Business Type:  CHARITY SOLICITING ESTABLISHMENTS

If solicited by phone mail or in person, ask for details about the
solicitation.  What is the name of the sponsoring organization or
publication?  What percentage of receipts go to charity? 
Legitimate groups will be glad to answer or send more information. 
In some cases you can go into the office and see the financial
statement.  Be wary of high pressure or threatening telephone
promoters with hazy charity appeals.  When you give wisely, you
insure that they receive it.  

When a charity first comes to our attention......we contact
Revenue Canada at 1-800-267-2384.  This gives us a registration
#.....
We then contact the Registrar of Companies in BC.  Charities must
be registered.
Next we contact the local charity if there is one on the island. 
We ask if they do the fund raising or if they have professional
fund raisers.  We ask for a financial statement.  We then proceed
to make our Read Out with all the information that we find....If a
company refuses to furnish us with a financial statement, this is
put in our records.

For further information about individual companies, please call
the Better Business Bureau at 386-6348 (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) or 
Fax 386-2367.