FAQs about Donations

What percentage of my donation will go directly to those who need it?

Q. What percentage of my donation will go directly to those who need it?

A. We are seriously committed to ensuring that 90% of your contribution goes directly to our project work in Africa, supporting those who need it most. We work very hard to keep our administrative costs as low as humanly possible. Since we began, we have kept our administration costs below 10% of our revenue.

Charitable Tax Receipts

Q. Does the Stephen Lewis Foundation issue tax receipts?

A. Yes, the Stephen Lewis Foundation is a registered charity.You will receive a charitable tax receipt for income tax purposes on donations of $10 or more. Our charitable registration number is 89635 4008 RR0001.

If you make an online donation through CanadaHelps, Canada Helps will issue your tax receipt. If you make a donation online through Goundspring, Groundspring will issue your tax receipt for use in the US.

Q. When can I expect my receipt?

A. You can expect your receipt for your one-time donation within one to three weeks from the date you send it in.

If you are making monthly donations through your bank account or credit card, your annual receipt will be sent out in January for the previous tax year.

If you make your donation online through CanadaHelps or Groundspring, you will receive your tax receipt immediately from CanadaHelps or Groundspring in an automatic email.

Q. I donated several months ago. Why haven't I received a receipt?

A. Please call us at 416-533-9292, toll free at 1-888-203-9990 or write us (info@stephenlewisfoundation.org) with as much information about your donation as possible. It's possible we had an incorrect address for you so when you call or write, tell us your full name as it appeared on your donation, your address, when you made the donation and the amount. It is also helpful if we know how you made the donation: cheque, money order, credit card, online, etc. Include a phone number or email address so we can get in touch with you if we need to.

If you made your donation online through CanadaHelps, you will need to contact info@canadahelps.org for your receipt.

If you made a donation online through Groundspring, you will need to contact support@groundspring.org for your receipt.

Q. I can't find my receipt. Can I have another one?

A. We can send you a copy of your receipt. Be sure to give us your full name as it appeared on your donation, your address, the date you made the donation and the amount. Please include a phone number or email address so we can get in touch with you if we need to.

Q. Can you send my receipt to someone else?

A. The Income Tax Act obligates us to send receipts only to the person making the donation. This means that unless we receive signed documentation that a person gave you the money to forward to the Foundation, we can only send a receipt to:

the person or people whose names are on a pre-printed cheque
the person who signed the money order
the person whose name is on the credit card

Q: I'm making the donation in lieu of a gift. Can you send the receipt to that person?

A: The Income Tax Act does not allow this. We must issue the receipt to the person making the donation.

Q. I'm writing the cheque, but I want the receipt to go to my partner.

A. If your cheque is pre-printed with more than one name, we can send the receipt to anyone on the cheque. If your partner's name is not on the cheque, you should check with the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency about sharing your tax credit with your partner when you file your income tax returns.

Q. I want to write a cheque to cover cash donations I collected for the Foundation. How can the people who donated cash get a receipt?

A. The 'About Donor Cards' topic under the 'Event Planning FAQ' lists all of the information you need to collect from a donor so that the Foundation can issue them tax receipts.

Credit Card and Online Donation FAQs

Q. What if I can't print the credit card form from the website?

A. If you have a problem printing the forms, please ‘Contact Us’ and provide an email address or fax number so we can send the form to you.If you prefer, call us and leave your phone number. We will call you back and take your credit card information over the phone. Please see 'Contact Us' for the Foundation's numbers and mailing address.

Q. What is CanadaHelps and why can't I donate directly through the Foundation's website?

A. CanadaHelps is a secure website that provides information about charities and allows you to make online donations to charities of your choice.CanadaHelps provides this service to over 2500 organizations, and many thousands of donors. Using this service means the Stephen Lewis Foundation does not have to spend money processing your credit card donations, ensuring that more of the money goes directly to grassroots organizations in Africa.

