The EFCL Board of Directors has determined that it is time for the federation to obtain charitable status and is taking this recommendation to the membership at the April 19 General Meeting.
The board believes that charitable status would help us raise funds for operations, as we would be able to offer each donor a tax receipt. This advantage has been augmented recently by a decision by the provincial government to match any donations non-profit organizations receive. Hence, if we are able to obtain $10,000 in donations we would automatically receive another $10,000 from the province.
The board believes it is becoming increasingly important to try to diversify our revenue base as different orders of government face growing pressures on their grant dollars.
One such opportunity is to approach foundations, which are growing in number and influence across North America. However, our research to date has shown that very few foundations will consider an application from an organization that does not have charitable status.
The federation has also come across one-off funding opportunities from time to time that would be available to it if we had charitable status. For example, on Monday of last week the EFCL had to turn down an opportunity presented to us by the city’s Next Gen Committee, who had a lead on some funds for a joint project and wanted to use our charitable tax number. Unfortunately, we did not have one to offer.
The EFCL fully realizes that this project still requires some investigation, to determine our best approach. For example, it may be that we want to incorporate a sister organization that will have the charitable tax status and simply contract the EFCL to do work that qualifies under Canada Revenue regulations.
If approved by the membership, the federation will investigate these options and determine the best course of action.
City of Edmonton can provide tax receipts for specific donations |