Induction of New Member: Joan Peggs introduced Shannon Hellyer. Jack related how she and her father regularly went to Africa on clean water projects, and how he had been asking her to become a member for years but she was always too busy until now.
Welcome to the Club, Shannon!

Club Assembly : Charitable Status and Promoting Membership.

Vicky Pitt began the presentation on Charitable Status as follows:

Charitable receipts can only be given by an organization which CRA recognizes as a charity.
The Rotary club of Oak Bay is a Society, i.e. a not-for-profit organization but it is not a charity. The club cannot become a charity for tax purposes because its constitution includes things like fellowships which CRA will not permit in the constitution of a charity. We can receive charitable receipts from the RI Foundation which would not be affected by our own foundation, and we could still give funds individually to the RI Foundation, but the RI Foundation does not work well if we want to raise funds at the club level or from the local non-Rotary community.
If we want to be able to give charitable receipts ourselves, the solution is to incorporate a separate society which has in its constitution only those objects which are charitable in nature and have that new society (The Rotary Club of Oak Bay Foundation) approved by CRA for charitable status.

The Club and the Foundation (being the charity) are linked through shared membership, with the board of the club continuing as it has and the Foundation having a smaller board which deals only with charitable issues, and which is composed of past presidents and long term members of the club.

The President of the Club would be a member of the Foundation board. The plans of the foundation are discussed by all members and voted on in the normal course. The Foundation
holds its AGM at the same time and immediately following the Club’s AGM. The Foundation must file taxes and must meet the requirements of CRA in terms of what is acceptable for a tax receipt. (Normal club expenses, the cost of lunch and the normal fines that go through to the RI Foundation would not meet those requirements.) Basically, the Oak Bay Foundation would raise funds for particular charitable purposes at the club level. The ability to give charitable receipts allows us to go to the larger community looking for donations. At the moment, for events like the golf tournament, we work with an existing charity (in this case the Eldercare Foundation) which provides the taxable receipts. If we have a Foundation we could set up this type of of event on our own if we wish. Also, we could increase the price of the tickets for the Gospel Choir night, for example, and give a charitable receipt for a portion of the ticket cost. A Foundation could also receive gifts in a will. This is a way that members can use the Foundation for estate planning purposes to minimize tax liability on death.

The important thing here is that we do not fall afoul of CRA’s rules. Fortunately, Rod Sim has agreed to be the “go to” person to decide when receipts can be issued and what we can do that is within the CRA’s parameters for a charity. This is essential. There is no real downside to trying the Foundation out with the professional help that is available and there can be a considerable upside in terms of our ability to raise funds. If anyone has any questions or concerns, please let Vicky know. She can be reached at 477-4143.

Tav Macpherson gave a brief update on Rotary Foundation activities. He urged all members
to consider becoming sustaining members by donating at least $125 over the year. Polio eradication is still the major goal of the Foundation, and there is also the need to match the donation given to Rotary by the Gates Foundation.

Joan Peggs then spoke about membership. She pointed out some interesting statistics, including the fact that the majority of the members are in their 60’s. The membership includes representatives from diversified occupations, including the legal, medical, engineering,
clergy, financial planning, construction, teaching, and real estate. We should be capitalizing on this diversity when approaching potential new members.

Tom Lidkea then spoke briefly about service projects this year. He was pleased with the initial Scotch tasting event which cleared $1,500 for the club and which has the potential to raise more funds in the future. As well, Tom gave an overview of the projects completed so far, and indicated great pleasure with the Gospel Choir fund raiser coming up on April 26.

David Sills concluded the Club Assembly by distributing a “year to date” financial statement
which indicated that our finances are in great shape and will be even better after the proceeds from the Gospel Choir come in. He noted that a number of Youth projects which were budgeted for did not transpire and therefore there is a major surplus in that area.

New Member Proposals that have been approved by the Board of Directors:
Bonnie Yvonne Sayers - Retired Medical Transcriptist - sponsored by John Snively.
Sarah Ann Murphy - Caterer - sponsored by Ted Harrison.
This is a message from Club Secretary Vicky Pitt, who notes that members have seven days in which to comment on/object to the proposals to her or President Jack.

PROGRAMS FOR MEETINGS 2008

DUTY ROSTER April 2008

Click on Biz Card below to be directed to individual member's business sites
Contact Tricia to add your Biz Card (Ask David Sills re Rates).