The Great Commission Foundation
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Great Commission Foundation is a registered Canadian charity that provides administrative, bookkeeping, and accounting services to help non-profits and ministries operate within Canadian compliance requirements. They process donations, issue receipts, manage finances, and provide online fundraising tools. Using GCF allows non-profits to focus on their mission while GCF handles compliance and donor services. Their services provide accountability, compliance expertise, and help non-profits of all sizes expand their donor base in Canada.
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The Great Commission Foundation
- 1. GREAT COMMISSION FOUNDATION NON-PROFIT & DONOR SERVICES SPECIALISTS Helping Non-Profits Thrive
- 2. YOU HAVE A GREAT CHARITY... WHY JOIN GCF? Introduction Challenges For Non-Profits Why Do We Exist Services Provided Benefits Who We Help
- 3. Great Commission Foundation Are you looking to expand your donor base in Canada? Our Administrative, Bookkeeping and Accounting Team have a passion to help ministries fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus Christ while operating within government compliance requirements for charities.
- 4. • CHARITABLE STATUS • GOVERNMENT COMPLIANCE • DONOR CONFIDENCE • STAFFING Challenges I’m running a non-profit, what do I need to know about operating in Canada?
- 5. GOT CANADIANS? U.S. Non-Profit FAQ • CAN U.S. NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS LEGALLY RAISE FUNDS IN CANADA? • HOW IMPORTANT ARE CHARITABLE RECEIPTS TO CANADIAN DONORS? • ARE CANADIAN DONORS GENEROUS TO FAITH-BASED PROJECTS? • WE ARE A U.S. 501(c)(3) NON -PROFIT AND WANT TO DEVELOP OUR CANADIAN DONOR BASE – HOW DO WE PROCEED?
- 6. Why Do We Exist? A Charity Helping Charities WE ARE A QUALIFIED PUBLIC CHARITY GCF, a public foundation, was established to promote Christian ministry and humanitarian aid all over the world. GCF is a registered Canadian charity with Canada Revenue Agency #85992 8483 RR0001. WE WORK EXCLUSIVELY WITH CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES GCF works with people whose purposes help fulfill the great commission through common goals: the advancement of the Christian faith, the advancement of education, and the relief of poverty. ALL SIZES WELCOME GCF provides services for large and small non-profits and ministries.
- 7. Services Provided • Donation Processing • Donor Receipting • Financial Management • International Bank Transfers • 24/7 Account Access • Online Fundraising Tools • Customized Service • Compliance Assistance For CRA Reporting
- 8. Benefits Exceptional Service No Contract Required Quick Set Up Accountability Compliance Experience
- 9. NO MATTER THE SIZE OF YOUR NON-PROFIT, WE WANT TO SEE YOU THRIVE IN MINISTRY, AND FULFILL THE GREAT COMMISSION. WE ARE BETTER TOGETHER. Who We Help GREAT COMMISSION FOUNDATION | 2019
Editor's Notes
- Make notes that relay they are the hero.
- GCF’s main purpose is to engage with people, ministries, and projects and come alongside existing and new projects and ministries to help fulfill the Great Commission through providing financial management and administrative services to ministries and projects directly engaged with our mandates. GCF also provides a convenient avenue for donors and charities to process gifts of cash or assets for Christian humanitarian and evangelization projects. Our mandates are as follows: Advancement of the Christian faith Advancement of education Relief of poverty
- CHALLENGES FOR NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS Getting Charitable Status: This can be an expensive and time consuming process, many non-profits applying for charitable status in Canada find the paperwork, time and cost curtails the completion of the process. It is common for the registration process to take up to two years and requires expensive legal help to submit a successful application. Government Compliance: For those who have been granted charitable status in Canada, it is vital to remain compliant with charity requirements. The Canadian Government monitors and actively investigates the activities of registered charities in Canada. This means compliance with Canada Revenue Agency is imperative, as working offside can result in losing charitable status. Donor Confidence: Donors who believe in what you are doing will want to support your organization. Maintaining donor confidence is an important part of retaining their support for your ministry work. This requires time and knowledge. With GCF you can focus on the relationship side of donor care and share ministry news, while we provide practical services by processing their gifts of support and respond to their receipting or other donation questions. The Great Commission Foundation is a registered charity in Canada and a trusted place for donors to send financial support. GCF processed almost $28 Million in donations in 2018 for over 350 projects, and maintain careful records, provide donor support and operate in compliance with Canada Revenue Agency. **CANADIAN NON-PROFIT INFO** The majority of Canadian donors are supportive of and generous to Christian charities; in fact, the largest sector for donations by Canadians is religious, accounting for 40% of all donations. Thirty Years of Giving in Canada, Imagine Canada, 2019. Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) compliant receipting is very important to the Canadian donor. The Giving Report, Canadahelps.org, 2018. One reason CRA compliant receipted donations are important to the Canadian donor is they can carry donations forward on their tax returns for up to five years. Line 349, Canadian Revenue Agency. As well, Canadians have the 7th highest combined to tax rate out of the 34 industrialized countries, Fraser Institute Study, 2019. https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/canadas-rising-personal-tax-rates-and-falling-tax-competitiveness-2019 Canadians have seen increased income tax rates by both Federal and Provincial governments over the past few years. This means a tax deductible receipt is highly valued by most Canadian donors. Staffing: You are focused on ministry and fulfilling the great commission, unfortunately, sometimes the paperwork gets in the way or gets neglected. These days organizations are often unable to find volunteers with the knowledge and experience required to manage financials, donor services (including issuing official tax receipts), and maintain CRA compliance standards. Staying apprised of and meeting the compliance requirements of Canada’s Revenue Agency is vital, it can be a challenge to find volunteers with the skillset and time required to ensure your ministry is operating in compliance with CRA. Alternatively, you may consider hiring staff; this can be expensive and you still may not find people with the experience and skills required for overseeing a non-profit’s financials, donor receipting, and government compliance. The Great Commission Foundation is the perfect solution for non-profits and charities. We have staff who are experienced with donor services, financial services, and government compliance allowing you to focus on your ministry. We also employ the services of charity specialist financial services and have charity specialist lawyers on retainer as further resources to ensure we are providing our Agents with optimal service and knowledge for their organization.
- U.S. NON-PROFIT FAQ 1. Yes, U.S. non-profit organizations can legally raise funds in Canada. And it is a very good idea to do so. Canadian donors traditionally have a significant long-term donor value (LTDV) to charities they believe in. The Giving Report, Canadahelps.org, 2018 2. Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) compliant receipting is very important to the Canadian donor. The Giving Report, Canadahelps.org, 2018 One reason CRA compliant receipted donations are important to the Canadian donor is they can carry donations forward on their tax returns for up to five years. Line 349, Canadian Revenue Agency. As well, Canadians have the 7th highest combined tax rate out of the 34 industrialized countries, Fraser Institute Study, 2019. https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/canadas-rising-personal-tax-rates-and-falling-tax-competitiveness-2019 Canadians have seen increased income tax rates by both Federal and Provincial governments over the past few years. This means a tax deductible receipt is highly valued by most Canadian donors. In fact, a steady increase in donors report that an adequate tax receipt is very important to them. A charity that does not have CRA charitable status cannot provide a tax receipt accepted by the Canadian government for a tax benefit to the donor. While personal and ideological motivations are reported by a much higher proportion of donors, tax credits and religious obligations have larger effects on the amounts donated. The following graphic from Thirty Years of Giving in Canada, Imagine Canada, 2019 may help explain the importance of CRA compliance to the Canadian donor. 3. The largest sector for donations by Canadians is religious accounting for 40% of all donations. Thirty Years of Giving in Canada, Imagine Canada, 2019. The latest statistics show that 84% of Canadians aged 15 and over (about 23.8 million Canadians) donated to charitable and nonprofit organizations. The average individual donation is about $446 per year. In total that is $10.6 billion dollars donated by Canadians every year. Sectorsource.ca 4. Canadian tax law lets U.S. nonprofits raise funds in Canada. However, the Canadian Income Tax Act denies to non-resident organizations the tax benefits it provides to Canadian registered charities. The Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) enforces the Income Tax Act and is thus the main regulator of charities in Canada. To register a charity so that it can accept donations, it requires two things. First, the charity must be established in Canada. Second, it must be a resident of Canada. Society for Nonprofit Organizations, 2019 by Robert Hayhoe of Miller Thomson LIP, Toronto, Ontario Canada The process of setting up your organization as a Charity in Canada commonly takes up to 2 years and requires expensive legal help to submit a successful application. The Great Commission Foundation is the perfect solution for your ministry, you can have your organization up and running in full compliance in as little as two weeks. (Four pillars of GCF…)
- Established in 2002, the Great Commission Foundation exists as a public foundation to promote Christian ministry and humanitarian aid all over the world. We exist to help individual missionaries and missionary organizations with financial management and administration services. In particular, we provide our agents with charity compliance as required by the Canada Revenue Agency and our sister organization in the United States, Friends of the Great Commission, provides compliance required by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Canadian donations are processed through GCF, a registered Canadian charity with the CRA. Donations from US-based donors are processed through our sister organization “Friends of the Great Commission”—which is a registered 501(c)(3) charity in the United States (https://friendsgc.com/) We serve people and ministries who