Making the most of charitable giving – Part II

According to Statistics Canada, Canadians donated $6.5 billion to registered charities in 2004. This was a 6.3 per cent increase over the prior year and the highest level of donations ever reported.

The statistics suggest that individuals who do give to charity have been giving more. With increased levels of giving, there may be the need among donors for more sophisticated donation strategies.

This bulletin is the second part of a two-part series on the different ways individuals can donate to charity.

In the first bulletin we looked at the tax rules surrounding charitable giving in Canada and some of the more common ways to make a donation.

In this second bulletin, we’ll look at some of the more sophisticated ways to donate – using charitable remainder trusts, charitable annuities, private and community foundations and also provide some words of caution for those thinking about charitable tax shelters.