News

AAFRE News is widely recognized by AAFRE members as a clear advantage to joining the association. Keeping apprised on changes within the fundraising field is a challenge even for the most seasoned staff. To keep you current of new developments, we regularly publish articles on revised regulations, new trends in fundraising, upcoming and recently-completed educational sessions, and much more. In each edition of the newsletter we showcase one of the AAFRE charitable members, giving all of us an opportunity to better understand the many organizations raising funds today.

E4C's Financial Management Program

Offering Service Excellence

One of the most difficult things that a charity needs to do is to make sure they follow the various reporting requirements. These include reports to Canada Revenue Agency, the GST, Payroll Tax, the T3010 Annual Return, the numerous reports required by various funding partners. Finding staff well versed in all of these requirements is not always easy, and can sometimes just be too expensive.

"After years of standing on my soapbox, someone has finally called my bluff", says Michael Farris, E4C's CEO. Michael has been talking about finding a way to simplify reporting by using collaborative services for many years. Now the Province of Alberta, the City of Edmonton, the United Way of the Alberta Capital Region, Edmonton Community Foundation and E4C have joined forces to create an innovative pilot project to test the theory that cost effective financial management services can be performed by highly skilled staff in a collaborative way that will save in resources of the partner charities. Resources that can be used toward the charities' core mission. Thus, E4C's Financial Management Program was born.

The Financial Management Program's (FMP) goal is to offer excellent accounting and reporting services at a reduced rate to qualified participants with the savings being returned to the charities enhancing their program delivery. These services may include accounts payable, accounts receivable, bank reconciliation, payroll, budget prepartion and analysis, cashflow analysis, statutory remittances, monthly financial statements, and more. 

The Program, a three year pilot project, plans to be self sufficient by the end of its third year of operation. Highly skilled staff will understand the needs of funders and provide reports to funding partners, that are of excellent quality and will be delivered on time. Staff will be able to assist a variety of charities to develop budgets, understand their cash needs and to be able to read their financial statements.  If you would like to learn more please contact:

Karen Despres, Program Manager, Phone: 780-424-7543 Ext. 144 Email: kdespress@e4calberta.org

Karen Despres, Manager of E4C's Financial Management Program

Disbursement Quota Reform

The 2010 Federal Budget called for the elimination of the Disbursement Quota which governs how Canadian charities manage their spending. The changes will come into effect for charities with a fiscal year end on March 30, 2010.  Other charities will still have to comply with the present Disbursement Quota rules until their next financial year begins.

For more information click here.

Protecting Your Bottom-Line Against Fraud - Know the "FACTs"

Understanding certain misconceptions is an essential first step in protecting your business or not-for-profit organization (NPO) from fraud. Many people think of fraudsters as shifty, uneducated, or creepy and believe they can spot a fraudster a mile away. In fact, fraudsters who operate scams often do not behave as expected. They can appear friendly, polite and professional in every way. Further while you may expect telemarketing sales calls with high pressure tactics from fraudsters, scams are often successful because they take place in quick and simple phone calls where the fraudster may ask to confirm your business information, pose as your regular supplier, or infer an ongoing business relationship.

As well, many believe targets of fraud are only the elderly or naive, but in reality crime knows no demographic boundaries. There is no typical fraud victim in Canada, and those who lose money to scams are 30% more likely to be scammed again within the same year.

Here are a few more facts.  In 2006-07, two-thirds of criminal mass marketing fraud cases pursued by the Competition Bureau were scams that targeted businesses and NPOs. It is also estimated that 95% of victims of mass marketing fraud do not report it to authorities, in many cases because they are not even aware they have been scammed.

So what can you do to protect yourself and your organization? The Competition Bureau offers the following advice:

• Be cautious during sales calls
• Closely examine any ads or offers and ask questions about anything that's unclear.
• Inform yourself about the product and don't be pressured to act immediately.
• Report your complaints or concerns to the Competition Bureau.
• Talk to your colleagues about fraud.
• Always ask for a copy of the offer in writing.

To learn more about the Competition Bureau's FACT (Fraud Awareness for Commerical Targets) campaign and how to:

• Recognize scam techniques
• Spot phony invoices
• Train your front-line staff
• Read actual telemarketing scripts

Go to: www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/FACT

Current newsletter

November 2007

Topics include:

• President's Message
• Upcoming Workshops & Events
• AAFRE Silent Auction
• Celebrate Excellence & AAFRE 20th Anniversary
• Showcase: ABC Head Start Society

Archived Newsletters

September 2007
May 2007
March 2007
 

AAFRE News is published six times per year. The Communications Director on the AAFRE Board (link) is responsible for the publication.

January 1, 2005:
The following is now available on the CRA Charities Web site: "New Requirements For Official Donation Receipts: Questions and Answers." For more information, visit
www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/charities/whatsnew/whatsnew-e.html

AAFRE is looking for speakers to present the topics, and for presentations for the upcoming AAFRE program year. Download our questionnaire.