Answers to your questions about hosting events

Thank you for agreeing to host an event for SickKids Foundation. Each year The Hospital for Sick Children moves closer to its goal of ensuring that all children are healthy, by providing excellence in patient care and producing ground-breaking research.  This could never happen without your generous support.

 At SickKids we understand the complexities involved in running events and want to ensure that your initiative can be run with the greatest of ease.  We have compiled a list of some of the greatest issues that challenge our event organizers and present them to you in a list that we hope will serve as an easy reference tool when you are planning your next event in support of SickKids.  We encourage you to read the following information carefully, if you need further clarification, please don’t hesitate to contact your SickKids relationship manager.  

We receive more questions about receipts than about almost any other matter.  In order to ensure our status as a charitable organization with the Canadian Revenue Agency, it is imperative that we all handle matters around receipting in an appropriate, timely, efficient and legal manner.

1. All financial donations made to SickKids for $20.00 or more are eligible for an income tax receipt issued by SickKids Foundation in the calendar year they are received.

2. SickKids Foundation can issue tax receipts only to individuals or organizations that make a donation without receiving any product or tangible item in return.  Purchases of raffle tickets, event admission tickets, green fees, live and silent auction items are NOT eligible for tax receipts. 

3. As per Revenue Canada guidelines, SickKids Foundation is able to provide Gift-In-Kind letters for the donations of goods from businesses or individuals. These letters can be used as business promotion expenses.  Gift-In-Kind receipts will only be issued to individuals for material goods, if the goods are new and a receipt or invoice from the purchase accompanies the request for a receipt.

4. We strongly encourage all event organizers to remit the proceeds from their event within 90 days of the event taking place in order to ensure proper stewardship of donors. Additionally, under Canada Revenue Agency Canada guidelines, in order for gifts to be eligible for income tax receipting in any given calendar year; SickKids Foundation must have received the gift by the last business day of December; or a donation must be postmarked prior to December 31st..

5. SickKids Foundation is not responsible for expenses.  Under no circumstances is SickKids Foundation able to offer funding or reimbursement for event expenses.

6. Tax receipts can not be issued for the costs of a donated service.  This includes but is not limited to special services that necessitate hiring someone/thing for an event (e.g. tent set-up, website creation or entertainment).  We can however issue a gift in kind letter to acknowledge the donation.

7. Sponsorships are not tax deductible if the sponsor receives any advertising, marketing or promotional value and therefore will not receive a tax receipt.  Instead, sponsors can receive a letter of acknowledgement for the value of their sponsorship which can be used against business expenses.

8. Gifts of artwork, wine, collectibles, or items of a unique nature must be accompanied by a recent independent appraisal, regardless of value.    Gifts of art donated by artists and art dealers are seen as disposition from their inventory.
9. a) Gaming and lotteries including bingos, 50/50 draws, gambling, raffles or games of chance often have special considerations that require permits.  Please go to http://www.agco.on.ca for more information.  SickKids foundation will not endorse/support or accept donations from events that are not able to be licensed, specifically, gaming events such as Texas Hold’em Poker etc

9. b) Legally all raffles must be registered with your local municipality.  There is a processing time of approximately 8-10 weeks to receive a raffle license and your prize cannot change afterwards.  SickKids Foundation will not apply for a raffle license unless the net proceeds to the foundation will meet or exceed $50,000.  We recommend that instead, you hold a Promotional Draw.  You can run a draw without acquiring a license, but you must offer the tickets for free, asking instead for a donation for the ticket.
10.  The names and logos for the Hospital for Sick Children, and SickKids Foundation are registered trademarks.  SickKids staff are more than happy to work with you to approve their use and ensure that all standards are upheld.