Donations

Individuals, corporations, foundations and organizations may make donations that contribute to the Canada Council for the Arts’ mandate and strategic objectives and, more generally, to the recognition and outreach of arts in society.

The contributions of donors receive recognition through a variety of communications initiatives, namely invitations to award ceremonies, acknowledgements in the Council’s annual report, on its website, in news releases, and through social media campaigns that promote the awards.

Forms of donations to the Canada Council for the Arts

Donors may contribute by direct gifts, bequests, life insurance policies (the premiums of which are tax deductible) and gifts in kind (real property, stocks and bonds, works of art or fine stringed instruments). The terms of all major gifts are set out in an agreement with the Canada Council, and gifts are acknowledged with an official tax receipt.

The Council prioritizes donations for the following purposes:

• Recognition of artists working in the maintenance, survival or revitalization of Indigenous languages
• Exemplary practices aligned with sustainable development principles
• Artwork purchases for the Art Bank
• Participation in the fundraising campaign for the Venice Architecture Biennale
• Support for the Musical Instrument Bank – current needs are for musical instrument maintenance but could eventually include support for young musicians from marginalized backgrounds so they can take part in competition auditions.

Management of donations by the Canada Council for the Arts

The Council’s Investment Committee is responsible for managing endowment funds to ensure their integrity and enhance their value.

Donated funds are managed within the Canada Council's general endowment portfolio but are accounted for separately. Merging the principal of donated funds with the larger managed fund increases their revenue and growth potential.

In order to protect the integrity of donated funds and to minimize administrative costs, gifts are normally accepted according to these principles:

• The Canada Council accepts any amount intended for general purposes.
• The amount of a conditional donation must be appropriate to the purpose and should include provision for administrative costs (such as peer assessment, publicity and presentation costs) in addition to the amount of the award or grant.
• Ordinarily, costs incurred by the Canada Council in administering donated funds will be charged against the income of such funds.
• The Canada Council should have the right to determine the frequency with which an award is handed out in circumstances in which perpetual awards are provided with insufficient endowment funds to sustain the original schedule of awards.

The Canada Council manages and coordinates all activities dealing with distribution of information, adjudication, awarding and publicity. It produces a report for donors at the end of each award cycle.