The Royal Arch Charitable Foundation is a registered charity that was established on the 20th day of August in the City of Nanaimo, B.C.
Objects of the Foundation:
To promote and further the aims, interests and objectives of the institution known as The Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of BC & Yukon.
To carry on all activities of a charitable nature beneficial to the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of BC & Yukon including without limitation, soliciting, receiving, recording, maintaining and disposing of property, donations, bequests, or gifts of any nature whatsoever;
To provide services to the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of BC & Yukon relating to fund management, investments and financial management and advice and to coordinate all the efforts relating to fund-raising activities carried on by or on behalf of The Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of BC & Yukon;
To act as a recipient of trust funds in the form of monies or other properties given for determined or indeterminate use, and to receive such funds for use as is in keeping with the Foundation’s objectives;
To raise funds from time to time as required by public subscription, and to solicit or otherwise encourage to obtain gifts, donations, bequests, endowments or other acquisitions of funds and real and personal property of any kind.
Application Forms to join the Royal Arch Charitable Foundation
(voting members must be in good standing in a Chapter in this Grand Jurisdiction)
Forms are available in Adobe Acrobat (PDF)
Click to download Full Voting Membership
Click to download Non-Voting Associate Membership
GIFT ACCEPTANCE & DISCLOSURE GUIDELINES
Background:
The Royal Arch Charitable Foundation (hereafter referred to as the “Foundation”) is a registered society under the Society Act of British Columbia (S-52567) with the Registrar of Companies in the Province of British Columbia. The Foundation was incorporated on the 22nd day of August 2007.
Purpose of the Foundation:
To promote the growth of income from contributed funds to achieve donor’s charitable objectives.
To encourage and support those charitable organizations best able to carry the Foundations activities congruent with the purposes for which the Foundation was established.
To provide philanthropic leadership and to support endeavours which improve the quality of life in the Province of British Columbia and Yukon Territory.
Objects of the Foundation
The objects of the Foundation are:
a) To promote and further the aims, interests and objectives of the institution known as The Grand Chapter or Royal Arch Masons of British Columbia & Yukon.
b) To carry on all activities of a charitable nature including without limitation, soliciting, receiving, recording, maintaining and disposing of property, donations, bequests, or gifts of any nature whatsoever;
c) To provide services relating to fund management, investments and financial management and advice and to coordinate all the efforts relating to fund-raising activities carried on by or on behalf of the Foundation;
d) To act as a recipient of trust funds in the form of monies or other properties given for determined or indeterminate use, and to receive such funds for use as is in keeping with the Foundation’s purposes;
e) To raise funds from time to time as required by public subscription, and to solicit or otherwise encourage to obtain gifts, donations, bequests, endowments or other acquisitions of funds and real and personal property of any kind;
Guidelines Background:
The Foundation is a vehicle through which a donor can support The Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of British Columbia & Yukon, and its authorized and approved charities.
The Gift Acceptance Guidelines are designed to provide guidance to prospective donors to facilitate the gift giving process. It clarifies the mission of the Foundation and, along with any specific fund arrangement, the roles, responsibilities and expectations of both the Foundation and its donors.
The Gift Acceptance Guidelines also provide guidance for the Foundation’s decisions. They ensure that gifts to the Foundation are made in accordance with legal and ethical regulations and guidelines, promote consistent practices and protect the Foundation from potential liability related to gifts that might come with unforeseen financial consequences. The Guidelines can serve to enhance, long term, relationships with donors, and encourage donors and the Foundation representatives to work together to achieve the greatest benefit for society consistent with donors’ broad philanthropic wishes.
The Foundation must approve any gift, which in the opinion of its Directors exposes the Foundation to an uncertain and potentially significant liability (e.g. property).
These Disclosure Guidelines set out the Foundation’s practice for publishing names of donors, funds and recipients, and instances where anonymity will be permitted.
Gift Acceptance Guidelines:
1. The Directors of the Foundation, shall inform, serve, guide or otherwise assist donors who wish to support the Foundation’s activities, but are not to pressure or unduly persuade. Types of Gifts and the Foundation’s procedure in dealing with them are set in Appendix A.
2. The Directors of the Foundation shall, in all cases of potential major new gifts, encourage the donor to discuss the proposed gift with independent professional advisors of the donor’s choice so the donor may receive a full and accurate explanation of all aspects of the proposed charitable gift.
3. The Directors of the Foundation are authorized to review planned gift agreements with prospective donors, following guidelines approved by the Foundation Board of Directors. Gifts will be planned to reflect the donors’ charitable interests.
