Printer-friendly version

Overview resources and documents 

Charity Tax Tools - a website managed by Imagine Canada, outlines the regulatory expectations of the Canada Revenue Agency on costs of activities. [available online]

Chapter 10 : Financial Management in Nonprofit Organizations by Carolyn Bodnar-Evans  in The management of nonprofit and charitable organizations in Canada  (Murray, 2009). 

This chapter outlines all the basics of Financial management of Canadian nonprofit organizations. Focusing on building budgets, staff roles, control systems, financial systems and audit processes, it is quite essential for organizations that are in the process of developing or reviewing policies and procedures.  (Book available in the library.  Imagine Canada Members are eligible to borrow this material.)

Financial management in Not-for-profit policypro (Sherman & Smith, 2008)

For building and creating your own organizational policies this book is really an excellent resource. It cuts right to providing sample policies, quick definitions and examples. It is however, fairly low on theory and regulatory explanation. We recommend using it in tandem with another more descriptive text, such as Financial Management in Nonprofit Organizations by Carolyn Bodnar-Evans (described above), to understand the reasons why you might be following the policy examples provided here.  (Book available in the library.  Imagine Canada Members are eligible to borrow this material.)

20 questions directors and audit committees should ask about IFRS conversions (revised) (Greiss & Sharp, Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, 2010). [available online]

Keeping the record straight : introductory accounting for not-for-profit organizations (Certified General Accountants of Ontario, 2007). [available online]

Financial Responsibilities of Not-for-Profit Boards (Board Development Program of Alberta Culture and Community Spirit in collaboration with The Muttart Foundation, 2008) [available online]

Budgets and Risk Management

The budget-building book for nonprofits : a step-by-step guide for managers and boards (Dropkin et al, 2007) 

Covering all the bases of financial management and budgeting, this book is extremely useful with a very practical focus on developing policies, including examples and worksheets. A chapter on designing policies and procedures outlines very clearly all the key points that each policy should touch upon including: budgeting, cash-flow, expenses, fiscal year, etc. (Book available in the library.  Imagine Canada Members are eligible to borrow this material.)

Financial risk management : a guide for nonprofit executives  (Lockwood Herman, 2008) 

This book approaches financial management from a perspective of what risks you are mitigating by having proper policies and procedures in place. It is a publication from the U.S. therefore some of the commentary on specific forms is not necessarily relevant to Canadians. However, the principles are largely the same. We also recommend visiting the Nonprofit Risk Management site.  (Book available in the library.  Imagine Canada Members are eligible to borrow this material.)

Module one : ten practices for managing your charitable status. (The Charities File, 2010). [available online]

Administrative Costs and Fundraising Ethics

Calculating your fundraising ratio (Community Sector Council Newfoundland & Labrador, 2011) This online tool helps registered charities understand key information about Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) expectations on fundraising practices [available online]

 The Guide to Giving (by Imagine Canada)  [available online]

 Administration or overhead includes a wide variety of costs – everything from rent to computers to accounting systems and salaries. Good governance, including the cost of board meetings which are essential for ensuring the charity’s activities are guided and monitored, is also considered administration. 

Specific expenditures of individual Canadian charities are available on the Charity Listing at the Canada Revenue Agency's (CRA) Charities Directorate. The CRA have also issued a summary policy on administrative costs   

Developing a culture of reporting transparency and accountability : the lessons learned from the Voluntary Sector Reporting Awards for Excellence in Financial Reporting Transparency. (Salterio & Legresely, 2011). In The Philanthropist. [available online]

Print resources are available for loan to Imagine Canada members.