Background

There are several best practices that charities should integrate into their organizational culture to ensure they are acting in a transparent, accountable and efficient manner. These include:

Ensure responsible governance of charity
Ensure involvement in approved charitable activities
Respect guidelines related to non-charitable activities
Maintain and manage books and records
Maintain appropriate financial information
Use receipting practices that respect CRA guidelines
Transfer assets between charities
Complete the T3010 information return in an accurate and timely manner
Utilize expertise of CRA
This module explains how to utilize these practices to complete the T3010 information return in an accurate and timely manner to ensure their compliance with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) guidelines about charitable status.

The module also describes how CRA works with registered charities to help improve their compliance to these guidelines, thus increasing the confidence of the Canadian donor in the appropriate use of their support.

For more information, click here to order a free CD of resources developed by The Charities File.

Tools and resources

Self-guided training on best practices

Self-guided training

A video on charitable status

A video on the Benefits and responsibilities of charitable status

A video on responsible governance

Information sheets

Books and records
Charities working abroad
CRA obligations for board members
FAQs on the T3010
General guidelines for split receipting
Gifts in kind and fair market value
Monitoring of charities and use of sanctions
Political activities
Qualified donee
Related and unrelated business
Resources on CRA’s website