising solicitations or in disclosures about fundraising or financial performance.

If you work in fundraising, this is a must-read! The whole policy is here.

Attention Little Give applicants

The Little Give recently had technical troubles with their server and sadly, some applications have been sucked into the vacuum of cyberspace. They are advising everyone to re-submit their applications by email or by calling Kera McArthur at 604-623-3007. They have also extended the application deadline to June 5th. You have until Friday to apply to this cool program!

The Little Give is back!

The nice people at Karyo Edelman are doing The Little Give again.

Last year their staff spent a frenzied weekend helping four nonprofits in a variety of ways… renovating a playroom, creating a communications plan, and generally using their ingenuity to turn a small amount of money into a big impact for kids.

This year they will be selecting three groups. Go to their website and nominate your organization by June 1, 2009 if you are:

• - a registered non-profit organization;
• - based in Vancouver;
• - secular; and
• - make a difference in the lives of children and youth (under 24 years old).

This year’s Little Give takes place from 4 pm on June 18th to 4 pm on June 20th. You’ll also be able to follow the fun on Twitter and Facebook.

Hugh Jackman’s $100K Twitter challenge

That elevator speech you’ve sweated over is really going to come in handy here!

Actor Hugh Jackman is giving away $100,000 to someone’s favourite organization. Tweet your case to him here.

Insights from the AFP International Conference

The annual Association of Fundraising Professionals International Conference is on now in New Orleans. If you aren’t there (I’m not), you can still access some of the ideas being talked about in the sessions.

AFP has some coverage on their own website and the Chronicle of Philanthropy is posting highlights in their Conference Notebook. They have  audio interviews with presenters that you can hear without being a subscriber, such as this interview about attracting younger donors.

I found this interesting — its from a survey of organizations in the midst of capital campaigns:

- When asked whether and how they would do things differently in budgeting for a big campaign, 31 percent of respondents said they would engage in more formal campaign planning. Twenty-three percent said they would monitor campaign costs more closely, and 13 percent said they would fold the campaign budget into the overall financial goal of the drive.

- The average campaign budget included 39 percent for staff members, 22 percent for consultants, 19 percent for marketing, and 20 percent for other costs such as events, travel, and office expenses.

Help your board succeed in friend-raising

On April 15th Volunteer Vancouver is offering a workshop on a perennially important topic… “Increasing the Board’s Involvement in Friend-Raising.”

You’ll notice that says friend-raising not fundraising. It’s a good approach that many organizations could benefit from — you must walk before you can run and give board members the support, tools and environment to succeed in building relationships on behalf of your organization. Those relationships will naturally lead to all sorts of benefits for your cause, including donations. You can find out more and register here.

New year, new fundraising realities

Happy New Year!

This my first day back to work after two lovely weeks off. I’m feeling apprehensive about what’s going to happen to both charitable giving and the pressure on charities for services in the year ahead. January will be the month to assess how your holiday giving compared to previous years and think hard about how your fundraising plans should change to deal with the economic climate.

I wanted to share a few random things with you:

AFP Vancouver has asked the government of British Columbia to increase the provincial portion of the charitable tax credit. The province’s Finance Committee is recommending that the government include AFP’s recommendation in the upcoming budget. Should the government decide to include the measure in the 2009 budget, it would place BC on par with Alberta and provide a combined (federal and provincial) charitable tax credit of 50 percent at the top-end. Please take the time to send a letter or email to Finance Minister Colin Hansen in support of this change. It is the kind of policy reform that could help encourage donors to give.

Also from AFP Vancouver, registration for First Course is now open. The course dates are February 16th and 17th. Early bird prices are available until January 16th.

Over the holidays The New York Times had an article about a fundraising success story that began at the BC SPCA and has gone on to raise more than $30 million for the American SPCA in the last two years. Their most successful fundraising appeal ever is a two-minute TV ad featuring Sarah McLachlan. Simple, emotional and powerful. The ad has generated 1,000 new monthly donors for the BC SPCA. It all came about because a board member, who knew McLachlan and that she loved animals, asked if she would do it. (Thanks to Mary-Ev Anderson for pointing out the article.) Here’s the ad:

Happy holidays!

It REALLY feels like winter here in Vancouver where we have had more snow fall over the last week than I’ve seen in all the years I’ve lived here. Perfect for everyone who was dreaming of a white Christmas!

I hope you have a lovely holiday, wherever you are and however you celebrate the season. I really hope you aren’t reading this from an airport, where your flight has been canceled indefinitely and you’ve been eating Subway and Tim Hortons for three days.

This has been another year of wonderful clients for Blueprint. I would like to thank these excellent organizations for allowing us to help them with their fundraising and communications projects. I am deeply inspired and grateful for all you do for the community.

Adoptive Families Association of BC
Alliance for Arts + Culture
Amuse Consulting
Atira Women’s Resource Society
Ballet BC
BC Association for Community Living
BC Compassion Club
BC Federation of Foster Parent Associations
Birmingham & Wood
Bowen Island Municipality
Canadian Cancer Society
Canadian Mental Health Association Vancouver Burnaby
Cherie Smith JCCGV Jewish Book Festival
Chor Leoni Men’s Choir
City of Abbotsford
City of Vancouver YouthPolitik Conference
Crisis Intervention & Suicide Prevention Centre of BC
DanceHouse
David Suzuki Foundation
DOXA Documentary Film Festival
Environmental Youth Alliance
Lundin for Africa
Marguerite Dixon Transition Society
Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House
North Shore Disability Resource Centre
Out On Screen
PLEA Community Services Society of BC
PuSh International Performing Arts Festival
Simon Fraser University Writer’s Studio
St. James Community Service Society
Sunshine Coast Community Services Society
The Banff Community Foundation
The Communications Group
The Salvation Army Chilliwack
The Tyee
Vancity Community Foundation
Vancouver Art Gallery
Vancouver Community College
Vancouver International Writers Festival
Vancouver Museum
WISH Drop-In Centre Society
Yaletown House Foundation

No more snow, please… via Flickr.

New learning opportunities in 2009

Just a quick note to let you know that the next AFP First Course for Metro Vancouver is going to be held on February 16 and 17th. Early bird pricing is available until January 16th.

I’d also like to let you know about a planned giving course taught by Peter Chipman, starting in January at BCIT. Peter is an excellent teacher and very experienced gift planner. His course is open to anyone who has taken BCIT’s Essentials of Fundraising course (FUND 1215).

I’ve postponed my Fundraising Basics workshops on grantwriting and creating a fundraising plan from January to sometime in the spring. I’ll keep you posted on a date for those workshops. Let me know if you want me to email you directly when  dates have been set.

Market meltdown hits Vancouver Foundation

On Friday, the Vancouver Foundation announced that they expect a $10 million to $15 million decline in the amount they will distribute to the community in the coming year. In 2007 they distributed almost $70 million. Their funds, worth $760 million at the beginning of 2008, are now worth about $660 million because of the global economic crash.

This is going to be a huge hit to BC charities — some apply to the foundation for project funding and others have their own endowments within the Vancouver Foundation generating undesignated operating funds. You can read more about the decision in coverage by the Vancouver Courier here. And there’s more coverage by CBC here.

In Canada we are hearing a lot about how lucky we are that our economy has not been hit as hard as many others around the world. But it’s becoming clear that we can’t escape the impact. Many of our donors — institutional and individual — have experienced major loses. Everyone working in fundraising has to think seriously about how to make budget next year.

In coming posts, I’m going to give some ideas on how to work with donors and adapt your fundraising through these tumultuous times. If you have ideas to share, please do.