Charging for programs

B"H

Q. Is our synagogue allowed to charge fees for programs we offer?

Short Answer: Yes.

Comprehensive Answer: Many Charities in Canada charge fees for programs, and doing so does not make them "not Charitable." A Charity may charge fees as long it maintains the following two Charitable charactaristics:

1. Public Benefit;

2. Altruism.

CRA provides the following guidelines for when it will be allowable for a Charity to charge fees:

  1. Where the fee structure is designed to cover the costs of the program rather than generate a profit;
  2. The fees are set according to a charitable objective rather than a market objective;
  3. The program does not offer services which are comparable to services available elsewhere;
  4. The activity or program is authorized by the Charity's purposes and objects.

Examples of permissible program fees include:

  1. University tuition fees;
  2. museum admission;
  3. rent in low-income housing programs.

 

Berel Goldberg