Welcome to CanadaHelps. This package contains information about how your charity
can register with CanadaHelps to enjoy the advantages of signing up. Many of
the ~80,000 registered charities in Canada are already listed on
www.CanadaHelps.org. We use the publicly available information on the Canada
Revenue Agency (CRA) Charities listing to periodically update our database.
Just because you’re listed on the site, doesn’t mean that you’re registered
with us… only those charities that complete the CanadaHelps registration
process can access donor information, enhance their charity profile and
download the Donate Now button.
Whether or not your charity is currently listed on our site, all registered
charities with an active charitable Business Number are able to begin the
registration process at any time.
What is CanadaHelps?
CanadaHelps is a registered charity (BN 896568417RR0001). We are an e-donations
portal that allows donors to make online credit card donations to registered
Canadian charities. We believe that all of Canada’s charities should have
access to e-donation technology without having to bear the full cost associated
with operating a secure online donation website. This can save charities a
great deal of money – money which can then be put towards serving their
missions. We have created a centralized e-donation solution that uses the most
advanced security features available and is capable of processing hundreds of
donations per second.
How does it work?
Donors go onto the CanadaHelps website (www.canadahelps.org), select the charity
or charities they wish to donate to and process the donation on their credit
card. Donations made through CanadaHelps are donor-directed gifts. Donors
choose which charity they want their funds to go to, and CanadaHelps disburses
those funds (less the 3% transaction charge) to the charity. An official tax
receipt for each donation is instantly issued to the donor.
When a charity is registered with CanadaHelps, they receive these funds weekly
by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) directly into their bank accounts. When a
charity isn’t registered with CanadaHelps, they receive these funds by cheque
in the month following the donation date. The value CanadaHelps offers Canadian
charities rests on the fact that online donations can save charities a great
deal of money. This only works if charities sign up with us to receive EFTs.
Because of the very high costs associated with issuing and mailing cheques, we
will remove a charity that has not registered after a third cheque has been
issued.
What are the advantages of registering with CanadaHelps?
Signing up with CanadaHelps is easy. It only takes ten minutes, is free and
bears no obligation on your charity. Once your registration is processed, you
will receive a secure username and password that will allow you to access the
MyCharity administration area features. Here are some of the advantages of
registering:
Complete donor information
When your charity signs up with CanadaHelps, you have access to your donor
information at any time; 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. By logging on to the
MyCharity administration page you can collect donor mailing addresses, email
addresses, names, transaction histories and more. We recognize that maintaining
close ties with your donors is very important, and our complete donor records –
which can be imported into virtually all spreadsheets and fundraising packages
– help you to maximize your outreach efforts to your supporters. If you don’t
register with us, we have no way to provide detailed donor information in a
secure, automated way.
Enhanced charity profiles
When donors visit the CanadaHelps.org site and search for a charity, you want to
know that they can access complete and accurate information about your
organization and its work. By registering with CanadaHelps, you can add this
important information about your charity to your profile page, including a link
back to your own website, your mission, contact information, your logo and a
description of what your organization does and why it needs the support of
donors. This information helps donors to perceive your organization as
well-established and accountable.
We reward charities for enhancing their profiles by listing them first in donor
searches which increases their exposure to donors.
Donation notification
When you are registered with CanadaHelps, you will know the minute a donation is
received for your charity. We send you an email when the donation is made which
prompts you to login and access donor details so you can thank the donor
immediately if you wish.
You are also advised by email when we transfer the funds into your bank account.
This will help your financial people reconcile the donations made on
CanadaHelps.org with the credits that occur on your bank statements. From the
donation notification to the donation reports to the email letting you know
that a transfer of funds has occurred, you will know where your donors’ money
is every step of the way.
"Donate Now!" button
Only when you register will you have access to the “Donate Now!” button for your
website. The “Donate Now!” button creates a link from your website directly to
your donation page on CanadaHelps.org. This eliminates the need for donors to
search for your organization when making a donation, and reduces the number of
steps in the donation process. Once you register, you will be able to access
the code for the “Donate Now!” button (which your webmaster can easily add to
your website) in the MyCharity admin area.
Monthly Giving
Donors are able to make scheduled monthly pledges to their favourite charities
through the CanadaHelps website. Donors can only schedule monthly donations
with charities that are registered with CanadaHelps. Monthly donations help
build ongoing relationships with your donors, secure ongoing commitments to
your organization and are a predictable source of monthly income.
Receipts
CanadaHelps is a public foundation and registered charity (Charitable Business
Registration No. 896568417RR0001) and issues receipts using our charitable
number. Official tax receipts are issued for all donations made through
CanadaHelps – so you don’t have to. Each receipt clearly indicates which
charity the donor has chosen. Your donors will receive an e-receipt within
minutes of their donation, which they can save and print out at any time.
Donors appreciate having an immediate receipt, and charities can enjoy the
reduced postage and processing costs. Please note that the Canada Revenue
Agency (CRA) has approved the use of secure PDF e-receipts for tax purposes.
Low cost = High return on investment
E-commerce, accepting online donations, receipting via secure email PDF
receipts, and advanced online reporting features are costly for charities to
create and maintain on their own. CanadaHelps has created the
www.CanadaHelps.org website to give charities across Canada, regardless of size
or operating budget, access to a low-cost online fundraising solution.
Each donation received by a charity on our site is assessed a 3% transaction
fee, which goes towards credit card merchant rates, credit card transaction
fees, bank account settlement costs, and disbursement charges. There are no
set-up, registration or monthly fees associated with using CanadaHelps.
Registering is easy
Signing up with CanadaHelps is easy. It only takes ten minutes, is free and
bears no obligation on your charity. To start the registration process, visit:
https://www.canadahelps.org/RegisterCharity/RCRegister.aspx
If you have any further questions about CanadaHelps, or registering with us to
enhance your online fundraising potential, email us any time at:
info@CanadaHelps.org.