WellInformed
Straight answers on giving in Canada.
Before the money moves
What to check about a charity before a grant goes out, and what the filings can and cannot tell you.
How much should a Canadian charity spend on overhead?
There is no legal limit on overhead for Canadian charities.
What can a T3010 tell you about a charity?
The T3010 is the annual return every registered Canadian charity files with the CRA, and most of it is public.
What is charity due diligence?
Charity due diligence is the work of confirming that a charity is registered, financially sound, properly governed, and actually doing what it says, before money moves.
Finding a charity
Judge the program on what it controls, cause by cause, then check the organization behind it.
By cause
Evaluating a water charity is not the same job as evaluating a shelter. One guide per cause, each with the questions that change.
How to evaluate a food bank
Start with accreditation under Food Banks Canada's standards, the one question that needs no expertise to ask or check.
How to evaluate a housing and homelessness charity
A charity that helps people who are homeless controls less than donors assume.
How to evaluate a mental health charity
You do not need a clinical framework to evaluate a mental health charity in Canada.
How to evaluate a water charity
Judge a water charity on whether the water is still running in five years, and on whether the program covers sanitation and hygiene rather than water alone.
How to evaluate an animal welfare charity
Animal welfare has better numbers than almost any cause.