4. All proposed planned arrangements requiring execution by the Foundation shall be reviewed and approved as to form and content by the Foundation’s legal counsel.
5. All gift agreements must be reviewed and approved by the Directors of the Foundation. (See Appendix B – The use that is to be made of the gift).
6. The Foundation reserves the right to decline a gift.
7. Gift-related costs such as legal fees, appraisals, real estate commissions and taxes relating to acceptance, maintenance, management or re-sale of a gift or property will normally be the responsibility of the donor, unless the Foundation agrees to assume responsibility for any portion of these costs.
8. The Foundation shall obtain independent written appraisals as to the value of gifts other than cash or tradable securities.
9. The Foundation shall not serve as executor of a donor’s will or trustee of a charitable remainder trust.
10. Donors’ wishes of recognition or anonymity regarding a gift will be respected except as required by law.
Disclosure Guidelines:
All donors and amount ranges may be disclosed at the Foundation’s discretion unless the donor requests the gift to be anonymous.
For tribute gifts (memorial, etc.) the family is notified of each donor’s name unless the donor wishes to remain anonymous. No individual gift amounts are divulged; only fund balances.
For all other gifts to funds where the founder is still living, the donors’ names and amounts will be divulged to the founder upon request by the founder unless the donor has requested that the gift be anonymous.
Where there is a written agreement, the founder of the fund may request that the text of the agreement, but not its existence, remain confidential, except as required either legally or by Foundation practice.
APPENDIX A – TYPES OF GIFTS
1. Outright Gifts
This is the most common type of giving. Outright gifts, either monies or property, provide support for a charity’s day-to-day activities, for special projects or in the case of the Foundation, to be capital for an endowment fund intended to provide annual income in perpetuity. There are many ways of making outright gifts, but they share a common characteristic: as soon as the gift is made it can be put to use.
The Board of Directors approves recommended guidelines and minimum funding thresholds to establish a named endowment or specific fund. These minimum amounts will be reviewed annually.
a. Cash Gifts
Monetary gifts, whether by cheque, money order, credit card or currency, are the most common way to contribute an outright gift to a charity. A cheque is generally considered to have been given on the day it was received.
Exception; A gift sent by mail, if postmarked in December, qualifies as a charitable donation in that tax year, even if it is not received until January.
b. Credit Card Gifts
A gift by credit card is considered to have been made on the date the obligation was incurred.
c. Gift of Publicly-Traded Securities
Publicly-Traded Securities can include shares, bonds, bills, warrants and futures that are traded on prescribed stock exchanges.
Valuation of Gifts of publicly-traded securities shall be dealt with as follows:
(i) to qualify for reduced capital gain inclusion rate, the securities must be given in-kind.
(ii) Receipt – publicly-traded securities that are freely tradable and which are gifted to the Foundation may be delivered by the donor directly to the Foundation or they may be deposited by the donor into a Foundation account located with the Foundation custodian as directed by the Foundation.
Gifts of publicly-traded securities which are not freely tradable because of legal restrictions pertaining to their transferability are not considered to be accepted and receiptable by the Foundation until the shares have been approved and received into the Foundation’s custodial account, to ensure the delivery of the gift has been completed.
(iii) Valuation – where a gift of freely tradable, publicly traded, securities is made to the Foundation, the value will be the closing market price on the date the shares were received by the Foundation (by either an irrevocable deed of gift or the shares themselves whichever event first occurs). Where none of these securities are traded on that day, the value of these securities shall be determined by the Foundation in consultation with its advisors and an independent valuation may be obtained.
In the case of securities, which are not freely tradable, because of legal restrictions pertaining to their transferability or are thinly traded, an independent valuation may be obtained and the value determined by the Foundation in consultation with its advisors. The value, having regard to the nature of the restrictions, may be subject to a discount to the closing market price of the securities on the day the Foundation receives the securities.
(iv) Realization – all gifts of publicly-traded securities which are not going to be absorbed into the Foundation portfolio are to be sold in an orderly fashion but as quickly as possible so as to maximize the sale proceeds and to minimize any difference between the proceeds and the value at which they were receipted, all subject to market conditions at the time of sale. Until the securities are sold and the resultant cash is transferred into the portfolio of pooled Funds, the “Specified Charity” which is the recipient of the securities shall have no share in the pool. All commission charges and all resulting capital losses and gains which arise from the sale of the gifted securities, as compared to their value at the time of receipt by the Foundation, shall be charged or credited directly to the ”Specified Charity” which is the recipient of the gift of securities and not to any of the other Funds at the Foundation. However, these charges, losses and gains shall not affect the value of the receipt issued for the gifted securities, which shall be valued as detailed above.
