Grant and Funding Programs Offered by Canadian Online Giving Foundation / Fondation canadienne de dons en ligne (COGF)

The Canadian Online Giving Foundation (COGF) is a private foundation and registered Canadian charity created in 2006 to facilitate online philanthropy. Operating as a donor advised fund, the foundation sits between donors and the ultimate recipient organizations, receiving contributions and then disbursing them as grants to a wide range of eligible charities and other Canada Revenue Agency–defined qualified donees.

COGF leverages an online micro-donation platform provided by Benevity, Inc. to make charitable giving accessible to a broad demographic of individual and corporate donors. Through this infrastructure, donors can support any of more than 84,000 charities registered with the Canada Revenue Agency and consolidate their giving into a single tax receipt, even when directing funds to multiple organizations.

As a registered foundation, COGF can issue official tax receipts for contributions it receives and then make gifts to CRA-recognized qualified donees. These include registered Canadian charities, registered Canadian amateur athletic associations, national arts service organizations, housing corporations resident in Canada, municipalities, municipal or public bodies performing a function of government, certain prescribed universities outside Canada, designated international charitable organizations, and Canadian federal or provincial governments and their agents.

The donor advised fund structure separates the tax event from the disbursement event, allowing donors to receive immediate tax recognition while recommending grants to recipient organizations at a later time. By using cost-effective tools and maintaining low administrative overhead, the foundation aims to maximize the proportion of donations that flow out as disbursements to eligible charities. This approach supports a wide spectrum of social, educational, cultural, health, and community causes served by the qualified donees it funds.

COGF’s model allows charities to outsource portions of their online fundraising, administration, and tax receipting to the foundation. This can help reduce non-programmatic costs for recipient organizations and enhance the effectiveness of their own missions while benefiting from streamlined, technology-enabled giving channels.