Charitable Tax Receipting Program

National Sport Trust FundThe Ontario Curling Council and its members Curl ON (Ontario Curling Association) and the Northern Ontario Curling Association (NOCA) endorse the use of the National Sport Trust Fund – Ontario as a revenue generating program for member clubs for which a charitable tax receipt can be provided for qualifying donations.  

About the Program

The National Sport Trust Fund (NSTF) is a philanthropic gift-giving program established through the Canadian Council of Provincial and Territorial Sport Federations (CCP&TSF) for the development of amateur sport on a national level. The CCP&TSF is a Registered Canadian Amateur Athletic Association (RCAAA) with the Canada Revenue Agency.

ONTARIO SPORT NETWORK (OSN) a member of the CCP&TSF has been authorized to act as the Ontario Branch of the NSTF and is the provincial fund manager for all donations made to amateur sport in Ontario which operates as the National Sport Trust Fund-Ontario (NSTF-Ontario)

Through the operation of this program NSTF-Ontario is able to issue official tax receipts for all qualifying donations.   This initiative permits Provincial Sport Organizations/Multi Sport Organizations (PSO/MSO’s) and their members to establish revenue generation programs for which a charitable tax receipt can be provided for qualifying donations.  Donations will be made to the NSTF-Ontario and then made available to the individual organizations on a quarterly basis.

Affiliated/member curling clubs of either CurlON (Ontario Curling Association) or the Northern Ontario Curling Association (NOCA) are member clubs of the Ontario Curling Council, recognized Provincial Sport Organization, for curling in Ontario.  The Ontario Curling Council is a member of ONTARIO SPORT NETWORK, therefore member curling clubs may benefit from this program.

In order to participate in the NSTF-Ontario, Sport Organizations must adhere to specific guidelines and procedures. See attached.

Fundraising

If your club or organization has specific fundraising projects, you can apply to the National Sport Trust Fund–Ontario.

Gifts (donations of a gift) may also be eligible for a tax receipt.

You can raise funds through collection of donations at your own pace or through an event – like Bonspiels, Golf Tournaments, Charity Dinners, etc.   Clubs must follow the instructions contained within guidelines and procedures manual. 

Fundraising for a project CAN NOT happen until the project has been approved.

Anyone seeking insight or clarification on various terminology (ie the term “advantage”) can visit the following CRA site.

NSTF Links and Forms (click this title)

  • Fundraising Project Application Form
  • Donation Forms
  • Gift in Kind Form
  • Grant Request Form
  • Project Report Form
 

To qualify your Club must: 

  • Be a current registered member of the Ontario Curling Council (Clubs are members of the Ontario Curling Council when they are members of Curl ON (Ontario Curling Association) or the Northern Ontario Curling Association
  • Approval by motion by your Club’s Board of Directors to participate in the National Sport Trust Fund. Sample Motion
  • Establish a ’cause’ and ‘annual program goals.

Projects like infrastructure improvement, support to programming, and acquisition of new equipment are all examples of projects that are already being funded through the NSTF-Ontario.  Your application will be reviewed by a NSTF-Ontario Selection Committee 

NEW – Help offset Covid-19 related lost revenues/increase expenses – Clubs can set up “Sustainability” Projects.  See the current list of clubs raising funds for tips on wording of projects, etc…

Remember – you cannot make donation mandatory, you cannot dictate the amount of money a donor must donate and you cannot raise money towards your project before the project is approved.

How the Program Works:

  • Eligible Clubs complete the NSTF-Ontario – Fundraising Project Application Form and pay a $50.00 application fee to NSTF-Ontario.
  • NSTF-Ontario activities:
    • Project is reviewed by a NSTF-Ontario Selection Committee.
    • Project and club are endorsed by the Ontario Curling Council
    • Project is assigned a project number and project is added to list of approved projects by the NSTF–Ontario.
  • Clubs can actively fund raise – donations made online – Donors specify the project number they wish their donation to be directed towards. Donors receive a tax receipt immediately (or upon receipt of their cheque).
  • When a donation is received – Designated Fund Manager at the club receives notification.
  • Club receives Quarterly Summaries of donations received. A club can then request the payout (See Accessing Funds below) of their donations after the quarterly summary has been generated.  Note:  Additional report fees may be charged if a club asks for reports in excess of the four quarterly reports provided by NSTF-Ontario.

Program Fees  (NSTF-Ontario Fee Schedule)

  • NSTF-Ontario fees are $2.00 per tax receipt plus a 4% commission on all donations.

(ex. $100 donation –  ($4.00 commission & $2.00 for tax receipt) = $94.00 directed towards your project)

  • Application fee of $50.00 per project.
  • For project extensions from 1 year to the next, a Renewal fee of $25 per project.
  • Duplicate receipt: $2.00 per receipt.
  • Downloading of database -No charge for a one-time downloading of donor information for a completed project.
  • Charges are applicable for additional downloading requests at $25.00 per request.

