Charity law specialists Terrance S. Carter and Sean S. Carter note that on February 24, 2009 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development released its Report on Abuse of Charities for Money-Laundering and Tax Evasion. The report surveys the status of charities in 19 countries, the common methods of the “abuse of charities” regarding tax fraud, and the detection strategies that different countries have adopted to combat the misuse of charities. In comparison with other countries surveyed in the report, the lawyers say, Canada stands out as an example of a jurisdiction where charities are particularly vulnerable to abuse by fraudulent tax and money laundering schemes.

The report advises national tax regulators of potential weaknesses in the regulation of charities by comparing different anti-tax fraud and money laundering regimes from different countries and assessing their relative effectiveness. It notes that “the abuse of charities is becoming more organized and more sophisticated” and consequently charities should be aware of the increasing international pressure on national governmental agencies to more effectively regulate the charitable sector to prevent tax fraud and money laundering.

For more charity law updates, visit www.charitylaw.ca. Download the report at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/30/20/42232037.pdf.

Donner Foundation calls for entries to nonprofit awards program

The Donner Awards Program is accepting applications for the 2009 Donner Canadian Foundation Awards for Excellence in the Delivery of Social Services until Thursday, May 28, 2009. A total of $70,000 is available to be won, with a total of eleven awards granted. 

All applicants receive a confidential report that compares their organization’s performance relative to peers in the sector. This report allows them to identify areas of particular strength in their organization’s management and delivery of services as well as areas where performance can be improved. 

“At a time when non-profits are coming under increased scrutiny over the efficiency and effectiveness of their management and delivery of programs, the performance report is an important tool to distinguish their organization from others,” the foundation says.

For more information, www.donnerawards.org. To apply, https://secure.lexi.net/donnerawards.

U.S. online giving grows during first quarter

Steve MacLaughlin of Blackbaud, Inc. notes that among the 2,000 nonprofits using Blackbaud’s Internet solutions, online transactions grew 68% for Q1 2009 compared with Q1 2008. Online revenue was up 57% over the same time period last year. “This growth remains very strong despite economic conditions and other factors in the nonprofit sector,” he said.

For more information, http://forums.blackbaud.com/blogs/connections/archive/2009/04/02/2009-online-giving-trends-q1.aspx

Attendance drops at AFP New Orleans conference

Writing for The Chronicle on Philanthropy, Peter Panepento noted that the number of fundraisers attending the annual meeting of the Association of Fundraising Professionals dropped by about 20% from 2008. About 3,200 people registered to attend the 2009 conference in New Orleans, compared to the record 4,500 participants at the 2008 conference in San Diego.

Many fundraisers are staying home this year because of budget cuts at their organizations, said John Skendall, a spokesman for the fundraisers’ association. Yet Paulette Maehara, president of the association, told Panepento that the conference drew a significant number of first-time participants, roughly half of paid registrants.

Maehara also said that the biggest number of fund raisers this year come from social-service groups, which she said was a response to soaring demand for their services and sharp reductions in government aid.

Blackbaud launches low-cost web tool for nonprofits

Blackbaud, Inc. has launched BlackbaudNow™, which it describes as “an affordable solution to help new and growing nonprofits reach their fundraising goals.”  BlackbaudNow offers nonprofits a point-and-click website builder with secure donation processing through Paypal and the ability to send emails and record donors’ giving histories.

There are no setup or monthly fees. Instead, nonprofits pay per transaction for features that allow them to create online presence and enable online fundraising with point-and-click site design, process donations with PayPal, track donor giving history and communications, and support email messages, e-newsletters and appeals.

For more information, www.blackbaudnow.com

Imagine Canada reports growth in Ethical Code program

By the end of 2008, 175 charities had signed up for Imagine Canada’s Ethical Code, re-launched last year with a greater focus on accountability and public engagement. Though the membership is a small fraction of Canada’s 83,000 registered charities, it accounts for $1.3 billion in fundraising revenues, or 7% of all fundraising revenues reported by Canadian charities.

For more information, http://www.imaginecanada.ca/en/ethicalcode

Experts compare open source content management

Idealware has posted a new report, Comparing Open Source Content Management Systems:  WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and Plone, on its website. The 60-page independent report provides an introduction to the topic, an overview of the features that might be useful for your organization, and a detailed comparison of the four systems.

The report also includes Idealware’s new directory of the consultants and firms who help nonprofit create websites and implement these content management systems.

Download the report at www.idealware.org/comparing_os_cms (free registration required)

Alberta tops destination list for international, internal immigrants

As the new year began, Statistics Canada estimated the country’s population at 33,504,700, up 63,400 in the last quarter of 2008.The agency says the increased pace in population growth can be explained by a marked increase in net international migration, specifically a rise in net non-permanent residents.

Except for Prince Edward Island and the Northwest Territories, the population rose in every province and territory during the fourth quarter of 2008.

Alberta continued to be the province posting the country’s highest demographic growth. Its number of non-permanent residents grew by 6.3%, the fastest growth in the country. In addition, the province received 5,200 immigrants during the period.