For the past decade, the Neeman Foundation has helped Israeli non-profit organizations to raise funds in Canada. So you may have been caught by surprise that the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) decided on August 10th to revoke the Neeman Foundation's charity status - the Canadian version of Section 46.
This is dramatic for those Israeli charities working with Neeman, as the organization can no longer provide tax-receipts to Canadian donors.
Why did this happen?
The CRA revoked the charity status of both JNF Canada and the Neeman Foundation, the latter because it "failed to maintain proper books and records". For decades the CRA has targeted Canadian charities supporting Israel, from Magen David Adom of Canada, to Canadian Friends of Tel Aviv University. For that reason, organizations were advised to be extremely vigilant in ensuring compliance with Canadian law.
What does this mean for you?
IsraelGives partners exclusively with the Canadian charity "Canada Charity Partners". Knowing that by supporting Israel it would be a target of scrutiny, since its founding in 2015, Canada Charity Partners has invested tremendous resources to ensure compliance with Canadian law. It employs accountants, lawyers, a compliance officer and an internal auditor, and it has already engaged in two extensive government audits.
And as of December 2023, the situation is even more stable, as a change in Canadian law has made it easier for Canadian charities to support international activities, reducing the power of the CRA to dispute a charity's status mainly because it supports Israel.
So if you're working with IsraelGives, nothing imperils your ability to continue fundraising in Canada and issuing Canadian tax-receipts to Canadian donors. Canada Charity Partners continues to operate as normal.
How do I start working with Canada Charity Partners?
From your IsraelGives account, fill out a grant application with Canada Charity Partners. In it, you'll describe the activities that you want to perform with the funds that you receive from Canada. The application will be reviewed, generally within 3 business days. Once approved, donors can start to donate to you online, or by check, wire or stock donation, and receive a Canadian CRA tax-receipt on their donation.
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