Category: uncategorized

Following the Charities Directorate’s revocation of one of Canada’s largest charities, Beth Oloth in January 2019, comments were made about what took the Charities Directorate so long. #_edn1″ name=”_ednref1 [i] Expert charity lawyer Mark Blumberg commented “if abuses like these are allowed to continue it will undermine the public’s confidence in the whole charitable sector” and the government should be embarrassed the charity was allowed to operate for so long.
Canada’s current laws muzzle the Charities Directorate from informing the public. The Charities Directorate must follow due process and do exhaustive audits and investigations. In the Beth Oloth case, the investigation was dragged on by lawyers and spanned more than two years. It is alarming that in these two years under investigation, Beth Oloth tax receipted $49.9 million in donations and received an additional $53.9 million from private foundations.
Currently, the Charities Directorate cannot suspend “trading” or notify donors until it makes its final decision. In contrast, British laws allow its Charities Commission to prominently notify the public when a charity is under investigation. Canada’s laws can change to help the Charities Directorate better police the charity sector and inform the public.
Yet, rather than asking what more Ottawa can do, shouldn’t we be asking ourselves what we can do to make our charity sector what we want it to be?
Charity Intelligence believes we donors need to become more active. We need to ask charities to be financially transparent in exchange for our support. We need to raise our expectations that charities follow best practices.  
Just as our communities are kept safer by watchful neighbours, our charity sector needs us all to be vigilant. We must help prevent charity fraud or tax abuse. This job is too big for one regulator, or single organization. Canada’s charity sector will be stronger and cleaner when we all step up. Let’s start now.

• Know your rights as a donor. Rights are just platitudes unless respected. The Donor Bill of Rights, Article III states, “All donors have the right to have access to the organization’s most recent financial statements.”
• Do your homework and research the charity. Check that the charities you support have posted financial statements on their website, especially with large charities with more than $1 million in annual donations. For large charities, are these financial statements audited? Contact the charity’s management team and directors to share your thoughts.
• Hold your support until your charity is financially transparent is what Charity Intelligence recommends.
• Report suspicions of charity fraud, please https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/programs/about-canada-revenue-agency-cra/suspected-tax-cheating-in-canada-overview.html contact the Charities Directorate.

 
Learn more:
https://www.charityintelligence.ca/component/content/article/613-one-of-canada-s-largest-charities-revoked-a-case-study-for-donors-to-avoid-bad-charities?catid=42&Itemid=101 Beth Oloth’s charity status revoked – one of Canada’s largest charities is a case study showing donors early warning signals February 2019
https://www.charityintelligence.ca/charity-details/515-kupas-hachesed-meoroth Kupas Hachesed Meoroth revoked July 2022
https://www.charityintelligence.ca/component/content/article/614-what-about-gates-of-mercy?catid=42&Itemid=101 Gates of Mercy – Charities Directorate finds curious connections with revoked charity Beth Oloth, April 2019
https://www.charityintelligence.ca/research-and-news/ci-views/33-donor-giving/332-transparency-matters-in-canada-s-charity-sector Why charity transparency matters, March 2019
 
Sources: 
#_ednref1″ name=”_edn1 [i] Stewart Bell, “ https://globalnews.ca/news/4893430/canada-charity-jewish-group-foreig-armed-forces/ Government revokes charity status of Canadian Jewish group that supported ‘foreign armed forces’, Global News, January 28, 2019
http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2019/2019-01-12/html/commis-eng.html Revocation of Beth Oloth Charitable Organization, Canadian Gazette, January 12, 2019
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text-align: left; If you find Charity Intelligence’s research useful in your giving, please consider  https://www.charityintelligence.ca/donate donating to support our work. Being entirely funded by donors like you maintains our independence and objectivity to help Canadians be informed in their giving. Canadians donate over $17 billion each year. This giving could achieve tremendous results. We hope Charity Intelligence’s research helps Canadians give better.
Legal disclaimer:
The information in this report was prepared by Charity Intelligence Canada and its independent analysts from publicly-available information. Charity Intelligence and its analysts have made endeavours to ensure that the data in this report is accurate and complete but accepts no liability.
The views and opinions expressed are to inform donors in matters of public interest. Views and opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, organization, individual or anyone or anything. Any dispute arising from your use of this website or viewing the material hereon shall be governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario, without regard to any conflict of law provisions. 
 

