Frequently Asked Questions

CanadaHelps is a registered charity on a mission to make giving simple. Through www.CanadaHelps.org, anyone can donate online to any registered Canadian charity. CanadaHelps allows charities to receive online donations without the expense of setting up their own secure donations site. We have proudly facilitated over $90 million in charitable donations through our website since it was launched in 2000. For more about us, visit the About CanadaHelps section.

How long has CanadaHelps been around?

CanadaHelps launched in 2000. Together with a diverse group of volunteers, a committed Board of Directors, and an outstanding staff, CanadaHelps has gained the support of individuals and organizations in the charitable and corporate sectors and established CanadaHelps as a leader in online donations and fundraising. Read all about how CanadaHelps started here.

How much does it cost?

CanadaHelps assesses a 3% transaction charge on each donation. This 3% is deducted from the donation before being disbursed to your charity, and covers all aspects of processing the transaction, including the credit card merchant rate, credit card transaction charge, reconciliation, receipting and disbursement-related costs. There are no monthly charges or set-up/registration costs; only the amount assessed from a donation. The 3% is a modest charge for the service that CanadaHelps provides to Canadian donors and the charities they support.

There is an additional 1% (for a total of 4%) assessed from donations to charities that haven’t signed up for Electronic Funds Transfer for donations. Register your charity with CanadaHelps today!

CanadaHelps will sometimes partner with other companies to offer unique donation opportunities to donors and charities. In some cases, these companies will assess their own fees on top of the 3% CanadaHelps fee. Currently, the following companies/fees are in effect:

Facebook Causes: 1.5% (for a total of 4.5% per donation)
DKCC Donation Kiosks: 17% to a maximum of $4.25

Who supports CanadaHelps?

CanadaHelps appreciates the financial and in-kind support of a number of Canada's most respected companies and foundations. For a current list of supporters, visit the Supporters section.

Does CanadaHelps screen the charities on its list?

CanadaHelps lists every charity approved by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) on our site. The CRA is the charity regulator in Canada.

Can a charity be removed from CanadaHelps?

Yes, although keep reading to find out all of the advantages of being listed on CanadaHelps. All that is required to be de-listed from the site is written notice (by hardcopy or email), stating your charity’s name and BN, asking to be removed. We require one business day to remove a charity from the site.

Registering your charity with CanadaHelps

How do I register my charity with CanadaHelps?

Registering your charity with CanadaHelps is quick and easy. Here are the steps:

Click on Register Your Charity.
Complete the online form and accept the terms of the CanadaHelps agreement.
Submit banking information for disbursement of donations by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). You will download the Banking Information Form at the end of the registration process.
CanadaHelps will review your registration and create your MyCharity account. Registrations are reviewed and processed on Mondays.

For more information about registering with CanadaHelps, click here.

My charity is already listed on CanadaHelps, does that mean we’re registered?

No. CanadaHelps lists all 80,000+ registered charities in Canada on our site. We use the public list of registered Canadian charities provided by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to provide the basic details on all of the charities listed.

Once you are registered with CanadaHelps, you will have access to a secure MyCharity account where you can update your profile, download donor details and add the Donate Now! button to your website. For more information about registering with CanadaHelps, click here.

Why should I register my charity with CanadaHelps?

CanadaHelps makes online fundraising for charities easy, secure and affordable. There are many reasons to register your charity with CanadaHelps – check them out here.

How much does it cost?

CanadaHelps assesses a 3% transaction charge on each donation. This 3% is deducted from the donation before being disbursed to your charity, and covers all aspects of the transaction, including the credit card merchant rate, credit card transaction charge, reconciliation, receipting and disbursement-related costs. There are no monthly charges or set-up/registration costs; only the amount assessed from a donation. The 3% is a modest charge for the service that CanadaHelps provides to Canadian donors and the charities they support.

There is an additional 1% (for a total of 4%) assessed from donations to charities that haven’t signed up for Electronic Funds Transfer for donations. Register with CanadaHelps today!

Facebook Causes: 1.5% (for a total of 4.5% per donation)
DKCC Donation Kiosks: 17% to a maximum of $4.25

Can I register my organization if we’re not a Canadian registered charity?

No. CanadaHelps can only offer services to registered Canadian charities with active, valid charitable registration/business numbers from the Canada Revenue Agency.

Can I register my nonprofit if we’re not a registered charity?

No. CanadaHelps can only offer services to registered Canadian charities with active, valid charitable registration/business numbers from the Canada Revenue Agency.

Can I register my municipality or registered amateur athletic association with CanadaHelps?

