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Donation Information
Frequently Asked Questions (Click here for a PDF version of the CanadaHelps information and FAQs). What is CanadaHelps? CanadaHelps.org is a not-for-profit charity portal that serves as an information resource about charities in Canada and seeks to promote and facilitate philanthropy through online giving. As a public foundation, CanadaHelps uses a donor-directed funding model to facilitate online donations from donors to charities. CanadaHelps.org offers its services at a very low cost to the charity and at no cost to the donor. CanadaHelps is a public foundation. Its BN is 896568417RR0001. How much does CanadaHelps cost me or the charities I support? CanadaHelps assesses a 3% transaction fee on each donation. This amount is deducted before the donation is sent to the charity. This 3% is covers all credit card merchant rates, transaction fees, banking costs, receipting, reconciliation and disbursement. The 3% is a modest charge for the service that CanadaHelps provides to Canadian donors and the charities they support. Where does CanadaHelps get its list of charities? The CanadaHelps list of charities is a compiled list of charities found on the Canada Revenue Agency's list of registered charities. The list is updated bi-weekly, to ensure we're adding new charities and removing those that have become delisted. Does CanadaHelps screen or investigate the charities listed on the site? CanadaHelps uses the approved Canada Revenue Agency list of charities. We do not screen the charities. All charities that have valid charitable status are allowed on the website. Making a donation How do I make a donation? To make a donation, you need to search/browse for the charity you wish to donate to, add it to your "Giving Basket" and then pay for the gift. Can I designate my donation in honour or in memory of someone? Yes. You can designate all donations in honour or in memory of someone. Can I have CanadaHelps send a card to my honouree or to the family of the person who has passed away? CanadaHelps offers free ecards for all donations - you can send a friend or family member a CanadaHelps ecard to let them know you are thinking of them. Ecards are available for birthdays, weddings, and more. You can request that your charity send a hard-copy postal card or note to your designated honouree or memorial contact, but CanadaHelps cannot guarantee that your charity will do so. We pass all information and requests onto the charity, and the onus is on the charity to fulfill your request. I don't have a credit card. Can I mail CanadaHelps a cheque? No. CanadaHelps accepts payment by credit card only. Can I request that the charity I give to use my donation in a particular way? Some charities have enabled a "fund designation" option, while others have not. If the fund you wish to designate the donation for is not available, you may be able to send a message/enter special instructions to your charity of choice. How much money gets sent to my charity? CanadaHelps assesses a 3% transaction fee on all donations before disbursement. Your charity is therefore disbursed 97% of your gross donation amount. When does the charity get my donation? How? CanadaHelps batches disbursements weekly, for donations made the previous week, for all charities that have enabled the direct deposit option. For those charities that still require disbursement by cheque, we batch donations monthly, and disburse cheques on/around the 15th of each month for donations made the previous month. Can I cancel my donation? No. Donations are non-refundable. We issue charitable tax receipts in real time, and because they are in digital format, we cannot ask that the file be returned. You cannot change your mind once you've made a charitable donation. I would like to donate a car or other item to charity. Does CanadaHelps accept gifts inkind? No. All donations made at CanadaHelps are donations paid for by credit card. To donate inkind, please visit www.inkindcanada.ca. Receipting How do I get my receipt? Tax receipts are sent immediately following the payment of your donation(s) to the email you entered. Please check your email following the donation. Please be sure to check your junk/spam folder in case our message has been diverted by your email client. If you have a MyCanadaHelps account, all donations and all receipts are stored online for you. You can access your receipt at any time. Is my receipt valid for tax credits? Yes. CanadaHelps uses secure PDFs for tax receipting. Electronic receipts are valid for tax filing by the CRA. I use Intuit QuickTax to file my taxes. How do my receipts get into the QuickTax program? CanadaHelps is a partner organization to Intuit. When you are filing your taxes using QuickTax, you will be asked about your charitable tax receipts. If you have a MyCanadaHelps account, you will be able to choose CanadaHelps from the receipt source section, and will be able to have all of your giving history for the calendar year you are filing uploaded into the QuickTax program. What information must be on a tax receipt? Tax receipts must contain the name and address of the payee of the gift. Privacy Why do you collect my email address? Your email address is used as a login for future donations and is how CanadaHelps issues your tax receipt and will communicate with you about donation details. As an online entity, CanadaHelps does not mail donors newsletters or receipts. What information do you collect and what information is passed onto the charity(ies) I support? CanadaHelps collects your email address, name, and address. We also collect payment details. We pass only the information you want us to pass on to the charities you give to; you can give the charities your name only, name and email, all contact information, or make your donation totally anonymously (to the charities you donate to). Do you sell/trade donor information? No. CanadaHelps does not share donor information with any third parties. Please read our privacy and security policy for more information. Monthly Donations How does monthly giving work? To set up a monthly gift, a donor must create a MyCanadaHelps account, store their credit card information online, and chooses the charity, day of credit card charge, and amount to give each month. The donor can set an end date to finish the gift pledge, or advise how many months the gift should be processed. How do I get my receipt? Receipts for monthly gifts are not created each month. To access a receipt for monthly gifts, a donor must log in to create a receipt. Receipt aggregation can be set to create one receipt for all donations made over the course of a calendar year, or can be created at the donor's discretion. Will I receive notification when my credit card is processed? Yes. You receive an email when we have charged your credit card. If my monthly donation fails, will I be notified? No. We ask that donors ensure their billing information is kept up to date in their MyCanadaHelps profile. How do I cancel a monthly gift? To cancel a monthly gift, a donor must log in to the MyCanadaHelps account and cancel the pledge in their Monthly Giving section. The above information is courtesy of CANADAHELPS.ORG.
For complete information visit www.canadahelps.org
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