 

Accessing Funds

Funds are available anytime one applies for them.*

*this is only based on the most recent quarterly reports that have been run and distributed back to the stated project.

The funds available to you at any given time are those that have been reported to you through quarterly reports. As the FA – Fund Administrator you are required to keep track of your projects funds raised per quarter. Best practices suggest creating a spreadsheet to track quarterly funds raised, less funds requested through interim funds requests and or final grant report requests, so that you can see a running total at any given time for what’s available to you. Quarterly reports are distributed within 15 days of any given quarter ending. If you don’t receive a quarterly report from a given period you had ZERO funds raised in that timeframe. You will then receive a blanket email communicating such.

When requests for funds/even partial funds are made and NO receipts are available at that point in time, the group/project in question can still access funds but must report back within 3 months of the date they applied for funds with the accounting and receipts required as back-up.

You can request your funds using the Grant Request Form and Project Report Form. Project Forms must be signed by the PSO!  (Send forms to Jennifer Ferris at jennifer@ontcurl.com)

Questions about the National Sport Trust Fund – Ontario should be directed to: 

For further information, please contact Bianca Bohn, NSTF-Ontario Fund Manager

(888) 580-3666  or email at:  nstfontario@gmail.com

            

Hear what clubs are saying about the National Sport Trust Fund!

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Our project was to raise money through the sale of personalized rock handles. It provided improved equipment for the club and a chance for members and sponsors to put their name or other recognition on a rock for years to come. 
 
The process of using NSTF was clear and well documented. Their guidelines are on their website and they have templates to use for applying and for providing project reports and fund requests. 
 
The benefits of using NSTF are primarily the offer of a tax receipt for each donation.  However, the handling of money was made much easier with credit card processing. We felt the fees for someone else to handle most of the administration were very reasonable.
 
We achieved our fundraising goals for this project and NSTF was an important partner in making it happen. We would work with them again.
 
Granite Club – Waterloo
October 2019
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The NSTF-Ontario was an excellent organization to work with, and their fundraising / grant program enabled the Elmira Curling Club to raise a significant portion of the cost of replacing our aging curling stones.
 
Applying to participate in the program was easy, with a well documented process. Once our application was approved, the Donation website was quickly created by the NSTF staff, and our members were able to start using it immediately. As the administrator of our Club’s program, I was kept up-to-date with all donation activity that occurred on the website, allowing me to thank each donor by e-mail. 
 
The tax receipts that the donors received increased the popularity of our fundraising efforts, and we exceeded our goal in short order.
 
Any club looking to raise money for capital improvements should definitely look into the NSTF.
 
Elmira Curling Club
October 2019
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NSTF-Ontario’s administration of the program has been absolutely top-notch. We receive notification of every donation as it’s received. NSTF-Ontario’s automated donation systems, communications processes and quarterly accounting reports allow the club to track our fundraising progress and report it weekly to members via our club web-site. The benefits to the club have been obvious: donations have allowed us to largely offset the purchase of a capital asset without depleting the club’s capital fund. If we succeed in raising the remaining $3525 in the next 12 weeks, we’ll have completely offset the cost of the Ice Mistress System (which is itself designed to generate annual savings in electricity costs). There’s also a benefit to donors. Although only a percentage of club members have a ‘charitable impulse’, those donors are able to express their appreciation of the club with meaningful support that they know makes a difference in ensuring the club’s long-term sustainability. 
 
Carleton Heights Curling Club
October 2019
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The Sutton Curling Club used the National Sports Trust Fund for raising money for some of their renovations to the club. The members found it very easy to use when making a donation and receiving a tax receipt. Chris (Fund Manager) was always very helpful when answering any inquiries about the status of the Trust. It is a good way to have your funding set aside from your regular banking accounts. A great way to save for a project.
 
Sutton Curling Club
October 2019
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The Barrie Curling Club was in a position where it required a new ice pad and other infrastructure needs – with priority on the ice pad as we discovered a brine leak in the fall of 2018.  We registered with the National Sports Trust Fund – Ontario with no difficulty and asked members to contribute to the fund. At the same time we held open houses to let everyone know the status of the club, the option of methods to replace the ice pad; and the potential to closing operations as the floor could not be used the following year without replacement (2018/2019 was possible through mitigation measures that minimized/stopped the leak).  Club members contributed to the NSTF because it allowed them to receive a tax credit; and the club raised over $100K including $80K through the NSTF; and the Meridian Credit Union lent the BCC the remaining funds to construct a new ice pad.  The end result:  a new floor for the BCC that was constructed with volunteers; and a new season of curling started in the fall of 2019.

 

Without the NSTF, the BCC may not have raised the funds to allow it to operate. We are most thankful to CurlON who recommended the site; the OCC who assisted the BCC in the process; the NSTF who facilitated applications and payments; and our members who generously contributed to the endeavour. It was amazing to go from discovering a leak to completion of renovations within 11 months – in part due to the NSTF.

Barrie Curling Club

November 2019

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This program is fully endorsed by: