FAQs

If you are considering a gift in your will– thank you! Leaving a gift in your will is a powerful way to affirm your values and build a legacy. A bequest gives you the comfort of knowing your assets are available today, while enabling you to leave a larger gift than might be possible in your lifetime.

It’s also one of the most efficient ways to give. In fact, a gift in your will can reduce, even eliminate, the tax burden on your beneficiaries.

A will is the easiest, most effective way to ensure the people and causes you care about are provided for and your assets are distributed according to your wishes. A properly planned will can also reduce, even eliminate, the taxes on your estate.

The name you should include in your will is “The Hospital for Sick Children Foundation”. The Foundation is responsible for raising money and performing estate administration on behalf of the Hospital.

Other than a gift in your will, you can help SickKids by:

• Designating SickKids as the beneficiary and/or owner of a new or existing life insurance policy
• Naming SickKids as the beneficiary of your pension plan, RRSP, RRIF, or TFSA
• Setting up a charitable gift annuity or charitable remainder trust
• Making a gift of property, such as real estate, jewelry, or art

There are many ways to include a charity in your will, but these are the two most common:

Residual Bequest:

Commonly designated as all or a percentage of the estate’s residue, a residual bequest is made from the balance of an estate after all debts, bills and taxes have been paid and all specific and general gifts have been distributed.

Legacy Bequest (also known as specific bequest):

A legacy bequest is a gift of a specific dollar amount or asset, such as a house, car, stocks, or securities.

No, SickKids fundraisers are compensated hourly. SickKids adheres to the Imagine Canada guidelines. Visit Imagine Canada to learn more about their standards.

We encourage you to first consider an unrestricted donation, which gives us the flexibility to deploy funds in the areas of greatest need—and greatest promise. (We can’t predict where we will need funds down the road, nor can we know what research, projects, or funding will be underway when a gift is realized.) However, if you do decide to designate your gift to a specific area, let us know so we can help with the wording and ensure that your gift goes where you want it to.

No, all data is encrypted in a compliant environment according to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.

Please call our monthly Donor Specialist at 416-813-1216 to assist you.

To review the last several years of financial statements, please visit our Publications and Financials section.

Please fill out our Change of Address Form or call 416-813-6166 ext. 1216.

You can contact SickKids at 1-800-661-1083 or 416-813-6166. 

No, SickKids does not participate in street fundraising. Many other charities raise money through street fundraising. SickKids, however, is not one of them. 

Yes. You will receive a tax receipt for one-time donations of $20 or more. Tax receipts for monthly donations are sent in February. 

No. This information is kept strictly confidential unless the donor instructs us otherwise. 

Through careful planning, it is possible to eliminate taxes owed by your estate. Instead of paying taxes, you can choose to make a significant gift to help SickKids, without compromising your family's financial security.

Should you have questions or require more information, please contact: 

The Gift & Estate Planning Team 

Email: gift.planning@sickkidsfoundation.com 

Phone: 416-813-8271 or 1-800-661-1083 ext. 8271 

Or complete our online request form.  

Yes, upon request. When a donation is made, we send a card to the family or individual who is being honoured, acknowledging your generous donation. Visit our Card page for more information. If you would like to send a card but forgot to please call (416) 813-6166.

By becoming a monthly donor, you are making a thoughtful and lasting investment in SickKids. This program allows you to donate on a monthly basis and shows your continuous dedication towards improving our children's health. There are two payment options - credit card or withdrawals from your chequing account. The generosity of friends like you that is what funds the fight at SickKids. Your loyalty enables our winning tradition. Become a monthly donor today. 

Download our annual reports from our Publications and Financials section.

Yes. Named endowment funds can be established during a donor’s lifetime and can be funded in part or completely through future giving. These endowments are considered gifts in perpetuity, and it’s possible for your family to continue contributing to, and receiving updates about, these funds. SickKids acknowledges cumulative lifetime and future gifts for the recognition, which can include naming, an inscription on our Donor Wall, and other forms of recognition. 

Please visit our Host An Event page for more information. 

Gifts in kind to SickKids Foundation can help to raise funds through prize draws, live and silent auctions, SickKids auctions on eBay, and in many other ways. Beneficial items for fundraising purposes include electronics, new teddy bears, toys and games, sporting event or concert tickets, gift certificates, and SickKids-branded materials. Read our Gift in kind Guidelines for more information. 

