13 March, 2023
Throughout its 100-year history, the Royal Canadian Legion has asked Canadians to donate to its Poppy Fund to “directly support Veterans and their families within their community and to help ensure Canadians ‘never forget’”. Legion branches are encouraged to inform the public of the results of the annual campaign and how funds are disbursed. Prior to donating, the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada recommends that potential donors: (1) determine whether a charity is registered with the Canada Revenue Agency, (2) find their financial statements, (3) review the “cents to cause” percentage, and (4) explore the charity’s results. Using information available through the internet, this article applies the four criteria to the Poppy Campaign and Poppy Funds.
Of over 1,300 Legion branches, 21 per cent and five of ten provincial commands have registered their Poppy Fund as charities with the CRA; for these funds, potential donors can find financial statements and determine a “cents to cause” percentage. Little information is available for the over 1,000 non-registered Poppy Funds despite Legion policies encouraging informing the public of results. Two-thirds of Legion branches have an internet presence with two per cent posting detailed Poppy Campaign results. Potential donors would learn that the “cents to cause” percentage is 61 per cent of revenue and the Legion’s broad definition of eligible recipients includes non-Canadian non-resident veterans and community activities which do not directly support veterans.
Author
John G Milne, MSM, CD, BSc, MA
Retiring in 2018, John is a veteran of over 37 years in the Canadian Army, split between in the Regular and the Reserve Forces. In his 20-year civilian career, he worked in engineering, project management, and executive management positions. As a Reservist, he most recently served as the Director General of Reserves and Cadets, the DND and CAF Defence Renewal Lead, and in Veterans Affairs Canada. He has a BSc (Honours) in Mathematics and Physics and a MA in Security and Defence Management and Policy.