FAQs: Donations Through Events

Tickets

Q. "When I buy a ticket for a charitable event, I always get a tax receipt for part of my ticket price. How come the Stephen Lewis Foundation doesn't do the same?"

A. As you know, the Stephen Lewis Foundation does not run its own events. Instead, we rely on 100s (perhaps 1000s) of community event organizers to put on events and send us the money raised through their ticket sales.

Other charitable organizations put on their own events, but usually only two or three a year. When they issue a ‘partial’ tax receipt for a ticket, someone on their staff will have had to assess the fair market value of everything associated with that event.

In order for the Foundation to issue a ‘partial’ tax receipt for tickets, the fair market value of every component of the event must be determined – even if everything has been donated – because the Income Tax Act requires that the “total amount of all benefits provided to the donor” be taken into account.

So, let’s take the example of a concert. The community event organizer would have to determine the retail cost of:

the design and printing of tickets
the design and printing of promotional materials
the design and cost of any advertising
the design and uploading of a website
the venue
the sound system
the market value of the performers
the set-up and clean-up by any venue staff
any video presentation
any additional furniture rentals
the refreshments

Once the community event organizer has all of this information (including all original invoices), then she must also determine the number of persons who attended the event, and the number of tickets sold.

All that information must then be relayed to the Foundation, and the Foundation must perform a complex series of calculations to determine the correct “eligible amount” for the donation tax receipt: the ticket price, minus the “advantage” or benefit (the collective term for the goods and services received by the attendee), multiplied by a percentage test to ensure that a receipt can be issued at all.

That’s a huge burden on the organizing committee and on the Foundation. In fact, we’re convinced that we would need to hire someone just to deal with these Income Tax Act requirements because even though the Foundation has not directly put on the event, the Foundation is exclusively responsible for issuing all event tax receipts and determining the appropriate value.

We don’t know of any Foundation or charitable organization that counts on third-party events as much as we do at the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Community event and Grandmother campaign organizers raise about $5 million a year. 90% of that goes to support our project work in Africa – and that’s exactly how we want to spend your fundraising dollars.

If someone attends my event, under what circumstances could she or he get a tax receipt?

You may suggest/encourage/invite/recommend attendees to make a donation in addition to the ticket price. This suggested donation should be made payable to the Stephen Lewis Foundation directly and the donor may receive a tax receipt. Please ensure such donations are kept separate from the other funds. If you are collecting cash donations, the donor simply needs a 'Donor Card ' attached to their donation so that it can be receipted (see below).

How do I donate a portion or percentage of the ticket price to the Foundation?

As organizers you must collect the full ticket price in an account opened specifically for your event. Please remember to pay for your overhead costs, and then forward the balance of the funds to the Stephen Lewis Foundation. We will provide you (the organizer) with an acknowledgement of the funds received.

If you have additional questions pertaining to tickets and tax receipts, please contact us at community@stephenlewisfoundation.org.

Q. I am organizing an event and thought that it would make things simpler for the Foundation if I bought a receipt book and made out receipts on the spot. Is this possible?

A. No. Only the Foundation is authorized to provide donation tax receipts in accordance with the Income Tax Act.

Cash Donations

Q. If people at my event would like to donate cash to the Foundation, is it possible for me to collect this money and write a cheque on behalf of several donors who have given cash?

A. There are three answers:

If tax receipts are not required (which will be the case in many instances) you may forward the Foundation a cheque for the lump sum indicating it is on behalf of your guests and we can issue an acknowledgement of the funds received for your records;
In the event that any donor wishes to receive a receipt for a cash donation, s/he must provide you with a Donor Card. The Donor Card must indicate that the donation is being given to the SLF and provide the donor's name, address, e-mail, phone number, amount of donation, signature and date. As the organizer, you then send this in with the lump sum. Click on this link for a printable Donor Card;
It is possible for one individual to aggregate the gift of several donors and to provide SLF with a list; however the information on the donor card information must be provided for each individual on your list:

Organizers can collect the cash raised from the event and either obtain a money order for the total amount, or write a personal cheque for the total amount. But remember, in order for donors to get a receipt, the organizer must submit a list of the donors including all the information from a Donor Card.
Alternatively, you could send in a stack of completed Donor Cards for each one of your guests;
If some funds have been donated anonymously, please fill in a donor card with the amount donated anonymously;
If you, as the organizer, have also made a contribution which is included in your personal cheque, don't forget to fill out a donor card for yourself as well!

Note: If you anticipate that your event is going to be large and, as a result, that you will be raising a large sum of donated cash, please contact the Foundation prior to proceeding so that we can discuss the options. If we work together, this will help ensure that the Foundation can keep the administrative costs as low as possible and that more of the funds raised can get to those in need.

Q. What are the Donor Cards for?

A. To receive a tax receipt for a cash donation, a donor must complete a 'Donor Card'. We provide a printable file formatted with four Donor Cards on a single page (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader). The donor cards can be printed to plain paper (and cut up) or to a page of four labels. Many organizers find labels are useful because they can be affixed to envelopes and the donations placed inside. To make sure that we can track all the donations from your event, fill in the Event Name on the donor cards prior to their use by your guests/volunteers. A Donor Card indicates that the donation is being given to the Stephen Lewis Foundation and requires the following information to be provided by the donor:

full name;
address;
phone number;
e-mail address;
amount of donation;
method of donation (cash/cheque)
signature;
date.

