Orleans Weekly Journal
Published: Friday, November 14, 2008

Choosing a charity close to home

As the Christmas season approaches, the annual parade of charities of which you have likely never heard will besiege your doorstep each evening with some young teenage kid asking for money or trying to sell you chocolate bars or a calendar.

Maybe it’s just me but any charity that sends young kids out in bone-chilling temperatures to harass me at the dinner hour already has two strikes against it when it comes to securing my hard-earned after-tax dollars.

Nonetheless, charitable giving is important as there are many great organizations right here in Orléans that could benefit from your support, especially at this time of year and in today’s difficult economic climate. So how does one decide between where to put their precious dollars?

To start, a visit to a local group’s website or simple phone call to get some background information about what the group does is a good first step. You also have the right to ask – or you can check through their Canada Revenue Agency filings – what percentage of your donation goes to administration costs and what amount will actually go toward their programming or clientele.

As well, ask if your donation is matched by a government program, corporate partner or charitable foundation endowment. Indeed you would be amazed to learn how a $25, $50 or $100 donation to some organizations quickly becomes $50, $100 or more due to unique matching partnerships.

If you are considering a larger gift or monthly contribution off a credit card (where you can earn affinity points for example) you can also ask for a tour of their facility. In the case of local hospitals and other health care institutions, this is commonplace.

Charitable giving also has tax implications. For the 2007 tax year, the first $200 you donate is eligible for a 15 per cent federal tax credit. After your first $200, your federal tax credit increases to 29 per cent of any amount over $200. And you can claim all or part of this amount up to a limit of 75 per cent of your net income … but this is likely a bit too ambitious for most of us since we do need to eat, pay the bills, etc.

Now if you plan to give this year, above and beyond national health care charities to which you may donate, hopefully you will also think locally. Groups and organizations that do great work in our community include the Gloucester Emergency Food Cupboard www.gefc.ca), the Youth Services Bureau www.ysb.on.ca), our local legion www.rcl632.com), the Orléans-Cumberland Resource Centre www.crcorleans-cumberland.ca), Kiwanis www.orleanskiwanis), the Cumberland Lions www.cumberlandlions.ca) and the Friends of Petrie Island www.petrieisland.org). 

For a more complete listing of groups that you can support, visit www.eastottawa.ca, click on the Community Groups icon on the right and scroll through the tabs. From the environment to health care to children to the arts, the list of local causes is large and worthy.

Yes, please give where you live.