There’s an old saying that states “charity starts at home”. That may be so, but oftentimes, once the seed of charitable activity has been planted the branches quickly spread outward. So it is with the many people and organizations that learned to “do good” in Canada and who now want to help causes overseas.

Though the impetus is pure and the intentions are good, there is some information one must know before trying to raise funds for charitable causes beyond the Great White North.

Legalize your operations

Adam Aptowitzer, an Ottawa-based lawyer with Drache LLP who works with charities and nonprofits, counsels those working to send funds to overseas charitable projects to make sure they’re not contravening Canadian laws.

There are two separate issues to consider in this regard, he says. The first has to do with actually raising the money. The second involves how you distribute the funds.

“Some issues might arise from whether or not [distribution of funds] contravenes [Canada’s] Anti-Terrorism Act. For certain named organizations…raising money for them might be illegal,” Aptowitzer cautions. “For a charity, sending money overseas must be done according to the law. When you make a donation to a charity, the individual donor receives a tax credit. As a result, the government is foregoing revenue…so it wants to exert control on the donation, wherever that money might be sent. [Funds] can only be sent to charitable purposes. But if money’s being sent overseas, the reach of the Canadian government is limited. So what it does is require this money be spent pursuant either to an agent or some method by which the Canadian [charity] controls spending of the funds overseas.”

Assuming the Canadian-based charity isn’t conducting the overseas activities itself, Aptowitzer says that in order for a charity to demonstrate control over funding, they can proceed in one of two ways. They can either set up a charity in a foreign land and run the operations entirely and/or use an agent that is in essence an employee of the Canadian charity, “in which case, there’s no control issue for the government,” he says.

The other option is to enter into a joint venture with an overseas organization who will share control of the charity. In this case, the Canadian government would require the Canadian-based charity to somehow show they exert the majority of the control (whether financially or otherwise), while the foreign agency may contribute manpower, material, local know-how and the like.

“But this is a fairly nebulous area,” Aptowitzer concedes. “I avoid joint ventures because I’m never sure what will happen.”

Doing it yourself

Over in Victoria, the New Hope Schools Society (NHSS) started a project in 2003 to help build schools and educate children in Busabaga Village, Uganda. They chose to partner with the Busabaga Lugala Community Development Initiative, a group of 12 Busabaga community members who administrate a local elementary school that was built by the NHSS.

Debbie Futter, one of the founders of NHSS, remembers starting up the charity. “The only [government] query we had to answer was who/how monies would be transferred to Africa,” she says. Even though NHSS satisfied the Canadian criteria for charitable status, Futter has some further advice for those looking to do similar work.

“My recommendation to others would be to try to contact organizations who work in the area you’re interested in,” she says. “There are lots of things to consider, such as local laws, the [local] education system, etc. You might want to find out who in the region is providing education already. I think if I had to do it all over again, a little bit more research on our part might have been wise.”

Doing it through others

In Toronto, the folks at Athletes for Africa (AFA) used a different tactic to raise funds to, as their web site says, “support the infrastructure projects and sustainable development solutions Africa needs to break the cycle of poverty, famine and disease.”

Todd Devlin, AFA’s communications officer, explains how his organization differs from a traditional charity in the Canadian government’s eyes.

“When registering as a charitable organization, we were given ‘foundation’ status,” he says. “Our official name is ‘Athletes for Africa Aid Program’. The foundation status simply means that we co-fund projects on the ground in Africa (we don’t run our own programs). Essentially, we provide the ‘experts’ with the necessary resources to have a positive impact on the ground in Africa.” To that end, AFA has partnered with the African Medical & Research Foundation (AMREF) Canada, Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief (CPAR), and Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Canada to fulfill its goals.

At home, AFA raises awareness in Canada of the needs of Africans, whether it is poverty reduction, AIDS awareness, or education. High-profile athletes go around Canada promoting the cause and raising funds.

“It is sometimes harder to persuade Canadians to donate [to a foreign cause],” Devlin says. “Having said that, once Canadians are educated on the cause, it seems this is no longer an issue. We have seen that once people become informed on the issues, they truly become engaged, global citizens.” Then the contributions start coming in. Devlin says nearly half of AFA’s total donations have come from Canadians.

Getting the facts

As Aptowitzer mentions, it’s always best to understand the relevant laws of the land before setting out to save the world. He suggests going over the Canada Revenue Agency web site, as well as perusing the Canadian Income Tax Act to be sure you’re starting off your charity on the right foot. But be warned, these are burdensome documents that can be confusing to the layman, so consider engaging the services of a tax lawyer to properly dissect the information contained within.

Jane Garthson, president and principal consultant of the Garthson Leadership Centre in Toronto (and CharityVillage’s own Ethics Q&A author), further suggests reading through the Canadian Council for International Cooperation’s web site, the umbrella group for Canadian international development organizations, with a specific focus on their Code of Ethics, section 3.4, to further enhance one’s knowledge of the “dos and don’ts” of overseas charity fundraising, finances and accountability.

Hopefully, once armed with all this knowledge, you’ll be able to minimize or eliminate the legal obstacles that could impede the start of your overseas fundraising project before it begins.

Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf is president of WordLaunch professional writing services in Toronto. He can be reached at andy@wordlaunch.com.