Donation FAQs
- Charitable ratio (what percentage of my donation will go directly to programs for women and girls?)
- About the programs my donation is supporting
- Charitable tax receipts
- Credit card and online Donations
- Phone, mail or FAX donations
- Targeted Donations (donate to a particular area of work or campaign)
- Protecting Donor Information
- Donating Goods
Charitable ratio
Q. What percentage of my donation will go directly to programs for women and girls?
A. CWF works hard to keep administrative costs low so that your contribution goes directly to the women and girls who need it. For every dollar donated, $0.78 goes directly to community initiatives and CWF’s charitable work which directly benefits the organizations that serve women and girls across Canada.
About the programs my donation is supporting
Q. How can I find out more about the programs my donation is supporting?
A. Visit the Our Work page of our website.
Q. Does the Canadian Women’s Foundation issue tax receipts?
A. Yes, the Canadian Women’s Foundation is a registered charity. You will receive a charitable tax receipt for income tax purposes on donations of $10 or more. Our charitable registration number is: 12985-5607-RR0001.
If you make your donation over the phone or by mail, you will receive a receipt by mail. If you make your donation online, you will receive a receipt via email (you can choose to have one mailed to you as well).
Q. When can I expect my charitable tax receipt?
A. You can expect your receipt for your one-time donation within four to six weeks from the date you send it in. If you are making monthly donations through your bank account or credit card, you will receive two receipts: one in September for January-to-August donations and one in January for September-to-December donations.
If you make your donation online through our website, you will receive your tax receipt immediately via email.
If you haven’t received your receipt within six weeks, please contact us (416.365.1444, or toll free: 1.866.293.4483, or by email info@canadianwomen.org) with as much information about your donation as possible. It's possible we had an incorrect address for you so when you call or write, tell us your full name as it appeared on your donation, your address, when you made the donation and the amount. It is also helpful if we know how you made the donation: cheque, money order, credit card, online, etc. Include a phone number or email address so we can get in touch with you if we need to.
Q. I can't find my receipt. Can I have another one?
A. We can send you a copy of your receipt. Be sure to give us your full name as it appeared on your donation, your address, the date you made the donation and the amount. Please include a phone number or email address so we can get in touch with you if we need to.
Q. Can you send my receipt to someone else?
A. The Income Tax Act obligates us to send receipts only to the person making the donation. This means that unless we receive signed documentation that a person gave you the money to forward to the Foundation, we can only send a receipt to:
- the person or people whose names are on a pre-printed cheque
- the person who signed the money order
- the person whose name is on the credit card
Q. I'm making the donation in lieu of a gift. Can you send the receipt to that person?
A. The Income Tax Act does not allow this. We must issue the receipt to the person making the donation.
Q. I'm writing the cheque, but I want the receipt to go to my partner.
A. If your cheque is pre-printed with more than one name, we can send the receipt to anyone on the cheque. If your partner's name is not on the cheque, you should check with the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency about sharing your tax credit with your partner when you file your income tax returns.
Q. I want to write a cheque to cover cash donations I collected for CWF. How can the people who donated cash get a receipt?
A. Please provide a list of all the donors, their gift amount, and their address and phone number and CWF will issue the receipts directly to them.
Credit Card and Online Donations
Q. I tried to make a donation online but I ran into problems. How do I get help or find out what happened to my donation?
A. If you encounter any problems with donating online, please contact Cindy Wagman: cwagman@canadianwomen.org or 416.365.1444 ext. 224 (toll free: 1.866.293.4483)
Q. How can I donate if I don’t want do make a gift online?
A. If you would like to mail or fax us a cheque or money order, or to give your credit card information by phone, please contact:
- The Canadian Women’s Foundation
- 133 Richmond St. W, Suite 504
- Toronto, ON
- M5H 2L3
- Tel: 416.365.1444 ext. 224
- Toll free: 1.866.293.4483
- TTY: 416.365.1732
- Fax: 416.365.1444
- info@canadianwomen.org
- www.canadianwomen.org
Please ensure that your name, address and phone number are included on the cheque so that we can send you a tax receipt. For other donation options, please use the navigation bar on the left.
Targeted Donations (to one of the foundation's areas of work)
Q. I want my donation to go to a specific area of CWF’s work - how can I do this?
A. Please make your donation payable to The Canadian Women’s Foundation and put the name of the area of work on the reference line: where most needed, ending violence against women, moving low-income women out of poverty, building strong, resilient girls. You can also designate your gift to one of our special named funds. We will designate the money to those areas you identify.
If you would like to designate your gift to one of our fundraising campaigns, please donate through the campaign’s website (below) or indicate that campaign on the reference line of your cheque.
www.shelterfromthestorm.ca
www.womenmovingwomen.ca
Q. Does the Foundation sell, rent or trade donor information (e.g. mailing and email addresses) to other agencies?
A. No, CWF does not sell, rent or trade donor information to other agencies.
Q. Can I donate household items, clothing or food to the Canadian Women’s Foundation?
A. The Canadian Women’s Foundation is unable to accept household, clothing or food items. We suggest you contact a shelter in your area, as many facilities gratefully accept donations in the form of clothing, food and other necessities. To find a shelter in your community, please go to shelternet.ca or look in the front pages of your telephone book.