I think we can all agree that this past January was a particularly eventful month in terms of the news cycle. I debated just what to reference in this newsletter, but frankly, most of what we might tie in has been either too worrying or too depressing, and I’m sure that most of you wouldn’t want to rehash the oh-not-so-delightful state of the world we seem to have been experiencing.
There was one news article that flew under the radar though, that I think is extremely insightful for our readers, who we know are very generous individuals. A story started circulating that well-known American actor Mickey Rourke was having some financial difficulties, and had setup a donation page through a well-known non-charitable online funding platform based out of the USA.
One small problem though…he hadn’t. That’s right – that donation funding platform allowed someone else to create an account, and setup a fund for him; without his consent, according to Rourke.
In an Instagram video, he left a very – *ahem* colourful message (apologies, we have quasi edited out some choice words we don’t regularly use, but I think it’s only right to include some details that allow you to see Mr. Rourke’s frustration come through):
“Somebody set up some kind of foundation or fund for me to donate money, like in a charity, and that’s not me, OK? If I needed money, I wouldn’t ask for no ***-ing charity. I’d rather stick a gun up my *** and pull the trigger!”
Things got a bit stranger, however, as time went on. It allegedly turns out that the person who started the funding page was Rourke’s Manager. From what has been reported in the news, it would appear that the manager started this because Rourke was about to be evicted from his apartment by – in his words – his “scumbag” landlords. (We will spare you the VERY colourful and detailed description Rourke gave of his landlords, the state of the house, and how he suggested they engage in acts that we are not comfortable putting to print).
Crowdfunding vs Charity in Canada
At the heart of Rourke’s frustrations, is that someone was able to setup a “donation” platform online involving him, without his consent. There are numerous funding platforms that keep popping up. It is very important to understand the differences between online donation programs and true charitable entities.
GoFundMe is perhaps one of the more famous platforms, which has often been used to raise money for individuals – here in Canada, its most famous use was for a fund for the Humbolt Broncos families in 2018. Another platform, GiveSendGo became famous during the trucker convoy /protests during the pandemic. And, every day, there seem to be others popping up.
In Canada, a charity is forbidden from flowing donations to directly supporting individuals for any reason. In Canada, there is no way to donate and get a tax receipt if your donation is going to the benefit of an individual. Charities can provide support to communities of individuals. An easy example to demonstrate this is food banks providing groceries for low-income families.
Crowdsource donation programs are not donations in the CRA / Income Tax act sense. If you make a donation through a crowd funding platform, there is no tax receipt. There are also relatively few controls, outside those provided in the terms of service, to ensure the funds will go where you think they will go. Charities on the other hand are a public trust, and as such, they can be held accountable if funds go somewhere other than intended. Here in Ontario, the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee (OPGT) have special powers if charitable funds are misused and can represent the public. Any charitable donation is considered for the Public Benefit – so the OPGT represent the public interest.
During the pandemic protests, the federal government made a significant legislative change requiring crowd funding platforms to have obligations to report suspicious donations to FINTRAC, Canada’s anti-money laundering agency. Up until that point, banks and financial institutions had obligations but not crowd-funding platforms. As often happens in the fast-moving tech sector, legislation had not yet caught up to reality. Very valid legal concerns were raised when it became clear that a significant amount of money was donated from outside Canada. Almost every government in the world regards international fund transfers are particularly high risk for Money Laundering – so its important that no matter the method funds flow into Canada, that the same basic checks and balances should apply.
No one – not even those who donated to support the protests- would have benefitted from leaving this back-door open for criminal elements to abuse. Charities have long had some obligations to ensure they aren’t handling laundered money, and crowdfunding platforms should be forced to have the same restrictions. In 2025, Bill C2 was introduced (but not yet approved), which proposes that charities, and non-charity entities that receive donations (ie a not-for profit that doesn’t issue receipts), cannot accept a cash donation over $10,000, nor any string of smaller related donations that collectively exceed $10,000.
Why stick with charities?
Remember, a donation is not a donation all the time – if you gift through a crowdfunding platform, please check first if they are a registered Canadian Charity. Canadian charities have a Charitable Registration number which is 9 digits long, followed by “RR0001”. CRA has a handy tool at How to get information about a charity – Canada.ca that allows you to look up any current or past registered charity in Canada. You can also jump right to the charity search feature at List of charities and certain other qualified donees – basic search.
The best known and largest charitable online giving platform in Canada is CanadaHelps.org. Unlike GoFundMe or GiveSendGo, it is a registered Canadian Charity, and can issue tax receipts. Donations can then be sent to any registered Canadian Charity through their platform. CanadaHelps issues your tax receipt, and they will allow you to make your name fully known, partially known with limited details or completely anonymous. They do charge a bit of overhead, however, so I generally encourage you to give directly to your favourite charities. CanadaHelps is terrific, however, smaller charities may not have online giving or gifts of securities available, or you may want to make one large donation instead of several smaller donations.
Of course, other similar online platforms exist in Canada – some have specific sectors that they support (ie, Faith, Education etc.). Like CanadaHelps, they are actual charities.
Remember – if the giving is going to an individual, under Canadian Law – you can’t use a charity for this purpose. So, if you see a fundraiser to support a person or family, you can be certain the gift will not be eligible for a receipt. You should also ensure that the people being supported authorized the fundraiser, and will actually receive any money you donate to help them out. Make sure you read the terms of service to learn how you might get your money back if it turns out to be a scam, or an unauthorized account.
Mickey was not a mouse…
Mickey Rourke’s <ahem> “Vocal” response to a crowdfunding effort on his behalf, while colourful, and somewhat not safe to print, has done a really fine job of bringing to light the need for consent and verification to be given when someone sets up a fund to support a person, or really, any cause. While much rarer in the charitable sector, we do see circumstances where a third party raises money for charity without the charity’s consent, and it can often lead to upset donors.
As the saying goes, a fool is easily parted of their money. Be a smartie-pants when it comes to online giving outside the charitable space: take the time to verify that the need is real, that the recipient has authorized the fund, and most importantly, that you have a way to get your money back if it later turns out something was remiss.
Ryan