do not fit into a traditional ministry model – ones called to a specific people group or type of ministry, yet their project or ministry does not fall into the criteria of any current mission board. We also serve people who have registered charities, but they are not strong in administration and find compliance with the guidelines of Canada Revenue Agency challenging. Meeting CRA standards is vital to retaining charitable status, GCF comes alongside other registered charities and offers to take the burden of determining how to meet CRA compliance requirements off of them, allowing them to focus on their ministry. GCF specializes in providing administrative guidance and support. CRA compliance requirements can change annually and the CRA is very concerned that Charities follow their guidelines carefully. GCF keeps apprised of the CRA requirements and has professionals on retainer to help guide our team in best practices. We believe GCF offers the most effective and efficient service available in this area
- Donations Processing: As an affiliated agent with GCF, your ministry will be receiving premium donation processing through Blackbaud Raiser's Edge™ along with the power of Financial Edge™. Donations can be handled in a variety of forms: cheque, cash, credit card, recurring donations, event registrations and more. Your supporters will receive great service from our donations team, you can direct your supporters to contact us by email or phone, we are happy to answer their donation questions. Donations Receipting: By choosing GCF you will be able to provide your Canadian donors with official tax receipts they can use as a tax benefit. Financial Management: Our accounting team is interested in helping your ministry thrive and will take care of payables (including invoices and expense claims), contract payments, payroll & benefits, and other accounting needs. International Bank Transfers: We are able to wire funds internationally and have procedures in place to ensure funds sent are accounted for correctly to meet CRA requirements. 24/7 Online Access allows our agents to view their password protected balance sheets, income statements and account activity. Online Fundraising Tools: Customized online donation pages are provided to your organization when you choose to join GCF. As a GCF agent you can also run Peer-to-Peer Online Fundraising with customized websites. In addition to standard events, agents can opt for Do It Yourself Virtual Events. Fundraising tools such as reports and mailing lists are also available to all our agents. Customized Service: You care about people, that is why you are in ministry. When you choose to join us, we focus on you. Upon approval, each ministry and project is assigned a GCF Agent Representative who works one on one with you and is a key component between your ministry and GCF. Our Agent Representatives engage with your ministry contact and customize a program of services based on the needs of your ministry. Compliance Assistance: Compliance with Canada Revenue Agency can be challenging. Your Agent Representative will help you navigate CRA compliance requirements including CRA Reporting. They endeavor to make this process as easy as possible.
- BENEFITS Exceptional Service: When you choose the Great Commission Foundation, you will receive exceptional service from an experienced staff. Our staff loves paperwork, we are a team of administrators and accounting personnel. We have an exceptional donations team to provide donor services to your supporters, a professional accounting team to take care of the financials including expenses, contract payments, and payroll. We also provide you with an Agent Representative, who is your GCF contact for all your questions and requests. Your Agent Rep acts as your liaison to all our departments and will provide answers to your questions, and find solutions if you have challenges. They will also help you navigate compliance with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) in addition to providing day to day services needed to make your ministry/project as efficient as possible. No Contract Required: There are no contracts, GCF uses an Agency Agreement model in which both parties work together for as long as they agree. Either party can terminate the agreement at any time. Quick Set Up: When you choose the Great Commission Foundation, we can have you up and running with us within two weeks. That means you can start receiving donations from your Canadian supporters fast, and they will receive official tax receipts. Once you come onboard with GCF we create an online donation page to provide an easy way for you to receive support from your donors. Financial Accountability: We believe accountability is vital, as a result, we have engaged professional auditors annually since 2008. In addition, a charities financial specialist is a part of our financial service team and ensures compliance with government regulations and accounting practices. Compliance Experience: The Foundation uses the services of three charity specialist law firms with offices in Colorado, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa. This allows us to stay apprised of regulatory changes and compliance requirements, and provide your ministry with an Agent Representative who can answer questions and provide guidance around current Canadian Revenue Agency requirements.
- What are the management and services fees? The Great Commission Foundation is a not for profit charity and is committed to providing services at the lowest rate possible. Fees are administered on a percentage basis of donations received. Fees will be assessed based on several factors upon review of the application.