No. CanadaHelps can only offer services to registered Canadian charities. Because the CRA doesn’t publish lists of athletic associations or municipalities, CanadaHelps is unable to maintain a listing of those organizations or accept donations online for them at this time.

Donations through CanadaHelps

How will I know if a donation has come in for my charity?

Once you are registered, CanadaHelps sends an automatic email to you when a donation has been made. You receive the email the minute a donation has been completed for your charity, prompting you to log in to your MyCharity account to access donor records. Once we've sent the money to your bank account by Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT), another email will be sent notifying you of the deposit. The CanadaHelps website is available to you 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so you can access detailed donation records any time that is convenient to you.,/p>

Before your charity is registered with CanadaHelps, you will receive a cheque for any donations that come in, along with a letter explaining where they came from.

Can a donor make a monthly donation to my charity?

Yes, if your charity is registered with CanadaHelp, donors have the option of scheduling a regular monthly donation to your charity. Monthly donations get processed on the same day of each month. You will see “Scheduled Giving” in the donation source field of your donor reports for scheduled monthly donations. Donors manage their monthly donations in an online MyCanadaHelps donor account, and can make changes to their monthly donations at any time.

Can donors make an anonymous donation?

Yes. All that is required is that the donor checks the appropriate box when prompted and anonymity is guaranteed. This means that your charity will not receive any personal information about the donor, but will have a record of a donation being made. We choose to respect donors' requests to remain anonymous and will not send you donor contact information when the donor has chosen to remain anonymous.

How do I access donor information for my donations?

Once you’re registered with CanadaHelps and have a MyCharity account, you will be able to access donor records in your account at any time. Donor records are available in a printable web report format and in a download format that is easily integrated with existing donor databases. You will receive an email every time a donation comes in for your organization, prompting you to log in and access donor information.

Does CanadaHelps thank the donor or should we?

You should. CanadaHelps sends a tax receipt to all donors, but it is up to your organization to recognize the gift. By accessing the donor information online in your MyCharity account, you can add your CanadaHelps donors to your existing donor lists or database and recognize them the way you would every other donor.

Can I sell products or event tickets through CanadaHelps?

No. CanadaHelps can only process donations that are 100% tax receiptable, as per Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Regulations. Payments that are not fully receiptable donations cannot be processed through CanadaHelps. If you are uncertain if a donation is 100% tax receiptable, contact the CRA for confirmation.

Can my charity process donations on behalf of our donors?

CanadaHelps does not allow charities to process payments on behalf of donors. Donors enter into an agreement with CanadaHelps about the services we provide, and technically they are making donations to CanadaHelps which we then disburse to your charity. In order for donors to enter into these agreements, they need to be online and be the ones processing their own donations. We have had significant problems with this situation in the past, with donors not understanding the charges on their credit cards, disputing donations, and returning donations, which is costly to all involved.

Receipts & accounting

Who issues the tax receipt?

CanadaHelps issues the tax receipt for all donations made through our site – all you have to do is thank the donor. CanadaHelps uses its own charitable business number for receipting purposes. Your charity cannot issue a tax receipt for donations received through CanadaHelps.

How and when are receipts sent to the donor?

Donors receive an electronic tax receipt immediately following their donation. As per Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) regulations, the official receipt is in an unalterable PDF format.

A donor has lost their receipt – what should I do?

Let us know the donor's name and date of the donation - we'll forward you the receipt to send on to your donor, or send it directly to the donor.

What information is on CanadaHelps receipts?

The receipt clearly indicates the charity the donation was designated to and the amount donated. CanadaHelps includes all other information required by the CRA on our tax receipts, including our charitable business number, address, donor information, donation/receipt date, donation amount and the CRA website address.

How do we account for the donations made through CanadaHelps to our charity?

Donations made to your organization through CanadaHelps should be included in the “Total amount received from other registered charities” line of your Annual Information Return (T3010) to the Canada Revenue Agency.

Please do not issue a tax receipt to CanadaHelps for donations made through our site. Many fundraising software packages allow you to designate "hard" credits and "soft" credits. If you must receipt for the donations made to you through CanadaHelps, the "soft" credit (or acknowledgement) would go to the donor (always acknowledge the full donation amount), and the "hard" credit (or receipt) would be issued to CanadaHelps (using the "disbursed amount" figure).

Can CanadaHelps do split receipting?

No, CanadaHelps issues tax receipts for the full amount of the donation. Only donations that are 100% tax receiptable can be processed through CanadaHelps. We cannot split receipts into receiptable and non-tax receiptable portions.