(v) A copy of this Guidelines document shall be provided by the Foundation to all donors who wish to make gifts of securities to the Foundation.
d. Life Insurance
There are various methods by which life insurance policies may be contributed to the Foundation.
A donor may:
· assign irrevocably, a paid-up policy to the Foundation;
· assign irrevocably, a life insurance policy on which premiums remain to be paid; or
· name the Foundation as a primary or successor beneficiary of the proceeds.
When ownership is irrevocably assigned to the Foundation, the donor is entitled to a gift receipt for the net cash surrender value, if any, and for any premiums subsequently paid. Any of these types of life insurance gifts are acceptable to the Foundation.
In the event a policy is contributed on which premiums remain to be paid, or if the donor subsequently ceased to pay premiums on the policy, the Foundation will examine the following options in order to maximize the benefit to the Foundation:
- determine if the cash surrender value of the policy is sufficient to purchase a paid up policy.
- determine if the donor is willing to pay premiums on a policy of reduced face value.
iii. determine if the Foundation is willing to pay the premiums, taking into consideration the donor’s life expectancy, present value of the policy’s death benefit, and the donor’s health.
e. Gifts in Kind:
Real Estate.
Gifts of real estate may be made in various ways: outright, or residual interest in the property.
The following guidelines pertain to gifts of real estate in general.
Donors must be advised of the following steps:
·the donor shall secure a qualified appraisal of the property;
·the Foundation shall determine if the donor has clear title to the property;
·the Foundation shall review other factors including zoning restrictions, marketability, current use and cash flow, to ascertain that acceptance of the gift would be in the best interests of the Foundation.
·the Foundation may choose to conduct an environmental assessment which may include an environmental audit, and accept the property only if:
(a) it contains no toxic substances or other environmental impediments, or
(b) they are removed or other remedies taken assuring that Foundation assumes no liability whatsoever.
A gift receipt will be issued for the appraised value. For large, unique or other complex properties, a second independent appraisal may be required by the Foundation to meet its responsibilities under income tax regulations.
2. Deferred Gifts
Deferred gifts are gifts which come into effect on the happening of a future event such as the death of a donor. Any deferred gifts are subject to the same guidelines as outright gifts.
- Gifts by Will
Many people who would like to make a substantial gift to charity cannot afford to part with assets during their lifetimes. Preparing a will and giving a portion of one’s estate to charity is a common type of future gift.
In future years the Foundation could be the beneficiary of many gifts by will.
A specific gift gives the charity a specific piece of property or amount of money. A residual gift gives the charity all or a portion of whatever remains of the estate after all debts, taxes, expenses and specific gifts have been paid. A contingent gift takes effect if certain conditions on which the gift is given are satisfied.
The conditions of a Contingent Gift must be reviewed by the Directors of the Foundation in accordance with these Guideline statements.
b. Life Insurance
The Foundation may be the beneficiary of a life insurance policy. A tax receipt will be issued to the estate upon receipt of the proceeds of the policy.
c. Gift of Registered Funds
Registered funds such as a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) or registered retirement income fund (RRIF) are taxed in the hands of the estate.
Where Registered Funds are given to the Foundation the charitable tax credit may offset the tax payable on the Registered Funds. The donor should consult a tax advisor.
d. Other Gifts
Gifts not otherwise dealt with may only be accepted after consultation with the Directors of the Foundation. A majority agreement to proceed would be mandatory.
APPENDIX B
Restrictions on Gifts:
The charitable needs of society are continually changing and so the Foundation encourages gifts that are either “undesignated” or specified for a “Charity of interest”. This allows the Foundation future discretion to allocate such funds for purposes consistent with the objects of the Foundation.
Donor-Advised Funds:
The nature of a charitable gift is such that a donor cannot expect material consideration (financial benefits, or opportunities for other persons not at arm’s length) to flow from the gift, nor, after the gift has been made, to direct the Foundation as to how it must apply the income from the gift.
Donors may advise the Foundation from time to time as to how they wish the income from the gift to be applied where there exists a “donor-advised” or “Charity of interest” arrangement. The Foundation’s Guidelines are to consider the donor’s advice in accordance with the Society Act of British Columbia and Canada Customs and Revenue Agency requirements.