Benevolence

It is recommended that each church establish a “Benevolence Fund” or “Good Samaritan Fund” to support those who are poor or needy. This fund is not to be established exclusively for members because that would give the members a benefit for their membership. This assistance must be established as an outreach and available to the community as a whole.

Members of the congregation should be encouraged to give regularly to this fund and when a benevolent situation occurs that requires support they can make the need known directly to the church. The church is then at the liberty to determine the appropriateness and the amount that is to be given without consideration of the person giving the gift.

Benevolence given to an individual as a one-time gift for the following expenses do not require any further reporting to CRA by the church (this is a general list and may not cover all areas of support the church provides):

Medical expenses
Child care expenses
Funeral expenses
Legal expenses
Job training or counseling expenses
A series of payments in the year that together do not exceed $500
Payments that are not part of a series

Where benevolence to an individual exceeds $500 or is made in a continuous systematic way it is considered to be “social assistance” for the purposes of the ITA. In this situation, the church must issue a T5007 to the recipient.