Processing & disbursing donations

How quickly do donations get processed?

Donations are processed and charged to the donor’s credit card immediately after they click the submit button. Once the donation is completed, your charity will receive notification of the donation by email. Once the donation is complete, it is queued up to be disbursed to your organization. See below for more information about disbursements.

My charity is not yet registered with CanadaHelps – when will we get donations?

When a charity isn’t registered with CanadaHelps to receive donations by electronic funds transfer (EFT), you will receive the donation by cheque in the month following the donation date. For example, donations made in December are mailed to charities by cheque in early January.

Our charity is registered with CanadaHelps, how do we get donations?

When a charity is registered with CanadaHelps, they will receive donations by electronic funds transfer (EFT) directly into their bank account. Donations are batched together on a weekly basis, and one deposit for all weekly gifts is made into the charity’s account.

What is the EFT disbursement schedule?

Donations made from Sunday to Saturday are disbursed the following Friday to a charity’s bank account. It might take a few days to clear in your bank account, depending on the arrangements you have with your bank.

This disbursement schedule allows CanadaHelps to quickly disburse donations to charities once they’ve been received in our accounts.

What is electronic funds transfer (EFT)?

Electronic funds transfer (EFT) allows CanadaHelps to electronically send donations directly to a charity’s bank account as a direct deposit. It is the fastest and most efficient way for us to submit donations to a charity. Each charity will receive a notification email when an EFT has been sent to their account.

Security & Privacy

Is CanadaHelps secure?

Yes. All information, including personal and financial information are securely protected behind multiple security measures from the time to donor begins a donation through to leaving our site. For a detailed explanation of the security of our site, please read our security statement: www.canadahelps.org/InfoPages/PrivacyHome.aspx#02

How is donor information used?

Protecting donor security and privacy online is our most important task. Donor information is collected for tax receipting purposes. Donors have control over how much of their information will be shared with the charity(ies) they donate to – donor information is never shared with charities not donated to. CanadaHelps does not share, trade, sell or otherwise use donor information in any manner that is not approved by the donor. Please read our full privacy statement for more detail.

MyCharity account & charity profile

How do I log in to my MyCharity account?

To log in to your CanadaHelps MyCharity account, click the following link and enter your username and password: https://www.canadahelps.org/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fAdmin%2fMCHome.aspx.

I don’t remember my login information (username and password), what do I do?

If you have forgotten your MyCharity account username and password, you should reset it here: https://www.canadahelps.org/CharityForgottenPassword.aspx. You will need to have the admin email address for your CanadaHelps account to reset your login information. If you don’t have that, please Contact Us.

Is there a user manual for my MyCharity account?

Absolutely! Please log in to your CanadaHelps account and download the Charity User Manual in the Home tab of your account (under Resources). The Charity User Manual will walk you through all aspects of your MyCharity account and receiving donations from CanadaHelps.

How do I change the admin email on file for my MyCharity account?

To change the admin email address on file, first log in to your MyCharity account and click on the Profile tab. There, you are able to update your admin email address.

If you don’t have your login information, please contact CanadaHelps for assistance in updating your account.

Our bank account has changed, how do I notify you?

To update the bank account that CanadaHelps deposits donations into, log in to your CanadaHelps account and click on the Profile tab. Click the CHANGE button next to your banking details to download the Change of Banking Information Form. Complete the form, attach a void cheque and submit to CanadaHelps.

If you don’t have your login information, please contact CanadaHelps for assistance in updating your account.

How do I update my charity’s profile on CanadaHelps?

All charities should update their profile on CanadaHelps to provide donors with more information about your organization. You need to already have a MyCharity account to update your profile on CanadaHelps. If you don’t have an account yet, please first register with CanadaHelps.

If you already have a MyCharity account, log in to update your profile and click on the Profile tab. You can update different sections of your profile in the Overview, Contact Info and Upload Logo sections.

If you don’t have your login information, please contact CanadaHelps for assistance in updating your account.

Donor Reports

How do I access donor reports?

Access complete donor reports for all donations made through CanadaHelps in your MyCharity account. Donor reports are found in the Donations tab.

What information does CanadaHelps provide in the donor reports?

You receive complete donor records that include the following information: donor name, mailing address and email address, receipt number, transaction number, donation source, card request details, message to charity, fund designation, donation amount and more.

Donation reports can be downloaded as a CSV file for easy integration with your existing donor database.

I only see “ANON” instead of donor information - why?

Donors have the option of remaining anonymous when making a donation through CanadaHelps. When a donor chooses the option to remain anonymous, you will still receive notification of their donation, but you will see ANON instead of donor information.

