Charity eligibility framework

Every charity on Givium passes the same review before a single dollar reaches them — and stays under review after. Here's exactly what we check.

• A registered charity in good standing with the CRA.
• Genuinely local — run by people in the community it serves, not just headquartered there. For national organizations with local chapters, we fund the local chapter directly, not the head office.
• Efficient — we check how much goes to administration, fundraising, and re-granting to other organizations, against clear limits, so overhead never crowds out direct service.
• Direct service — every contribution funds a specific program, not a capital project, an endowment, or general operating costs. That's what lets you see exactly where it went.

• Religious activity — a program tied to worship or religious instruction, even at a faith-affiliated charity. A genuinely open-to-all service at a faith-based organization — a food bank, a shelter — still qualifies.
• Charities built around a specific illness or condition — cancer, diabetes, MS, dementia and the like. These already have dedicated national charities built for exactly this, including for local patient support. We make an exception where the need is lifelong rather than a course of treatment: mental health, autism, developmental and physical disabilities, and HIV.
• Hospital foundations — they run sophisticated fundraising operations of their own. We focus on smaller local charities that don't.
• Long-term care and nursing homes — capital-intensive, regulated institutions, not a program with a traceable outcome.
• Advocacy-only organizations — we fund direct service, not lobbying.
• Political parties, candidates, and campaign activity — Givium doesn't fund political parties, candidates, campaigns, or any charity involved in partisan political activity, even where that charity also runs other community programs.
• Umbrella re-granting bodies — we want you to see exactly which program your contribution reached, not an organization that redistributes it further.
• Personal fundraising for one individual or family — Givium funds charity programs, not personal campaigns.
• Civic promotion — downtown beautification, banners and safety campaigns aimed at a district's image rather than at people, read as promotion rather than a direct service someone actually receives. Neighbourhood programs that serve identifiable residents — a community garden, a neighbourhood centre, a seniors' visiting program — do qualify.
• Services people normally pay for — where a charity delivers something most people buy in the market, and there's no subsidy or free alternative, a contribution is subsidising a purchase rather than funding charitable service.
• Clinical treatment — diagnosis, assessment and treatment delivered by regulated health professionals is the healthcare system's role. We fund what sits around it: getting to appointments, interpretation, navigation, home support, and family programs.
• Statutory and court-ordered services — where a government body is legally required to provide the service, or people attend under court order, the funding responsibility is the state's.

Charities are reviewed on an ongoing basis. If a program's focus shifts or no longer meets the standard, it's removed; new charities meeting the standard are added.