Q. What portion of my donation goes to CanadaHelps?

A. A very modest portion (3 percent) is allocated to CanadaHelps for the cost of credit card merchant rates, per transaction charges, banking and disbursement fees.For more details, please visit their website: www.canadahelps.org/donor_start.aspx

Q. I tried to make a donation through CanadaHelps but I ran into problems.How do I get help or find out what happened to my donation?

A. If you encounter any problems with the CanadaHelps website, please send an email to info@canadahelps.org or call 416.628.6948.

What is Groundspring and why can't I donate directly through the Foundation's website?

GroundSpring is an organization that allows you to make online donations to charities in the United States. They provide their service to over 1500 organizations, and many thousands of donors.

Using this service means the Stephen Lewis Foundation does not have to spend resources processing your credit card donations from the United States, ensuring that more of the money goes directly to grassroots organizations in Africa.

What portion of my donation goes to GroundSpring?

A very modest portion (3 percent) is allocated to GroundSpring for the cost of credit card merchant rates, per transaction charges, banking and disbursement fees. For more details, please visit their website: www.groundspring.org

I tried to make a donation through GroundSpring but I ran into problems.
How do I get help or find out what happened to my donation?

If you encounter any problems with the GroundSpring website, please send an email to support@groundspring.org or call 415.561.7842 for assistance.

Targeted Donations (to a country or one of the foundation's areas of work)

Q. I want my donation to go to people in a specific country in Africa. How can I do this?

A. Please make your donation payable to 'Stephen Lewis Foundation' and put the name of the country on the reference line.We will designate the money to projects in the country you identify.

Q. I want my donation to help grandmothers, but I don't know which projects are doing that.

A. Just put the word 'grandmothers' on the reference line and we will designate the money to a project that helps grandmothers. (The same applies to orphans, women, and people living with HIV/AIDS.)

Q. How can I find out about the projects my donation is going to?

A. Visit our 'What We Do' page.

Does the Foundation sell, rent or trade donor information

Q. Does the Foundation sell, rent or trade donor information (eg., mailing and email addresses) to other agencies?

A. At present, absolutely not. We know that some charities share and sell donor information, and we have no intention of buying, selling, or trading donor information anytime soon. Our whole culture is grassroots, from the projects we fund to the way we run the Foundation. If the time comes when this is something we are contemplating, we will post the information on our website.

Donating Goods

Q. I'm collecting pens, books, clothing for kids in Africa. How do I send them?

A. Shipping goods to Africa is expensive and fraught with difficulties of various kinds: it often costs more than the value of what you're donating. For these reasons, most NGOs recommend that you donate money, and let local organizations in Africa do the purchasing of goods. In fact, here's a quote from an email from one of the projects we support in South Africa:

"When a donation of goods gets shipped through we have endless problems getting it out of customs and the costs involved are too horrendous for us to cover. We wait at least 3-6 months to get the donation released and then we have to wait a further month or so to get the goods released for collection."

Adopting/Sponsoring A Child

Q. I want to adopt/sponsor a child. Where do I go?

A. Adopting/sponsoring children is not a realm in which the SLF has any experience. We can tell you that there are programs at Plan Canada, CARE, and World Vision International, as well as a slightly different approach, which we think is worthy: www.keepachildalive.org. Also, you can get information about international adoption from Adoption Services of Provincial Child Welfare authorities or Children's Aid Societies in each of the Provinces and Territories in Canada.

Donations to other charities

Q. Why should I donate to the Stephen Lewis Foundation when there are so many other charities doing similar work?

A. We do not make any argument that you should fund SLF over and above other organizations. Many NGOs are doing excellent work on HIV/AIDS in Africa and we support their work. Stephen Lewis has spoken at fundraisers for just about every major NGO working in the field, as well as other worthy organizations doing similar work.

If you look at our mandate, you will see that our funds go directly to small projects in the community at the grassroots. If that appeals to you as an imperative, then you might want to support us. There is so much to be done, and so many other organizations doing good work, that wherever you decide to donate will be a boon to those who need it. This is really what matters, not whether the funds reach Africa through the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

What You Can Do

View Site Map