The following links provide a wide range of Canadian information plus a few glimpses of the international scene.
ACJNet provides a searchable site with laws, legal databases, publications on not-for-profit law, links to law and justice sites and to Canadian and provincial legislation.
The Alberta Charitable Fund-Raising Act and the Charitable Fund-Raising Regulation are available online or through the Queen's Printer Bookstore. TipSheets explaining this legislation are currently available on the Alberta Government Services website.
Alberta Government Services (Charities, Societies and Non-Profit Organizations)
Association of Fund Raising Professionals
Auditor General of Alberta (Government Accountability)
Board Development Program (Alberta) is a unique service that provides assistance to not-for-profit boards in the area of governance through Workshops, Consultations, Training of Volunteer Instructors, Resource Materials, Special Presentations, and Partnerships between Alberta Community Development, the Wild Rose Foundation and Grant MacEwan College.
Caledon Institute of Social Policy is a private, nonprofit organization with charitable status. The Institute does rigorous, high-quality research and analysis; seeks to inform and influence public opinion and to foster public discussion on poverty and social policy; and develops and promotes concrete, practicable proposals for the reform of social programs at all levels of government and of social benefits provided by employers and the voluntary sector. Caledon's work covers a broad range of social policy areas including income security (e.g., pensions, welfare, child benefits, Employment Insurance, benefits for Canadians with disabilities), community capacity-building, taxation, social spending, employment development services, social services, disability supports and health.
Canada Revenue Agency has many regulations, interpretation bulletins, discussion papers and tip sheets regarding matters of great importance to charities registered for income tax purposes.
Canada Revenue Agency, Charities Directorate - The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) registers qualifying organizations as charities, gives technical advice on operating a charity, and handles audit and compliance activities.
The Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations - a member-based organization working to strengthen Calgary's voluntary sector and provide leadership on matters affecting the sector as a whole.
CanadaHelps is a unique Canadian donor portal, that offers a low-cost online fundraising option for Canadian charities.
Canadian Business for Social Responsibility is a business-led, non-profit CSR consultancy and peer-to-peer learning organization that provides its members with candid counsel and customized advisory services as they formulate powerful business decisions that improve performance and contribute to a better world.
Canadian Centre
for Social Entrepreneurship provides information on the most
current developments in social entrepreneurship all across Canada and
around the world.
Canadian Institute of Chartered
Accountants
Canadian Registered Charities - Search the CRA's online list of registed charities, by Charity Name, BN, or other fields.
Canadian Training Institute - The Canadian Training Institute is a National Voluntary Organization which provides training, consulting assistance, promotes collaborative action and undertakes applied research projects in contributing to the effectiveness of services delivered by criminal justice and related human service agencies in Canada.
Centre of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (CPNS), Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
CentrePoint (formerly called The Calgary Centre for Non-Profit Management) Based in Calgary, AB Centrepoint provides consulting, mentoring, training and knowledge sharing.
Charities Advisory Committee The Committee, established in March 2004, is a vehicle through which charities and charity experts can provide advice, assistance, and feedback to Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) on matters related to CRA's responsibility for the regulation of charities.
The Committee is engaged in a number of areas, including emerging issuesand trends in the charitable sector, the administration of new sanctions, and the revised appeal process.
Charity Village is "Canada's supersite for the nonprofit sector". Its main street serves as an excellent site map to the wealth information available on the site. From individuals debating the under-representation of men in volunteer organizations to sources of funding, this site is worth bookmarking.
Charitable Giving Given the number of registered charities across Canada – approximately 82,000 - it can sometimes be difficult to know what each one does and whether you should make a donation. As well, there are also thousands of nonprofit organizations that raise money for their causes. The vast majority of organizations who approach the public for donations are legitimate and they rely on donations of money, time and property to do their good work. Unfortunately, there are a few fraudulent organizations and people out there. Donors may wonder how they can find out more about the various organizations that ask for their support.
This booklet offers information that can help YOU to be a wise donor
by making informed choices about charitable giving.
Civic Practices Network provides definitions and essays to support the development of civil society, voluntary associations, and activities supporting the public good.
Community Foundations of Canada (CFC) is the membership organization for Canada's vibrant and growing network of over 125 community foundations.
Conference Board of Canada (Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility)
Dalhousie
University -Non-Profit Sector Leadership Program. The mission
of the Program is to strengthen civil society by helping build a learning
culture that will assist voluntary, non-governmental and community organizations
to: improve their governance and management practices; pursue their
missions more effectively and creatively; learn from each other locally,
nationally and globally; work with other organizations in building stronger
communities and a more just and democratic world.
The program provides a range of training opportunities and advisory
services to executive directors, managers, board members and others
involved with voluntary sector organizations. This includes a Certificate
in Non-Profit Sector Management and a highly developed training
and support program in non-profit sector governance. It also is involved
in designing and facilitating public dialogue, community research and
multi-stakeholder negotiation processes.
Edmonton Chamber of Voluntary Organizations - a collaborative effort initiatied by a variety of community-based not-for-profit organizations.
Energize, Inc - Energize, Inc. is an international training, consulting and publishing firm specializing in volunteerism. The site offers links to various resources.
enVision.ca - the vortal of the voluntary sector in Newfoundland and Labrador, brought to you by the Community Services Council. Small and informal, rural and remote – no matter what the size and scope of your organization, you’ll find resources at enVision.ca to help you operate more efficiently, learn about the sector, recruit volunteers, contact other organizations throughout the province, and much more!
