Foundation

First in Canada to receive Ethical Fundraising Licence!
In June 2003, St. Mary's General Hospital Foundation was awarded the Canadian Centre for Philanthrophy's CCP Ethical Fundraising License. The Foundation is the first registered charity in Canada to receive this distinction. The Ethical Fundraising License logo appears on all our print and electronic materials as a sign to donors and the public at large that St. Mary's General Hospital Foundation meets the highest standards for accountability and openness in our fundraising practices and policies.

Ethical Fundraising Practices Policy
Preamble

The success of our Foundation in meeting the needs of St. Mary's General Hospital is heavily dependent on our ability to inspire confidence and trust in the minds of our donor public. People make financial contributions to our Foundation for many reasons—their personal experience of the care St. Mary’s provides, the Hospital’s reputation for quality and compassionate care, the excellence of our healthcare staff, to name a few. But equally important in obtaining and retaining such financial support is our Foundation’s reputation for integrity and ethical fundraising practices. This policy speaks to several areas of our fundraising program and outlines the ways in which we seek to operate in the most ethical manner possible. This shows respect for our donors and clearly puts the onus on our Foundation to be open, honest and transparent in our raising, investment and disbursal of funds.

A. Financial Disclosure

The St. Mary's General Hospital Foundation observes the following practices when responding to requests from donors and prospective donors for financial information:

1. we act promptly to provide information requested in its most current form
2. we provide information that will add to the public's understanding and confidence in our operations and methods and costs of fundraising by publishing an annual report and by an annual public community update
3. our financial statements and annual reports are available upon request, user-friendly, complete, understandable and truthful.
4. our financial statements accurately present the financial activities and overall financial position of our organization and disclose, at minimum, the information contained in Canadian Centre for Philanthropy Ethical Fundraising and Financial Accountability Code Standard C4; (See Appendix)
5. our financial statements are prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) in all material respects and with all other guidelines adopted by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (“CICA”) which apply specifically to our type of charitable organization; and
6. if we release a financial summary or extract, it is clearly related to and consistent with the information provided in our full financial statements including Notes.

B. Restricted and Designated Donations

Our Foundation adheres to the following fundraising practices as they relate to restricted or designated donations:

1. we recognize that donors who restrict their donations or designate them for a specific use have a right to expect that their donation will be applied according to their specific directions;
2. we honour all statements we make regarding the use of a contribution;
3. we have a procedure or policy in place to deal with donations that cannot be applied to a specific project; and, surplus funds realized over and above the requirements of a given campaign.
4. it is our practice to apply such funds to a project as closely related as possible to the original designation so as to respect the donor’s original intentions.
5. our accounting system and fundraising software system tracks funds that are restricted or designated for a specific use; and
6. we review documentation to ensure that we adhere to donor intentions in the administration of gift funds.

C. Fundraising Costs
Our Foundation observes the following practices when incurring administrative and fundraising costs:

1. our Governing Board is responsible for overseeing the way in which fundraising costs are incurred and reported;
2. our Governing Board approves and monitors our organization’s fundraising activities and the disclosure of fundraising expenses;
3. our administrative and fundraising costs are kept to the minimum necessary to meet our objectives, as registered with the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency; and
4. the allocation of expenditures to administration, fundraising and program services reflect our organization’s mission and actual activities and conform to GAAP and all other appropriate guidelines adopted by CICA that are applicable to our type of charitable organization.

D. Collection, Maintenance, Use and Confidentiality of Donor Records
Our Foundation observes the following practices when collecting donor information, maintaining and using confidential donor records, and protecting donor anonymity:

1. we guard against making unwarranted or intrusive inquiries into a donor or prospect’s gift history or personal life and gather only information that is relevant and necessary to our fundraising efforts;
2. we make all reasonable efforts to ensure the personal information we collect is complete and accurate;
3. we require attribution for all data that we collect;
4. we encourage donors to review, correct and update personal information;
5. we require a donor’s consent before confidential information is released to outside parties;
6. we have established and follow reasonable time periods for the retention and disposal of donor information;
7. we have established special security safeguards to protect donor information and limit access to donor files;
8. we give special protection to all records pertaining to anonymous donors;
9. we recognize that our duty to ensure the confidentiality of donor records continues even after our relationship with a donor or prospect has ended;
10. we obtain a donor’s oral consent regarding the proposed use of their personal information when information is collected by phone; and
11. we provide donors with an opportunity to remain anonymous and to request that the donor’s name and/or the amount of the gift not be publicly released.

a) Solicitation of Former Patients—Pending Provincial Privacy Legislation
A natural constituency for financial support of the Hospital is its former patients. This group comprises the “alumni” of the Hospital who have received care at St. Mary’s. Each month we write to selected former patients inviting their feedback on the care they have received and inviting their financial support. We make every effort to ensure that this appeal is tasteful and appropriate. Accordingly, the following people are excluded from such mailings:

1. patients from nursing homes
2. patients under the age of 18
3. patients from the Sexual Assault Treatment Centre
4. patients coded “unable to cope”
5. some cancer patients (palliative care)
6. duplicate visits in one month timeframe
7. deceased

E. Electronic Gifts
Technology is playing an increasing role in philanthropy. To protect the interests of donors who choose to give electronically, our Foundation adheres to the following practice:

1. our website lists our Foundation’s full name, charitable business number, and mission clearly and immediately for online donors;
2. for those who wish to contact us other than through the website or e-mail, we clearly provide alternative contact information;
3. eligibility for a tax receipt is clearly outlined;
4. all precautions are taken to ensure that gifts made electronically are safe, private and secure, and that a donor’s personal information is protected;
5. e-donors are assured that any information they provide is held in strict confidence, and that this Ethical Fundraising Practices Policy is clearly listed on our website; and
6. electronic donors will not receive communications or solicitations from our Foundation unless they have “opted in” to receive such communications.