I see some donor information and I also see ANON – why?

Donors can choose to keep all, some or none of their information anonymous to the charity(ies) they donate to. You will only see ANON in the fields that the donor chooses not to share. For example, you could see the donor’s full name and mailing information but also see ANON in the email address field. This means that the donor wishes to share their name and mailing address with your charity, but keep their email address confidential.

I don't see any donor information, even ANON - why?

This donation is a Gift Card donation. When you receive a donation via Gift Card, you don't receive donor details because the donor is the person who originally purchased the card, not the person who chose your charity. Click here for more information about Charity Gift Cards.

A donor has requested a card be sent – do we send that or does CanadaHelps?

You should. When a donor requests that a card be sent for a donation in memory or in honour of someone, and you see the card request details in your MyCharity account, it is up to your organization to mail that card – not CanadaHelps. You should be logging in to your MyCharity account soon after each donation in order to fulfill donor requests in a timely way.

Why is there no receipt number?

Some donations will not include a receipt number. This is because donors have the option through CanadaHelps to issue one tax receipt at a later date for multiple donations. Most monthly donors, for example, will download one tax receipt for the whole calendar year with all of their donations on it.

While a donation receipt wasn’t issued at the time of that particular gift, receipts are still stored by CanadaHelps to be issued at a later date. You should never issue a tax receipt for a donation made through CanadaHelps.

The fee doesn’t add up to 3% - why?

For the majority of your donations through CanadaHelps, you will notice that the fees add up to 3% of the donation amount. This is the standard transaction charge for donations processed through CanadaHelps. CanadaHelps will sometimes partner with other companies to offer unique donation opportunities to donors and charities. In some cases, these companies will assess their own fees on top of the 3% CanadaHelps fee. Currently, the following companies/fees are in effect:

Facebook Causes: 1.5% (for a total of 4.5% per donation)
DKCC Donation Kiosks: 17% to a maximum of $4.25

What do the different Donation Sources mean?

The Donate Source field of your donor reports will let you know where your donations are coming from. They could be coming through your Donate Now! button, a search on CanadaHelps.org or a number of other sources. For a detailed description of each Donation Source, please visit the Donations Sources section.

Can CanadaHelps donor reports be integrated with my existing donor database?

Yes. CanadaHelps provides donor information in a downloadable CSV (comma separated value) format that can be easily manipulated and integrated with most donor database programs. For detailed instructions on how to do this, please refer to your program’s help section.

Donate Now! Button

Where do I get the Donate Now! button to add to my website?

Once your charity is registered with CanadaHelps and has a MyCharity account, you will find the Donate Now! button instructions in the Link tab of your account.

How do I add the button to my website?

In the Link section of your MyCharity account, you will first select the Donate Now! button image you prefer. Next, you will see a piece of html code for that button. Simply copy and paste that full piece of code into the html files for your website, wherever you would like the Donate Now! button to appear.

I don’t know how to access the html files for my website – how do I add the Donate Now! button to my website?

If you don’t know how to access or update your website with the html files, you can contact your web personnel or the person who usually updates your site to help you out.

If you use a website editor program to update and manage your website, you can still add the Donate Now! button to your site. Here’s how:

First, save the Donate Now! button image to your computer.
Next, copy the URL (link) portion of the html code only – this is the link to your donation page on CanadaHelps.org. The URL (link) will begin with http and end with CharityID=#####.
The last step is to add the Donate Now! button image to your website editor program and link it to the URL.

For detailed instructions, please refer to your program’s help section.

Can I add the Donate Now! button to my blog or e-newsletter?

Absolutely. You should add your Donate Now! button to all of your electronic communications. For instructions, you should refer to the help section of the program you’re using, or contact CanadaHelps for assistance.

Can I add the Donate Now! button to my email signature?

It depends. Check the email program you’re using to make sure that you’re able to include an html signature in your emails – the Donate Now! button can be included in html email signatures. Some programs will make this easy (like Outlook), while with others you might need help from your website personnel.

Charity Gift Cards

What are Charity Gift Cards?

CanadaHelps Charity Gift Cards are gift cards that allow donors to give a charitable donation to friends and family. Donors purchase a gift card for a certain amount, and the gift recipient chooses which charity receives the donation amount. Gift cards can be emailed to the recipient or printed out and given directly.

Can I pre-fill Gift Cards so they are spent on my charity?

No. The fun of receiving a Charity Gift Card is choosing which charity will receive the gift. Donors who would like to dedicate a gift to a particular charity are able to make a regular donation in honour of someone through CanadaHelps and send an e-card or request that your charity send a card.