Encourage people at your event to make donations by cheque or credit card. You can download and printout our 'Credit Card Withdrawal Authorization Form ' which can be used to make either a one-time donation or monthly donations.With cheques, the donor should fill in any information required for the donor card which is not on the cheque itself.The Donor Card and cheque must be attached together.

Walkathons

Q. We'd like to organize a Walkathon in our community/school. Is it possible to provide tax receipts to all those who pledge?

A. The Stephen Lewis Foundation has a small and very busy staff and thus, we don't have the capacity to fulfill this request in every circumstance. Please contact us prior to the Walkathon so that we can discuss the event in more detail.

In order to issue tax receipts for donations made in a Walkathon, we normally require a list of the donors' names along with their complete addresses and contact information (see 'About Donor Cards' for more details). That list should be accompanied by a Money Order which corresponds to the total. (For more information on handling Cash Donations, please refer to the section above). If you have any cheques from your Walkathon which have been made out to the Foundation, we will issue a receipt to the individual who wrote the cheque (and thus made the donation). All of this should be put together in a package and sent to the Foundation following your Walkathon.

We have developed an Excel spreadsheet which we will send to you the organizers for use in this type of event. This will help to keep the administrative costs as low as possible and ensure that the maximum amount of money raised goes right to the grassroots in Africa.

Total Money Raised

Q. How can I find out how much my event raised?

A. The easiest way for the Stephen Lewis Foundation to keep track of the money raised at your event is for you to ask us in advance to track the donations and ask all donors to put a reference to your event on the "re:" line of their cheque or on their 'Donor Card'.

In addition to doing the above, it is helpful to use the 'Event Sign-In Sheet' to gather donors' contact information for cross-referencing. Lastly, please remember to send all of the contributions raised, through the event, to the Foundation in one package. This helps us easily identify a total for your efforts!

Donations 'In Kind', Auctions and Lotteries

Donations 'In Kind'

Q. Someone will be performing/catering/providing a service at our event for free. Normally they charge X amount of money for their particular service. Can the Stephen Lewis Foundation provide them with a donation receipt for the equivalent of the cost of their service?

A. The Income Tax Act does not permit the Foundation to issue donation receipts for services rendered except in limited situations.

Auctions

Please read the following information carefully. Since our inception, we've been able to accept many donations from Auctions and we are delighted that organizers have been able to work within our capacity outlined below.

Please contact us at community@stephenlewisfoundation.org if you have any questions specifically about Auctions after you've read this section.

Q. We have received many donations from local businesses and artists for our silent auction. Can the Foundation issue tax receipts to those who have donated items?

A. The Stephen Lewis Foundation has a small and very busy staff which prevents us from having the capacity to fulfill this request, except in limited circumstances. If you are organizing an auction and require this, please contact us first.

Other Auction organizers have told us that, in their experience, many companies were happy to deduct the donation as a business expense, without requiring a donation receipt. That's because this has virtually the same effect on their corporate tax return.

Q. We will be holding a silent auction as a part of our event.Is it possible for the Foundation to issue tax receipts to those who bid on items?

A. The Foundation has a legal obligation to obtain valuations of the items and to obtain certified records. That is a tremendous amount of work and our current staffing complement makes it impossible for us to issue tax receipts in such circumstances.

Other Auction organizers have told us that, in their experience, most participants were quite happy to acquire the Auction item without any expectation of receiving a tax receipt. They were delighted to know that their contribution would go to a worthy cause.

Lotteries

Q. I am organizing a lottery (at my school, church, etc.) to raise funds for the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Is it possible for those who buy tickets to receive a tax receipt?

A. The Income Tax Act does not permit a donation tax receipt to be issued for a lottery ticket.

Birthdays and Weddings

Birthdays

Scores of Canadians have celebrated their birthdays by asking their guests to make a donation to the Foundation in lieu of gifts. We are delighted to assist with this celebration of life across two continents!

Please see the Donate page for more details on how we will notify you of donations made in your honour. Please remember to ask your guests to indicate that their donation was made in your honour when they send in their donation.

Q. I am having a Birthday Party and I've asked guests to bring donations in lieu of gifts. I will collect all of the donations and forward them to you. Can you then provide me with a list of their names and addresses?

A. Unfortunately, this is not possible. Due to Privacy Laws, we are unable to release any donor information to an event organizer.

Q. I am throwing a birthday party fundraiser for a friend and would like all of the attendees to donate to the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Is it possible for the Foundation to issue a donation receipt in my friend's name?

A. The Income Tax Act does not permit the Foundation to issue tax receipts to anyone other than the donor (the person whose name is on the donor card, cheque or credit card).

Weddings

Q. We would like to request donations in lieu of wedding gifts, is there anything we should know?

A. Thank you for your generous intention! Please remember to ask your guests to request that a tribute letter be sent to you regarding their donation. This will allow us to notify you of their gift.

Q. We would like to donate to the Foundation on behalf of our wedding guests in lieu of bonbonniers, how could we inform them of our donation?

A. Couples have told us that they have made an announcement at their wedding or placed a Stephen Lewis Foundation brochure at the place setting of each of their guests. Alternatively we would be happy to provide a letter for you to post at the wedding.

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