F. Rental or Exchange of Donor Lists
To ensure the privacy of our donors, it is our policy that the rental of exchange of our donor lists is not permitted.

G. Donor complaints
It is the policy of our Foundation to have a written complaints procedure in place to ensure that all complaints from donors or the community-at-large are handled promptly, courteously, and to the satisfaction of all parties.

H. Governance

1. Our Board of Directors reviews our fundraising practices and policies on a regular basis and tests them for continuing relevance, legislative compliance and applicability. Adjustments are made, as required, to ensure that the maximum amount of donations possible is applied to our charitable activities in a manner that is consistent with the long-term interests of our organization and its beneficiaries.
2. Our fundraising policies, practices and expectations are clearly communicated to all staff.

I. Supervision of Fundraisers
As a practice, it is only in extraordinary circumstances, such as a major capital campaign, that we use the services of external fundraisers. Our organization observes the following practices when monitoring and supervising the activities of volunteers, employees or paid solicitors (collectively referred to as “fundraisers”) who solicit or receive funds on our behalf:

1. we take reasonable steps to ensure that every person participating in our fundraising program is aware of and complies with the Code;
2. we inform our fundraisers about the provisions of all municipal, provincial and federal laws applicable to our fundraising practices and ensure that our fundraising activities are carried out in accordance with the law;
3. we complete all reports that must be filed as part of applicable regulatory regimes properly and in a timely fashion;
4. we encourage our fundraisers to adhere to the applicable professional codes of conduct, such as the Canadian Association of Gift Planners’ Standards of Professional & Ethical Practice, the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Code of Ethical Principles and Standards of Ethical Practice, the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy’s Statements of Professional Standards and Conduct; (See Appendix); and
5. we recognize that donors and potential donors have a right to be informed of the exact nature of the employment or contractual relationship we have with our fundraisers and respond promptly and honestly to all inquiries in this regard.

J. Conflicts of Interest
Our by-laws include a written conflict of interest statement and we address actual or perceived conflicts of interest in the following manner:

1. we define a conflict of interest for our fundraisers and advise all fundraisers that they must act in the best interests of our organization rather than in furtherance of their personal interests or the interests of third parties;
2. we instruct all fundraisers to avoid situations where their personal interest conflicts or appears to conflict with their duties within our organization;
3. we instruct all fundraisers to evaluate their conduct in light of the impact on our organization;
4. we require our fundraisers to disclose both actual and apparent conflicts of interest;
5. our conflict-of-interest disclosure procedures are clearly articulated and we believe well understood by all staff and Directors;
6. our staff and Directors recognize that the duty to disclose even an “apparent” conflict of interest, requires a consideration of public perception when evaluating whether a conflict of interest is present;
7. we are mindful of our fiduciary duty to ensure the disclosure of any conflict of interest that would be of material interest or relevance to a donor or which may influence a donor’s decision to give; and
8. where a donor elects to make a gift in spite of the presence of a conflict of interest, we encourage that the donor obtain independent legal advice regarding his or her gift.

K. Fundraiser Compensation
Our Foundation observes the following compensation practices:

1. fundraisers are compensated on the basis of their experience, expertise and the time requirements of the position;
2. where a fundraiser’s performance exceeds job expectations and additional compensation is merited, eligibility for and calculation of the amount of compensation to be paid is not based on a percentage of income (e.g., in the form of donations, gifts, grants and similar funds) received by our organization as a result of the fundraiser’s efforts; and
3. we undertake the institutional planning, board development and volunteer recruitment necessary to make our fundraising program successful over time.

Conclusion
All fundraising programs undertaken by our Foundation are reviewed by the Board of Directors to ensure that they are consistent with our Vision and Mission statements, and that they comply with this Ethical Fundraising Practices Policy.

Approved by the Board of Directors: November 6, 2002


Your Name is Safe, Private and Secure With St. Mary's.
St. Mary's General Hospital Foundation could not fulfill its mission without your support and trust. In return, it is our policy not to sell, share or rent our donor list to anyone. We value our relationship with you and we promise to keep your personal information safe, private and secure.

The SMGHF commits to operating in as ethical a manner as possible in the interests of our donors and patients served by our Hospital.

St. Mary's General Hospital Foundation recognizes its obligation to respect privacy and is committed to maintaining the confidentiality of our donors and website visitors. All personal data provided by our website visitors and donors is secure information. In order to prevent unauthorized access and ensure proper use of information, we have developed electronic and managerial procedures to secure information provided online.

We do not lend, exchange, rent or sell our donor lists to other organizations.

We gather information about visits to our website for statistical analysis. The personal information you provide when making an online donation is not recorded in this tracking system nor will your personal information be linked to the tracking data. Information collected will be used to improve the content of the website and will not be shared for commercial purposes. From time to time we share news about the hospital by mail and email. This may include our Annual Report, e-newsletter and letters concerning the hospital’s needs. If you do not wish to receive this information please let us know by sending an email message to foundation@smgh.ca.

If you have supplied your telephone number online, you may receive telephone contact from us if you have requested further information.