Will I be able to get donor information when someone redeems their Charity Gift Card to my organization?

Gift Cards are redeemed by the recipient, not the donor (the person who bought the Charity Gift Card). We do not collect personal information about the recipient, so no information will be visible in your MyCharity account.

Who gets the tax receipt for Gift Card donations?

The donor is the person who purchases the Charity Gift Card, so they are the ones who receive the tax receipt.

GivingPages

What are GivingPages?

CanadaHelps GivingPages let anyone fundraise online for their favourite charities with personalized fundraising pages. GivingPages make it easy for fundraisers to collect donations online and share their favourite causes with their network.

Can charities use GivingPages?

Absolutely. Charities often use GivingPages for the following reasons:

Pledge events like “a-thons,” runs or other events where supporters will be collecting donations on behalf of your organization. Simply let your donors know they can set up GivingPages and start collecting donations online.
Special fundraising initiatives or programs. Sometimes charities will want a separate page for a particular fundraising initiative (rather than directing donors to their regular donation page). In these cases, GivingPages can be a good way to direct donors to that particular event/iniative.

How do we set them up?

If you’re asking others to raise funds on behalf of your charity, we encourage you to get your supporters to set up the GivingPage themselves. They will be able to manage the content of the page, keep track of donations and share the page using their GivingPage account. Your supporters can link here: www.canadahelps.org/GivingPages, to set up a GivingPage.

Charities wishing to set up their own GivingPages will need to create a GivingPage account with an email that is different than the one you currently have on file for your MyCharity account. Click here to set up a GivingPage account.

How do I know if a donation has come through a GivingPage?

Look up your donation records in the Donations tab of your MyCharity account. In the Donation Source field, you will see that it says “GivingPage” and will have a link to the GivingPage the donation came through. You will also be able to see the name of the person who set up the GivingPage in the In Honour Of field.

How do I access my GivingPage account?

If your charity has a separate GivingPage account, you can log in to it here: www.canadahelps.org/GivingPages/GivingPageLogin.aspx. Remember that you need to log in using your GivingPage account information, not your MyCharity account login information.

Donations of Securities

What are securities?

Securities include stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Donations must be publicly traded securities that are traded on a public market in Canada or the United States. This excludes shares in a private corporation and stock options.

How do donations of securities work on CanadaHelps?

Like all other donations, CanadaHelps accepts donations of securities online. Donors first enter their pledge on CanadaHelps.org, including how many securities they’re donating, which charities they’re donating to and personal information for tax receipting. Once complete, the donor should print out the direction letter and work with their broker to transfer the securities to CanadaHelps. CanadaHelps receives the shares into our brokerage account, sells them and then transfers the proceeds of the sale (less 3%) to your organization.

How much does our charity get?

Your charity will receive the sale amount of the securities less the 3% transaction fee. The transaction fee covers all of the brokerage, disbursement, reconciliation and receipting costs associated with the donation.

How much appears on the donor’s tax receipt?

As per CRA guidelines for receipting gifts of publicly traded securities, the amount that appears on the donors official tax receipt is the closing sale value of the shares on the day they are received into the CanadaHelps brokerage account.

How long does it take for the donation to reach my charity?

It depends. Generally, most securities take a few days to get to CanadaHelps once the donor has directed that they be transferred. Some securities, in particular mutual funds, can take a few weeks between being transferred and received into the CanadaHelps brokerage account. Once CanadaHelps receives the securities, they are sold and queued up to be disbursement in the next disbursement cycle to your charity.

How do donors make a donation of securities to my charity?

Donors visit CanadaHelps.org and click the Donate Securities image on the homepage to begin the donation of securities process. They can also visit your profile on CanadaHelps and click “Give securities to this charity.”

MyCharityConnects

What is MyCharityConnects?

MyCharityConnects is an initiative of CanadaHelps. We know that online fundraising is more than simply adding a Donate Now! button to your website. To help charities learn more about online fundraising and the new technologies needed to succeed, we started MyCharityConnects. The MyCharityConnects website is a free resource centre for charities with information about technology, social media, and details of upcoming training opportunities.

Where can I find out about your free online seminar (webinar) series?

As part of MyCharityConnects, CanadaHelps has launched a series of free online seminars (webinars) that any charity can attend. Topics range from Twitter and Facebook to updating your e-newsletter. All you need to join is an internet connection and a set of speakers (or headphones) for your computer. Follow this link to sign up for upcoming webinars: www.mycharityconnects.org/webinars.