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Lac Megantic 3-Year Update

June 6th 2016 was the 3rd year anniversary of the Lac Megantic train derailment. This tragedy killed 47 Canadians, left 32 children without a parent(s), led to the evacuation of 3,235 residents, and annihilated the downtown core of a charming Quebec town. Three years later, legal wranglings hold up the financial settlement for Lac Megantic residents.
In the wake of the Lac Megantic disaster, Canadians donated $14.5 million to Canadian Red Cross’s disaster relief efforts for Lac Megantic. With interest earned on unspent funds, this amount has increased to $14.8 million.
Canadian Red Cross released its 3-Year Update for donors outlining its work. For Year 3, Canadian Red Cross reports spending $554,500 on Lac Megantic’s recovery – 4% of donations. This leaves $2.270 million for future work or 15% of donations to be spent in the future.
Canadian Red Cross Spending Priorities in Year 3:

  • $180,000 for Lac Megantic health care projects in collaboration with Le Granite Centre de Sante, including an arts program for seniors.
  • $172,000 in economic recovery aid on 10 local projects.
  • $90,000 in grants to four local charities – average grant size $22,500.
  • $40,000 for one education project supporting 30 students.

At the current rate of Canadian Red Cross spending, it will continue operations in Lac Megantic through 2020.
To download Charity Intelligence’s images/Lac-Megantic-3-Year-Update.pdf” rel=”alternate Lac Megantic 3-Year Update brief

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Charity Intelligence 2015 Results

2015 was a year of phenomenal growth. With the generous funding from Canadian donors, Charity Intelligence continues to grow in influence.
Intelligent giving focuses on results. Here are the highlight Charity Intelligence results for F2015:

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ALS Ice Bucket Challenge – A 2-Year Update

text-align: right; July 28, 2016
Two summers ago the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was all the charity buzz. In intelligent giving, it is critical to check in on what happened to the money, get updates and evaluate results. Here’s an update for the 260,000 Canadians who donated to ALS Society Canada in the Ice Bucket Challenge.
Canadians participated more and donated more in the ALS Challenge than any other country. Canadians donated $16.2 million to ALS Canada. Canadians donated the most to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge on a per population basis; Canadian gave US$0.39, 18% higher than US giving and significantly higher than British and Dutch giving.

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World Vision Canada – Donor Brief on Gaza Allegations of Donations Financing Hamas

World Vision Canada has no sponsored communities in the Gaza area. Charity Intelligence does not see Canadian donations involved in Israeli security’s recent allegations of World Vision funds diverted to Hamas.
https://www.charityintelligence.ca/images/World-Vision-Canada-Gaza-Donor-Brief.pdf” rel=”alternate To read Charity Intelligence’s donor brief on World Vision Canada’s programs in Palestinian Territories (163 kb)
Background: The international press extensively reported on allegations that World Vision donations for Gaza projects financed Hamas. Israeli security arrested Mohammed El Halabi on June 15, 2016 and charged him on August 4, 2016 for diverting “tens of millions” to Hamas terrorist group. According to reports of these charges, World Vision’s Gaza projects receive US$11.7 million a year of which 60% (US$7 million) was diverted to Hamas. Israel’s Shin Bet internal security service alleges Halabi diverted World Vision donations to families of Hamas militants with injured children, Hamas militants falsely registered as World Vision staff and were paid salaries, project costs in Gaza were inflated with the extra money going to fund Hamas, and fictitious names were used with $1.5 million in donations given out to Hamas members. Shin Bet alleges Halabi transferred to Hamas materials such as steel, digging equipment and pipes that were meant for World Vision’s farming projects. One military base costing $800,000 was built in 2015 entirely from British donations.
Given that World Vision International’s entire spending in Gaza over the last 10 years is US$22.2 million, it is difficult to reconcile these allegations. Furthermore Halabi has only been Gaza manager since October 2014. Before then, as with all World Vision project staff, individual spending authority is maxed at US$15,000. World Vision International’s Gaza operations were recently extensively and independently audited in 2015 with the highest praise for its humanitarian work in Gaza.
This is not the first time Israel has accused humanitarian charities working in the West Bank and Gaza of collaborating with terrorists. Israel has made similar allegations about Red Cross/Red Crescent, the UN’s Relief and Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees (the Canadian government stopped funding in 2010), Doctors Without Borders, Islamic Relief and now World Vision. These charities vehemently deny these allegations and maintain their actions are neutral.
Chris Gunness, spokesman for UNRWA
Without fair legal process, it is sad to see the knee jerk reaction of countries and donors stopping funds. World Vision Germany and the Australian government have suspended aid to World Vision’s projects in the Palestinian territories.
The political conflict of the Middle East raises the classic Humanitarian Dilemma. The UNRWA for Palestinian Refugees with humanitarian charities provide a basic social safety net to, some say, keep the suffering at an acceptable level. While helping those caught in a war zone, does international aid subsidize the costs and tactics of conflict? Humanitarian charities struggle with the dilemma; it’s an impossible balance between work that is complicit with Israel’s occupation and meeting the humanitarian needs of Palestinians trapped in this endless war.
World Vision Canada funds 6 Palestinian communities all in the West Bank and none in Gaza. World Vision Canada’s 6 West Bank sponsorships communities are in Nablus (3), Hebron (2), and West Jenin – see map. These Palestinian development projects are all on-going with no new sponsorship opportunities posted at this time on World Vision Canada’s website. World Vision Canada typically spends 15 years in each community.

