Fundraising Methods: Past, Present, Future

The term ‘fundraising methods’ refers to the tactics used by charities to generate current or future monies and gifts in kind to provide services to clients, fund research, and cover administrative costs. Under conditions of reduced financial support from government, fundraising is an important, even critical, source of revenue for charities. Equally important is access to accurate information on fundraising methods used by charities in Canada. This paper traces the evolution of fundraising data collected by Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) over the last ten years, compares definitions employed by CRA with examples drawn from the academic and practitioner literatures, and highlights methods not currently being tracked by the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return.