Compared to many OrilliaMatters readers, my wife and I have only lived in the area for a short time. However, we have quickly come to appreciate how friendly and giving the people of this area are.
In our time here, we have seen some amazing examples of this in successful volunteer-driven campaigns to raise money for great causes such as Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital, the Lighthouse, Mariposa House Hospice, the Sharing Place Food Centre, the Couchiching Conservancy and many others.
There are many ways people give back to the community, but they generally fall into two categories — volunteering your time and making financial donations. Both are extremely important to the success of our local charities (and not-for-profit organizations).
Many people volunteer their time and are just not in a financial position to make donations. Some people may make only financial contributions and lots of people do both. We all do what we can do — which is incredible and is greatly appreciated by these organizations and our community.
My focus today is about making financial donations to charities. I want to make a few key points (or reminders) for you to consider as you contemplate your charitable giving for 2023.
- Who you give to is a matter of personal choice. There are many great causes, so you will need to decide which ones are important to you and you should allocate your giving for the year according to your priorities.
- Every donation matters — no matter how small or big. It is amazing what we can collectively achieve when we work together to support a cause.
- Consider making monthly donations if your charity provides that option. It provides them with a more predictable cash flow to manage their operations and programs.
- If you are not able to make donations today, you can encourage family, friends and other contacts to do so. In future, if your financial circumstances permit, you can reconsider making donations.
- Donations to registered charities create tax credits, which can significantly reduce your net cost of giving. Canada has one of the most supportive charitable tax credits programs in the world, which enables you to give more and the charities you support to benefit from this. Be sure to keep tax receipts to support your claim for tax credits.
- Consider adding the charity, or charities, you support as a beneficiary in your will (or insurance policy). Morbid, but many of us will have tax liabilities at death caused by capital gains or deferred retirement amounts such as a RRIF being taken into taxable income. Through your will, you can have a last say as to whether to leave an amount to a charity and reduce the amount of tax otherwise payable to the Canada Revenue Agency. Consult with a financial adviser on this one.
- It’s best to donate directly to your charity or trusted charitable donation organizations like CanadaHelps to ensure your funds are received as intended. Unfortunately, scams and fraud exist in the charitable space as well.
The Community Foundation of Orillia and Area supports charitable giving in our community. We are a locally run, public foundation that builds and manages permanent endowment funds from charitable donations. The investment earnings from these endowment funds are used to make annual grants to local charities based on their needs and the needs of the community.
We are always happy to chat with donors in our community and with charities about the benefits and our experience managing endowment funds and other long-term money. Please contact us at www.communityfoundationorillia.ca/contact.
Doug Varty is a board member with the Community Foundation or Orillia and Area and is a passionate supporter and volunteer with charities and organizations involved in conservation, health care, education and others. He is a retired partner from KPMG, a global professional advisory firm.
