Charity v. Benevolence
Last week I received two inquiries from caring colleagues hoping to help individuals in need. One person had cancer and had lost his business, while the other was a sick child who perhaps could benefit from her own charitable foundation. As heart-rending as these stories are, neither qualify as “charity”. Both are forms of benevolence.
Canada’s Greatest Impact Donation
Impact is one of those philanthropic buzzwords that’s hard to define, but perhaps easy to know when you see it. The Gooderham donation for Connaught has all the elements.
Charitable Gifts with Benefits
The common law of charity defines a gift as property that is “freely given without consideration”. That is, a transfer without any expectation of getting something back. It’s an ideal for giving, which often gets tattered and torn in the real world. It has always been so.
Are Canadian’s Actually Becoming More Generous?
The words “generous” and “generosity” come up a lot in the world of charity. But there is little discussion about what influences generosity in Canada. Is it growing or shrinking? And is nature of generosity changing? It is a slippery and fascinating subject.
Is 50 percent enough for the very wealthy?
I was at a recent event where Brett Wilson – the Calgary entrepreneur, former investment banker and CBC Dragons’ Den personality – spoke about philanthropy. He criticized Bill Gates and Warren Buffett for setting their Giving Pledge target of 50 percent of net worth too low. Giving half of one’s estate is not enough if you are very wealthy, said Wilson.