GDSourcing is a site which links to a wide variety of free Canadian statistics - very useful for finding statistical information that may support your organization's work.
Good for Business is a collective of Calgarians who believe that business people and entrepreneurs have a role to play through their work life in making our community a better one.
Grantsman Centre, The - The Centre was founded in 1972 by Norton J. Kiritz to offer grantsmanship training to nonprofit and government agencies. Site has links to grantmaking foundations and Corporate Giving Programs with stated giving interests in Canada
Guidelines for Registering a Charity: Meeting the Public Benefit Test is an online document which clarifies the meaning of the term "public benefit" as we understand and apply it when we make determinations of charitable status under the Income Tax Act.
HR Council for the Voluntary/Non-Profit Sector is an independent non-profit organization that provides leadership on issues related to paid employment in the voluntary/non-profit sector. It brings sector employers and employees together to work collaboratively on research, strategies and action.
Legal Info Offers some good advice for charitable donors. Presents several documents that contain invaluable information on optimizing how you give.
HRVS.ca offers a collection of practical tools and information on human resources management for non-profit organizations.
Imagine Canada builds on the proud history of two leading voices of Canada's charitable and nonprofit sector: the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy (CCP) and the Coalition of National Voluntary Organizations (NVO). It focuses on three key areas: they help charities and nonprofit organizations fulfill their missions; they champion corporate citizenship and help businesses partner in the community; and they help Canadians and their governments understand how the work of charities, nonprofit organizations and community-minded businesses is important to our country and its future.
In Kind Canada is a unique program which connects businesses with material surpluses to charities in need of assistance.
Institute for Nonprofit Studies (Mount Royal College, Calgary AB) - The Institute for Nonprofit Studies at Mount Royal College is the first in Canada to bring together education, training and research tailored to the nonprofit sector—and supports Canada’s first undergraduate degree dedicated to the sector, the Bachelor of Applied Nonprofit Studies.
Institute on Governance An excellent Canadian website for information and tools on all aspects of Board governance.
The International Center for Not-for-Profit Law facilitates and stimulates the development of civil society on a global basis. It includes a clearing house of information on legal, regulatory, and administrative developments in the not-for-profit sector, as well as conduction and supporting research relevant to strengthening and improving laws systems for non-governmental organizations.
MacEwan - Volunteer Sector Management - Post-diploma certificate aimed at current and prospective executive directors and program level senior managers.
Muttart Foundation The Foundation’s main areas of work focus on Alberta and Saskatchewan. Through its own charitable activities and its funding programs the Foundation works with other funders and charitable organizations to improve the early learning and care of young children and to strengthen the charitable sector.
National Center for Family Philanthropy (US)- The mission of the National Center for Family Philanthropy is to promote philanthropic values, vision, and excellence across generations of donors and donor families.
Ontario Trillium
Foundation The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF), is an agency
of the Ontario Ministry of Culture. OTF distributes $100 million of
government funding each year generated through Ontario’s charity
casino initiative. Their mission is to build healthy and vibrant communities
throughout Ontario by strengthening the capacity of the voluntary sector,
through investments in community-based initiatives.
Registered
Charities Newsletters (Canada Revenue Agency)
Resource Centre
for Voluntary Organizations (RCVO)
The RCVO offers a wide range of services to support the effort of Alberta-based
voluntary organizations.
Statistics Canada produces statistics that help Canadians better understand their country—its population, resources, economy, society and culture.
Tamarack
An Institute for Community Engagement - is a charitable organization
dedicated to helping Canadian communities take ownership of local issues
by making use of proven strategies for community engagement. Community
Engagement is commonly defined as citizens from different sectors of
a community joining together taking leadership, to address issues that
affect them all.
The
Philanthropist is a quarterly journal for managers, directors,
and legal and financial advisors of Canadian charitable organizations
and foundations. It publishes articles and information relevant to the
Canadian philanthropic sector and provides a forum for discussion and
informed debate of controversial issues arising in this sector.
The Philanthropist is published by the Agora Foundation with the assistance of the Charity and Not-for-Profit Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association, and Imagine Canada.
United Way of Canada (Statement of Principles for Donors’ Rights)
Voluntary Sector Forum - The mandate of the Voluntary Sector Forum is to provide pan-Canadian leadership and coordination in the voluntary sector, on horizontal, sector-wide issues.
Voluntary Sector Initiative - The VSI is a joint initiative to strengthen the capacity of the voluntary sector and to enhance the relationship between the Sector and the Government of Canada.
Volunteer.ca - Canada’s site for information on volunteering. In Volunteerism in Canada find out the facts and trends, read the latest research, learn about national events, search the directory of organizations, find answers to your questions and more.
Volunteer Alberta - A nonprofit organization, Volunteer Alberta has been working with Alberta communities and volunteer centres for the past 15 years. Their mission is to create possibilities in Alberta’s voluntary sector by strategically connecting leaders, members, organizations and networks.
Volunteer Vancouver - Full text publications on topics such as relationships with corporations, working with boards, and liability are present as well as issue alerts and salary surveys.
Wild Rose Foundation provides valuable information of interest to volunteers in Alberta.
WorkRights.ca - Workers are the primary audience for this site, sponsored by the Canadian Labour Congress. Provides information about rights and protection provided by laws in all jurisdictions - Occupational Safety and Health, Human Rights, minimum employment standards, etc.
Updated: July 2007