SickKids is both a local children’s hospital and a global leader in paediatric health-care. We treat broken arms and appendicitis, rare brain cancers and fetal heart defects. Our patients come from across the city, province and country, and even the world for treatments not available in their home community. For children and families in medical crisis, we are a beacon of hope. We’ve always been on the frontlines in the fight for child health, but today our biggest battle is against the limits of an old building. At a time when patient volume and disease complexity are increasing, SickKids stands at a critical crossroads, severely limited in our ability to provide state-of-the-art care in an antiquated building.

Please visit our page on International Giving or contact: Jane Cornelio at 416-813-7680 or jane.cornelio@sickkids.ca.

Please visit the Donate Good and Services page for more information.

Please visit The Hospital for Sick Children website for information on volunteering. 

SickKids treats everything from broken arms and appendicitis to rare brain cancers and congenital heart defects. Every year, some 100,000 patients come to us from across the province, country and even the world for specialized care, while our scientists are making important medical discoveries every day. Our research breakthroughs also have implications in the adult world including expanding knowledge on diseases such as dementia and brain tumours.

For all our triumphs—clinical and research—legacy gifts have been instrumental, helping create our storied Research Institute, where scientists created Pablum, discovered the cystic fibrosis gene, and continue to crack the code of childhood cancers and heart disease. Legacy gifts have enabled SickKids to become a world-class leader for intensive care, organ transplants, and complex heart surgeries. It’s because of our donors that we’ve grown from a community hospital to a global leader in child health.

Specific wording depends on the type of gift and its designation, but here are some examples:

Residual Bequest

“My estate trustees shall pay ______(all or %) of the residue of my estate to The Hospital for Sick Children Foundation, Toronto, ON, for the purpose of supporting its highest priority needs.”

Legacy Bequest

“My estate trustees shall pay the sum of $ ______ (or transfer assets with an equal value) to The Hospital for Sick Children Foundation, Toronto, ON, for the purpose of supporting its highest priority needs."

U.S. Federal laws only generally allow an income tax deduction for gifts given to qualified U.S. charities. Direct contributions from U.S. resident donors to Canadian charities, such as SickKids Foundation, are generally not tax deductible in the U.S. 

SickKids, with the assistance of Friends, has a tradition of caring for children from all over the world. We collaborate with healthcare organizations in more than 75 countries, helping to build sustainable, integrated programs dedicated to child health. Thousands of patients come to SickKids from outside of Ontario, including from across Canada and U.S. and around the world, each year. You can help by building a legacy to support a vision of improving children’s health worldwide. 

No. Gifts come in all shapes and sizes, and we’re grateful for every dollar. Even 1% of your estate can make a huge difference in improving the lives of sick children and their families.

Yes. Not only would we like to thank you, but we want to ensure that your gift is properly recognized, and your intentions are understood and honoured. We can also provide the right wording, particularly if you’re designating your gift to a specific area. We understand that creating a gift in your will is one of the most personally significant gift you can make and we will respect your wishes with regards to how much recognition or anonymity you would like.

Letting us know of your future gift is not legally binding in any way, but it does help the Hospital plan for the future when we know we have community support into the future to continue investing in child healthcare.

A “receipt” refers to any document issued by the Foundation to confirm that it received something from another party. A “charitable receipt” is for income tax purposes and allows donors to reduce their income tax. “Gift confirmations” are issued by the Foundation to donors to confirm a gift where a “charitable receipt” is not warranted. 

If you did not receive your tax receipts right away, please check your spam and junk email folders. If you still have not received your tax receipt after 12 hours, please email us at donor.inquiries@sickkidsfoundation.com or call us at 416-813-6166.

Your receipt for the current tax year will be sent out at the end of February of the following year. You should receive your tax receipt in early March.

Absolutely.  You can become a donor by using our online donation form, or by visiting us at:

SickKids Foundation 

525 University Avenue

Suite 835

Toronto, Ontario

M5G 2L3

In the event that your receipt has been lost or misplaced or you have moved, a duplicate receipt can be issued. Please complete the following form. 

SickKids fundraisers can be easily identified by their identification badges (which they should present upon request). They will also be wearing SickKids branded items such as vests, polo shirts and tablet bags. Our fundraisers carry touchless tablets to efficiently collect your contact information only and will never accept cheques or cash at the door.