Better investment results a key concern

The single most important current investment issue for Canadian foundations is the need to increase investment returns. This need for enhanced investment performance reflects a change in our Canadian charitable environment and investment environments. As governments struggle to control their...

Nonprofit fraud: Focus on segregation of duties and good reporting procedure

MOST FRAUD investigators would agree that the elements required for fraud to occur are motivation on the part of the perpetrator combined with opportunity. Opportunity generally arises through an organization's non-existent or ineffective internal controls. The more checks and balances...

Improper issuance of charitable receipts

There are many situations in which charitable receipts may be improperly issued. The tax issues involved, however, are so many and detailed that any charity actively involved in a number of fundraising programs should have access to a summary of...

Nonprofit fraud: What are the key indicators?

Although it's generally unsubstantiated, we probably hear or read about fraudulent activity, on average, at least weekly. The headlines confirm that fraud - lying, cheating and stealing for financial gain - does occur in NPOs and, in some instances, may...

Vicarious liability for wrongful acts of employees of charitable and nonprofit organizations

The law in Canada recognizes two basic approaches for somebody who has suffered damages to sue the person who caused the damages - contract law and tort law. In the case of contract law, two parties have come to an...

Delegation of investment decision-making still an uncertain business

Most Ontario charities are aware - or should be - that they should address the potential for liability arising when their board of directors continues to delegate investment decision making to a discretionary investment fund manager. While a court might...

A ten-step checklist for board recruitment

1. Your mission is your lighthouse (a beacon in the fog) Clearly express your agency's reason for being and make it pervasive in your organization before you look for people who can help achieve long-term goals. (Placing your mission on...

Budgeting a fine art for NGOs operating internationally

This article appeared previously in Canadian FundRaiser Sometimes being the mouse sleeping with the elephant is more hazardous than other times. For example, right now, most Canadian not-for-profits collecting donations from their generous fellow citizens to "do good" beyond our...

Directors’ failure to meet the standard of care will result in personal liability

Unlike the incorporating statutes for business corporations, there has been little statutory reform to bring the non-profit incorporating statutes into the 20th century, much less the new millennium. The standard of care, in general, for directors of non-profit corporations is...