The IMPACS Charities and Advocacy Project is researching changes to the laws surrounding advocacy by Canadian charities. Do you think charities should be able to engage more freely in advocacy activities? Should charities be allowed to devote more than 10% of resources to advocacy and political issues? If so, how much more? What other changes are necessary?
Charities exist to make the world a better place. To achieve this
we must work within legislative constructs which are often prohibitive and
out of touch. There is no better point of contact for legislators to design
effective laws governing charities than the charitable sector itself. Free
and open discussion of these issues between the government and charities should
be encouraged.
As the executive director of a Canadian "management service organization",
or charities' charity, I strive to improve the environment within which voluntary
organizations function. Advocacy is an invaluable tool in achieving this mandate.
These activities would be ancillary to our primary objectives. I believe this
is how the legislation affecting advocacy should be driven - not simply by
offering arbitrary limits to spending. Ensure the advocacy efforts of the
agency help them to achieve their charitable objects.
-- Ken Coulter, Executive Director, Windsor Essex Nonprofit Support Network
Many charities are political in nature. By increasing the threshold
allowing donations to be used for political purposes, even less money
will reach the targeted group which is the mandate for their very existence.
-- Ingrid Roberts, North York Community Care Access Centre
E-mail us your thoughts today at help@charityvillage.com.