  • Charity Intelligence rates World Vision Canada a 4-star charity with excellent donor accountability, full financial disclosure, a need for funding and overhead costs within a reasonable range. https://www.charityintelligence.ca/charity-details/33-world-vision-canada” rel=”alternate Charity Intelligence report on World Vision Canada updated July 29, 2016
  • World Vision Canada’s fundraising costs are 23.2% of donations and administrative costs are 5.9% of total revenues. For every dollar Canadians donate, 70.9 cents goes to World Vision Canada’s programs. This is within Charity Intelligence’s reasonable range for overhead costs.
  • World Vision Canada is Canada’s largest donor-funded charity with F2015 donations of $262.7 million. In addition, World Vision Canada received $37.4 million in federal government funding.World Vision Canada spent $345.7 million on its international programs in F2015.
  • World Vision adopts a community sponsorship approach. While donors give $39 a month to “sponsor a child”, these donations go to fund the community in which the child lives. World Vision Canada funds 255 communities in 48 developing countries.

    • August 8, 2016
    Writen by Kate Bahen, Charity Intelligence
    Sources:
    World Vision Canada, “Where we work: Jerusalem/West Bank/Gaza” http://www.worldvision.ca/ourwork/wherewework/Pages/Jerusalem-West-Bank-Gaza.aspx http://www.worldvision.ca/ourwork/wherewework/Pages/Jerusalem-West-Bank-Gaza.aspx
    World Vision – Jerusalem, West Bank, Gaza “Statement on World Vision’s staff Arrest”, August 4, 2016 http://www.wvi.org/jerusalem-west-bank-gaza/pressrelease/statement-world-visions-staff-arrest http://www.wvi.org/jerusalem-west-bank-gaza/pressrelease/statement-world-visions-staff-arrest
    Al Athar Global Consulting “DEC Gaza Program: Gaza Relief Response and Early Recovery 2014 (Phase 1 and 2): Final Evaluation Report” January 2016 http://cdn.worldvision.org.uk/files/7214/6401/4821/DEC_Gaza_evaluation_.pdf http://cdn.worldvision.org.uk/files/7214/6401/4821/DEC_Gaza_evaluation_.pdf
    Shawn McCarthy, “Ottawa eyes fresh funding for UN group with alleged ties to Hamas”, The Globe and Mail, February 14, 2016. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-eyes-fresh-funding-for-un-group-with-alleged-ties-to-hamas/article28757982/ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-eyes-fresh-funding-for-un-group-with-alleged-ties-to-hamas/article28757982/
    Jason Cone, The Humanitarian’s Dilemma, Foreign Policy July 15, 2015 http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/07/15/the-humanitarians-dilemma-palestine-gaza-doctors-without-borders/ http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/07/15/the-humanitarians-dilemma-palestine-gaza-doctors-without-borders/
    Tia Goldenberg and Daniella Cheslow, “Israel accuses Gaza manager of World Vision of funding Hamas” The Washington Post, August 4, 2016 also by Associated Press writer Wafa Shurafa in Gaza City, Associated Press. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israel-world-vision-manager-in-gaza-funneled-money-to-hamas/2016/08/04/168b824a-5a31-11e6-8b48-0cb344221131_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israel-world-vision-manager-in-gaza-funneled-money-to-hamas/2016/08/04/168b824a-5a31-11e6-8b48-0cb344221131_story.html
    Ruth Eglash and Hazem Balousha, “Gaza’s head of World Vision hired by Hamas to infiltrate the charity, funnelled $9.5 million a year to Hamas, Israel’s domestic security agency says.”, The Washington Post reported in National Post, August 5, 2016. http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/israel-middle-east/gazas-head-of-world-vision-hired-by-hamas-to-infiltrate-the-charity-funnelled-9-5-million-a-year-to-hamas http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/israel-middle-east/gazas-head-of-world-vision-hired-by-hamas-to-infiltrate-the-charity-funnelled-9-5-million-a-year-to-hamas
    Nick Schifrin and Merrit Kennedy, “Israel Accuses World Vision Employee of Embezzling Millions for Hamas”, National Public Radio, August 5, 2016. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/08/05/488809438/israel-accuses-world-vision-employee-of-embezzling-millions-for-hamas http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/08/05/488809438/israel-accuses-world-vision-employee-of-embezzling-millions-for-hamas
    World Vision Gaza, World Vision Management Response to the DEC Gaza Evaluation, April 8, 2016 http://cdn.worldvision.org.uk/files/1514/6401/4643/World_Vision_Management_Response_to_the_DEC_Gaza_Evaluation.pdf http://cdn.worldvision.org.uk/files/1514/6401/4643/World_Vision_Management_Response_to_the_DEC_Gaza_Evaluation.pdf

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    Charity Intelligence researches Canadian charities for donors to be informed and give intelligently. Our website posts free reports on more than 800 Canadian charities, as well as in-depth primers on philanthropic sectors like Canada’s environment, cancer, and homelessness. Today over 500,000 Canadians use our website as a go-to source for information on Canadian charities reading over 1.6 million charity reports. Through rigorous and independent research, Charity Intelligence aims to assist Canada’s dynamic charitable sector in being more transparent, accountable and focused on results.

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