How to use CRA gift records for foundation grant research

Start with the reported gifts

Our research uses the CRA’s 2023 List of charities and 2024 List of charities: the Qualified donees and Identification files. They describe charities and gifts reported for fiscal years ending in those years. They are not a live directory of open grants.

Historical gift matching uses these CRA files. We check current rules and public contacts against official funder websites and use other cited sources where relevant. Each report identifies the sources actually used and their check dates. Provincial and independent information, when used, remains subject to its own applicable licence or reuse terms; the federal licence attribution does not cover every source.

We use recipient charity numbers to connect reported gifts to recipient categories and provinces. A missing or unusable number limits matching. The registered address is a geographic clue, not proof of the area served.

Build a research queue, then screen it

1. Define the brief. Cause, project, place, amount and timing matter. “Food security” alone does not tell us whether the request is for groceries, equipment or youth programming.
2. Find comparable recipients. Use official activity sources to identify comparable recipients for the actual project. Broad CRA categories and addresses are discovery clues, not proof of matching activities or service geography. Check recipient names against charity numbers and hold conflicting records.
3. Remove misleading matches. Screen pass-through platforms, intermediaries, employee-giving funds, single-charity foundations and existing funders. Hold uncertain geographic matches for review.
4. Check current access. For five candidates, consult official funder sources for project, geography, applicant rules, costs, timing and access. Include public contact routes taken from official funder pages, with the date checked, where published and label unknowns. Separate open-and-eligible opportunities, enquiries, closed routes and mismatches.
5. Choose the next action. Apply where verified fit supports it; investigate an unresolved question; skip a known mismatch.

See the fictional funding research sample for five current-rule reviews, a calendar and practical next steps. It contains no real charity gift records; actual reports keep historical evidence separate from current access and eligibility.

What you are paying for

The underlying CRA files are free. The $79 Foundation Research Check pays for five sourced reviews for one project, historical gift evidence, current fit and access checks, public contacts where published and a PDF/XLSX action sheet. Exclusions and unknowns are useful findings, not eligible prospects. It does not buy a minimum number of open grants or funding.

Agree the scope before payment

We confirm your project, location, costs, timing and existing funders. Before payment, you receive counts only: open or dated new-funder routes, enquiries, future possibilities and exclusions. Candidate names and detailed findings are supplied in the paid report. We offer a $79 report only if we can substantiate five reviews and identify at least one open or dated route from a funder that does not already support you. Renewals do not count toward that minimum. Closed, mismatched and unknown candidates are not open opportunities. A dated route may open later; it is not a promise that applications are open now or that you are eligible. You can decline at no cost. Paid reports remain on hold until our report-quality tests pass.

We deliver within three business days after scope confirmation and payment, with one scope correction within seven days. This service is for charities and grant writers outside Québec, not academic research awards or individual grants.

Sources and reuse

Source files are linked above. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada. Independent research service; not affiliated with or endorsed by the Canada Revenue Agency.