Canadian Cancer Society spending on programs for people with cancer and cancer research
News headlines in 2011 unfairly criticized Canadian Cancer Society for spending more on fundraising than on cancer research. Yes, this is factually correct, both in 2018 as it was in 2011. In F2018, Canadian Cancer Society spent $52.8 million on fundraising compared to $48.9 million spent on cancer research grants. And yes, Canadian Cancer Society does have huge fundraising costs to raise money for its operations. link to fundraising costs.
However, unlike most large cancer charities, Canadian Cancer Society has two core programs, not just one.  It runs cancer programs for people with cancer and it funds cancer research. Canada’s other large cancer charities fundraise and only grant money to cancer research. Think a United Way model, or a mutual fund. This fundraising/granting/investing work is very different from being on the frontline, working with people with cancer. Few charities provide hands on help to people living with cancer. Canadian Cancer Society is an exception.
In its cancer programs, across Canada, CCS convenes support groups, provides online resources, organizes rides to cancer treatment, operates lodges (Ronald McDonald-type housing for adult cancer patients undergoing treatment), and loans wigs to people with cancer. At every cancer treatment centre across Canada, Canadian Cancer Society volunteers provide refreshments to patients waiting for cancer treatments.
In 2018, in addition to its research grants of $48.9 million, Canadian Cancer Society spent $51.4 million on cancer support programs. Cancer programs, research grants, and advocacy totaled $103.6 million in 2018. When undertaking a fair assessment of fundraising costs, spending on cancer research and cancer programs must also be considered.
 
Sources:
Jason Kirby, https://www.macleans.ca/economy/business/buy-sell-donate/  “Buy, sell, donate: A new breed of analysts is using investing techniques to better scrutinize the booming charity business”, Macleans Business, July 28, 2011 
Erica Johnson, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/cancer-society-spends-more-on-fundraising-than-research-1.1080909  “Cancer Society spends more on fundraising than research”, CBC News, July 6, 2011

Few have ever heard of the charity called Beth Oloth, including experts in Canada’s philanthropy sector. Yet, Beth Oloth was one of Canada’s largest charities. It was the same size as more familiar charities like Doctors Without Borders, Queen’s University, and United Way Montreal. On January 12, 2019, the Charities Directorate revoked Beth Oloth’s charity status. Beth Oloth has 90 days to appeal this decision.Beth Oloth is a huge Canadian charity. Beth Oloth most recently reported receiving $59.4 million in donations and grants from foundations. #_edn1″ name=”_ednref1 [i] That’s incredible fundraising for one staff and two directors acting alone.
This is a cautionary story for donors. Just because a charity is big, does not make it “good”, and just because it is getting lots of money, donors cannot neglect due diligence. For those who care about giving intelligently, there were early warning signals.
Subscribers to Charity Intelligence’s star ratings got the heads up in August 2017. Charity Intelligence rated https://www.charityintelligence.ca/charity-details/870-beth-oloth-charitable-organization Beth Oloth zero out of four stars. Our concerns made us take the extra step to add a donor advisory. Charity Intelligence’s research and rating subscription can help you give better, instead of simply using gut feel and emotion.

component/content/article/332-transparency-matters-in-canada-s-charity-sector?catid=42&Itemid=101 Charity transparency matters
component/content/article/616-what-donors-can-do-to-improve-transparency-in-canada-s-charity-sector?catid=42&Itemid=101 What donors can do to improve transparency 
 
Early warning signals
When most donors think of “bad” charities, they most likely picture small scams or hucksters going door-to-door, and not elite Canadian charities. Yet, Beth Oloth was part of our Major 100 Index, among the largest charities in Canada.
To recap, Charity Intelligence’s Major 100 index is a list of Canada’s largest 100 charities measured by donations and support from fundraising and special events. The Major 100 Index represents the elite 0.1% of Canada’s 86,000+ registered charities. Together, Canada’s Major 100 charities received $6.2 billion in donations in their most recent reported year. This is approximately 38% of total Canadian giving (assuming total Canadian annual giving is $16 billion).
Beth Oloth is the sixth of Canada’s Major 100 charities to be revoked in the last seven years. When large public companies run into problems, there is media attention alerting shareholders, as there was in the case of Enron, BreX, and Sino-Forest. Yet, donors get little notice about charities in trouble with regulators. Charity Intelligence believes early warning signals benefit intelligent donors.  
 
These Major 100 charities that were ultimately revoked look alike. None had financial transparency. Results reporting grades are all Fs using the Keystone Accountability scorecard. Donors may be tricked into believing extremely low overhead costs show great value. Yet, when overhead costs are less than 5%, donors need to pay extra attention. This is exactly why Charity Intelligence’s overhead costs analysis has an upper red zone.
 
What about Gates of Mercy?
With Beth Oloth’s revocation, comments were made about what took the Charities Directorate so long. #_edn1″ name=”_ednref1 [i] Expert charity lawyer Mark Blumberg commented “if abuses like these are allowed to continue it will undermine the public’s confidence in the whole charitable sector” and the government should be embarrassed the charity was allowed to operate for so long.
Our current laws muzzle the Charities Directorate from informing us. The Charities Directorate must follow due process and do exhaustive audits and investigations. In the Beth Oloth case, the investigation was dragged on by lawyers and spanned more than two years. It is alarming that in these two years under investigation, Beth Oloth tax receipted $49.9 million in donations and received an additional $53.9 million from private foundations. Currently, the Charities Directorate cannot suspend “trading” or notify donors until it makes its final decision. In contrast, British laws allow its Charities Commission to prominently notify the public when a charity is under investigation.
Yet the Charities Directorate is not silent in the Beth Oloth case. Its https://www.globalphilanthropy.ca/images/uploads/NITR_Beth_Oloth_Charitable_Organization_Redacted.pdf investigation notes report a curious relationship between Beth Oloth and https://www.charityintelligence.ca/charity-details/516-gates-of-mercy Gates of Mercy, another Toronto-based charity. Numerous cheques made out to Gates of Mercy were deposited into Beth Oloth’s bank account; an American GoFundMe page told supporters that money could be tax-receipted by Beth Oloth, with instructions to mail cheques to Rabbi Reidel, a director of Gates of Mercy.  In the Charities Directorate’s investigation, Beth Oloth claimed there is no ongoing relationship between itself and Gates of Mercy.
Gates of Mercy is an active charity that Charity Intelligence rates. We rate Gates of Mercy zero for its financial transparency and give it an F grade on results reporting. Its financial statements are unaudited. It has one staff that raises $10.2 million in donations. It is extremely cost-efficient with overhead costs of only 0.9%. Given these signs, Charity Intelligence has added a donor advisory.
Update: On April 4, 2019, the Charities Directorate revoked Gates of Mercy’s charity status following an audit.
 
Sources:
http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2019/2019-01-12/html/commis-eng.html Revocation of Beth Oloth Charitable Organization, Canadian Gazette, January 12, 2019
#_ednref1″ name=”_edn1 [i] Charities Directorate annual return for Beth Oloth, accessed February 5, 2019 Charities Listing, https://apps.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/haip/srch/t3010form23-eng.action?b=118807080RR0001&fpe=2017-09-30 2017 Annual Return Beth Oloth, Government of Canada
#_ednref1″ name=”_edn1 [i] Stewart Bell, “ https://globalnews.ca/news/4893430/canada-charity-jewish-group-foreig-armed-forces/ Government revokes charity status of Canadian Jewish group that supported ‘foreign armed forces’, Global News, January 28, 2019
text-align: left;   

text-align: left; If you find Charity Intelligence’s research useful in your giving, please consider  https://www.charityintelligence.ca/donate donating to support our work. Being entirely funded by donors like you maintains our independence and objectivity to help Canadians be informed in their giving. Canadians donate over $17 billion each year. This giving could achieve tremendous results. We hope Charity Intelligence’s research helps Canadians give better.
Legal disclaimer:
The information in this report was prepared by Charity Intelligence Canada and its independent analysts from publicly-available information. Charity Intelligence and its analysts have made endeavours to ensure that the data in this report is accurate and complete but accepts no liability.
The views and opinions expressed are to inform donors in matters of public interest. Views and opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, organization, individual or anyone or anything. Any dispute arising from your use of this website or viewing the material hereon shall be governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario, without regard to any conflict of law provisions. 
 

Ci’s results for the year ending June 2018

 
 This is exactly the impact we hoped for. A 2016 Statistics Canada donor survey found that 30% of Canadian donors are not giving more to charities because they believed their money will not be used efficiently or effectively. With unanswered questions and uncertainty, we estimate about $2.7 billion in Canadian giving is “on the sidelines”. If we could address this donor uncertainty, bridge the information gaps, donor confidence would rise and money would flow …. And donations would flow to more cost-efficient and effective (impact) charities. From Google Analytics and StatsCan, we estimate Charity Intelligence informed $74.1 million in Canadian giving, with an operating cost of $195,000.
 in the summer of 2018 compared to the previous year, a steady but slower improvement in charity donor accountability than hoped for. Since 2013 when we began grading charity reports, charity accountability grades have improved 18%. Canadian charities still lag British and Australian charities by a wide margin by our estimates: average Canadian charities scored 95, British charities are estimated to be at 120 and Australian charities may be higher still. To be better informed, donors need Canadian charities to better report their results. This is going to be a long haul objective. 
Charity Intelligence is a small charity with donations of $244k in F2018. The largest cost is staff salaries to do charity research reports and impact analysis. Administrative costs are 9% of total revenues (allocation of rent, bookkeeping costs, and audit fees), and fundraising costs are 2% of total donations. For every dollar you donate, 89 cents goes to the cause. Charity Intelligence has funding reserves of $109k that cover 6 months of research. See Charity Intelligence’s https://www.charityintelligence.ca/about-ci/annual-reportsfinancials audited financial statements and review of https://www.charityintelligence.ca/charity-details/261-charity-intelligence Charity Intelligence.
Huge thanks to our amazing donors whose funding made these results possible.
Additional information about Charity Intelligence is posted in frequently https://www.charityintelligence.ca/about-ci/faqs asked questions.