Health
October 10, 2008 02:15 PM
beingwell magazine Fall 2008
An important question that donors and prospective donors must ask themselves is “Can I always trust that my gift is being used as promised?” We all hope that the answer is a resounding “Yes” in almost all cases. In fact, a recent Ipsos-Reid study found that 80 per cent of Canadians trust charities “some or a lot.”
At Southlake Regional Health Centre Foundation, we are committed to honouring our donors and inspiring their trust. With that in mind, Southlake recently became one of the first 120 charities, out of 83,000 in Canada, to commit to follow Imagine Canada’s* Ethical Code Program, which requires member charities to adhere to the highest standard of accountability and transparency. The program is part of an accountability movement designed to assure donors of a responsible charitable sector.
The Ethical Fundraising and Financial Accountability Code lays out a set of standards for charitable organizations to manage and report their financial affairs responsibly, looking at how charities solicit and account for funds. By adhering to these standards, we are complying with generally accepted practices for soliciting and managing donor dollars. This is important because our supporters are entitled to trans-parency and the greatest impact possible for their investment in us.
Donors can feel confident that ethical code participants can be trusted to steward their contributions responsibly. The code itself will evolve on an ongoing basis to remain in step with current practices in fundraising and financial management. Complaints will be reviewed by a volunteer committee of finance and fundraising experts and all charities are required to submit an annual report.
While donors can be more confident about the charities that carry the ethical code trustmark, it is important to continue to be diligent about the charities they support and know that they
are making informed decisions about their charitable investment. And as charities, it is our responsibility to continuously scrutinize our practices to ensure that we are always honouring our donors’ intentions.
If you have any questions about Southlake Foundation’s adherence to the ethical code, please feel free to contact Michele Varela at 905-836 7333 ext. 222 or visit our website at southlakeregional.org. You can also download the ethical code by going to www.imaginecanada.ca.
*Imagine Canada is a non-profit organization that works to advance the role and interests of the charitable and voluntary sector in Canada (the second largest in the world). Please visit www.imaginecanada.ca for more information.
Ethical Code Checklist
• Adherence to a set of standards in fundraising and financial management
• Board of directors’ approval or compliance
• Complaints process in place
• Annual report on compliance
• Submission of financial statements
Campaign Update
“With almost one out of every two Ontarians receiving a cancer diagnosis during their lifetime, we believe it is more important than ever to help Southlake provide accessible, high quality cancer care to one of Canada’s fastest-growing municipalities,” says Jennifer Tory, regional president, Greater Toronto Region, RBC.
With a generous donation of $400,000, RBC helped boost the Count on Me campaign to build the Regional Cancer Program, to over $40 million to mid-September.
In addition to the RBC gift, Southlake received support from the Aurora Agricultural Society ($10,000) and the Canada-HK New Horizons Lions Club, Unionville-Doncrest ($10,000).