Hedging Your Bets with the Great Grant Gamble

What charities should know about the CRA’s finalized granting rules

In October, we gave you the rundown on the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) new granting rules. Our first tip was to gauge your risk tolerance, as the new rules were in draft status: 

“The CRA is using this time to collect feedback from charities and nonprofits on the guidance. It doesn’t intend to formalize the guidelines until sometime in 2024.”

Well, that sometime has come (it came just in time for Christmas 2023, in fact), and the CRA has now finalized the new rules. We compared the final draft to the previous iteration and took note of the major changes so you don’t have to.

The New Purpose

Before we dive in once again, let’s recap: the purpose of these new rules is to allow registered charities to more easily fund charitable activities conducted by what the CRA refers to as “non-qualified donees” — organizations that do not have registered charity status.

When we wrote our previous post, we were optimistic that these changes would be a net positive for the benevolent sector: 

“For the benevolent sector as a whole, the new rules on granting could set the stage for a more equitable space — giving the opportunity for marginalized communities, under-represented in charity leadership, to access the sector’s vast financial resources to fund non-profits and grassroots initiatives.”

We still believe that to be true. Now let’s take a look at what has changed in the final rules.

Do your Due Diligence

In our previous post, we asked you to assess your risk tolerance, and it appears the CRA would like you to do the same, as it lays out a definition for “due diligence” in assessing how a non-qualified donee will use your grant. It recommends (although it does not mandate) that charities take steps such as establishing the purpose of the grant, assessing the grant’s risk level, and documenting your process along the way.

It also defines grants as low (up to $5,000), moderate ($5,000-$50,000), or high value ($50,000 or more), with more due diligence required, the higher the value. Size matters. So, if your grant is of high value, you’ll want to assess:

1. the experience of the non-qualified donee, 
2. whether you already have an established relationship, and 
3. how long the grant relationship will last. 

And as we stated above, prepare to document everything along the way. 

Don’t Take Orders

While the new guidance opens up the potential for new types of collaborations within the sector, the CRA cautions registered charities to maintain their independence, and this includes not making any promises about who you will support with grant funding. So if a donor tells you they’ll give you a $5,000 donation but only if it goes to support a specific organization, politely decline. The CRA specifically prohibits this kind of agreement, which it calls a “directed gift,” whether the condition is explicit or implicit. 

While you can’t accept a gift for a specific organization, you can accept one for a specific purpose. For example, you could accept a gift to support dog adoptions, but you cannot accept a gift intended for a specific dog adoption agency. 

A Caution for Foundations

As you consider these updated rules, we offer one final note for foundations: the new guidance explicitly states that charities with the sole purpose of making gifts to other charities (ie, most public and private foundations) cannot make a grant to a non-qualified donee, since such an arrangement would not further the charity’s purpose(s). If you run a foundation, the purposes of which are to accept donations and make gifts, and you want to being offering grants to non-qualified donees, consider getting in touch with us so we can advise on a purpose update.

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We hope this helps clarify the new rules. As you consider non-charitable benevolent organizations you may now be able to partner with, take the time to build relationships and establish trust so that you can be confident as you move ahead with grant agreements. And remember, make sure to do your due diligence along the way. 

Of course, we’re here to help support you in untangling the nuances of these agreements. If you have any questions or want advice on vetting potential partners, drop us a line.