Charity and non-profit lawyer Mark Blumberg offers a compliance checklist for Canadian charities via the GlobalPhilanthropy.ca charity assistance project.
The 16-page checklist covers numerous important compliance topics, including:
- Filing your T3010 registered charity information
- Ensuring your T3010 is correct and complete
- Ensuring your donation receipts are correct
- Religious school tuition receipts
- Fraudulent tax receipts
- Charity gifting tax shelters
- Acting outside legal objects
- Non-charitable activities
- Avoiding gifts to non-qualified donees
- Fundraising costs and practices
- Failure to meet disbursement quota
- Political activities
- Unrelated business activities
- Transactions with directors
- Employment issues
- Keeping adequate books and records
- Maintaining legal status
- Provincial charitable registration
- Internal financial controls
- Basic risk management
- Governance
While a checklist like this can be a valuable tool, organizations should consult a more comprehensive resource before acting. Not-for-Profit PolicyPro from First Reference, and its internal control peers, Finance & Accounting PolicyPro and Information Technology PolicyPro, offer just that.
Adam Gorley
First Reference Internal Controls, Human Resources and Compliance Editor