The Baltimore-based foundation, which traditionally gives more money to Jewish causes than any other foundation does, will also start accepting letters of inquiry on Aug. 3 from grant seekers who were not previously receiving money from the foundation.

This ends a period dating back to last November when the foundation said that it would not accept any new letters of inquiry.

But the foundation’s giving is still down, according to its president, Rachel Monroe.

Last year, Weinberg gave out $106 million. Over the next two years it will average $100 million. If the foundation had stayed on the growth pace it set before the recession, its assets would have been worth $2.5 billion and it would have given out $125 million in 2009.

Over the next two years it will have only $21 million available for new grantees. The other $179 million is designated for pre-existing multi-year grants.

The foundation said that it would honor all pre-existing grants.

“The cut is really related to shrinkage in the asset base due to the overall asset value,” Monroe told The Fundermentalist in an e-mail Tuesday. “That said, we are only down 25%, versus many other foundations which unfortunately are closer to 40% down. How did we do this? 40% of the Foundation’s asset base is diversified with active real estate holdings in the State of Hawaii.”

http://blogs.jta.org/philanthropy/article/2009/07/15/1006567/weinberg-foundation-to-give-out-100-million-each-of-the-next-two-years

brought by Moishe Alexander, CFC canadian funding corp CEO

In our previous piece for eJewishPhilanthropy, we described a few notable trends emerging from the 2008 report of Giving USA, the highly respected and often-cited annual report outlining last year’s results for charitable giving. The study captured headlines across the country but few reporters focused on the one noticeable sector where we saw continued annual growth in overall donations: RELIGION. Giving to religion increased in 2008, and continues to constitute the largest sector of the “giving pie” in the U.S. philanthropic community. This finding has been consistent for more than a generation.

But to what can we attribute this increase in giving to religion in 2008 at a time when the arts, social services and education sectors experienced downturns? What makes religious giving seemingly “recession proof?”

Here are facts that frame the response:

* Religious donations increased in 2008 at a time when most other charitable contributions were lagging from 2007.
* Nearly 3 percent of all Americans tithe, meaning that they direct at least ten percent of their gross income to charity. But, generally, Americans who tithe do not support non-profit causes other than religion.
* There are 350,000 religious organizations (synagogues, churches, and mosques) in the United States, including about 3,000 synagogues. During times of downturn, faith related institutions are not just places for spiritual renewal and support but are also connections to financial and other assistance services for those requiring emergency help. Communities and donors understand this, and are often compelled and motivated to pitch in, financially and otherwise.
* Historically, Americans giving to religion stays stable or sees minimal impact whenever there are downturns in the economy!

We, at EHL Consulting, work closely with synagogues of all sizes and denominations so we understand that these numbers alone only tell a small part of the story and might not accurately reflect the reality of Jewish support for synagogues. We know that the Jewish philanthropic arena is an eclectic mix of vibrant organizations with diverse missions and agendas. But one thing is predictable: as Jews weather economic pressures, they continue to turn to their houses of worship . . . just as non-Jews do as well. But as the economy improves, will they - as donors - stay or will they leave?

The challenge to clergy, other synagogue professionals, and volunteer leadership is to continue to offer opportunities for impactful involvement and financial support. American congregations are positioning themselves differently in this competitive philanthropic market. We are seeing some mid-sized and larger congregations hiring development professionals and other marketing specialists. If managed correctly, these investments will return value quickly with expanded options for giving and improved professional approaches to securing charitable gifts. Even Planned Giving - a fundraising approach generally exclusive to arts, educational, and health care institutions - has found its way into synagogue fundraising vocabularies.

While 35 cents of every philanthropic dollar in 2008 was directed to faith-based institutions, other sectors are preparing to rebound. And just like everything else related to this recession, many of the “old rules” may no longer apply going forward. Therefore, now is the time for synagogues of all sizes to strengthen their fundraising capabilities and approaches to continue to secure market share. They can do that by using their limited resources wisely and investing in the tools and human assets, volunteer and professional, which will enable them to sustain and grow.

In a world where we can no longer make any assumptions, synagogues must be proactive to ensure their rightful place in the hearts and minds of donors in the months and years to come.

Robert I. Evans, Managing Director, and Avrum D. Lapin, Director, are principals of The EHL Consulting Group, of suburban Philadelphia, and are frequent contributors to ejewishphilanthropy.com. EHL Consulting is a proud member of the Giving Institute and an underwriter of Giving USA. The institute is a leader in tracking data and following trends in the non-profit sector. EHL Consulting works with dozens of non-profits across the globe on fundraising, strategic planning, and non-profit business practices. Become a fan of The EHL Consulting Group on Facebook.

http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/when-times-are-tough-people-support-houses-of-worshipeven-jews/

reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC canadian funding corp CEO

These immigrants come from personal choice, not as persecuted refugees seeking asylum - as has been the case with many who have come here since the early days of Zionism and since the founding of the state. They bring with them an abundance of skills, knowledge and creative resources - three-quarters of them hold academic degrees - which will contribute to the well-being of the collective and soon provide benefits outstripping all the costs involved in their absorption.

They also remind us of a similar reserve that would add vitality and strength to our society and state: the tens of thousands of Jewish academics - many of whom are Israeli-born and outstanding graduates of Israeli universities - scattered throughout the world.

Their immigration or return home depends, in fact, on one question alone: Will employment to match their professional training and intellectual curiosity be found for them here? Such work would serve as an anchor for building their lives within our midst, with assured mutual benefits.

Ostensibly, this question can be disregarded - not solved - by dismissing those pampered young people as “conditional” Israelis. We could say to them something along the lines of: Don’t do us any favors, we’ll manage without you. Yet in reality what’s at stake is not their whims, but a pressing national need. The State of Israel needs a serious reinforcement of academic personnel. Without such reinforcement, we will find it very difficult to maintain our place in the “First World” of developed countries, whether in the basic existential sense, the economic sense and in all aspects related to quality of life.

That reinforcement is need in various financial institutions, including those whose luster has been dimmed temporarily by the global economic crisis. It also is clearly needed by the academic world, by institutions of research and higher education, which are from many standpoints the breeding ground of progress and culture.

IN RECENT YEARS, the higher education system has suffered a long line of cutbacks by the state budget. The economic crisis has lowered the scope of donations which had been just barely keeping the system head above water. The results are clearly noticeable. For example, while the state’s population has doubled since 1973, the number of university positions has dropped by 20 percent. Conversely, by 2019, 2,500 senior lecturers and teachers will retire, and little time remains to absorb their replacements. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that under these conditions, the academic world is unable to serve as the engine that propels Israeli society forward. At times, one fears that it may be derailed altogether.

To handle this predicament we must imitate the heartening aliya campaign of Nefesh B’Nefesh. Our academic world urgently needs the ongoing absorption of new forces on an annual scale of hundreds of people.

Such an effort has a clear price tag. Adding one academic position requires an investment ranging between $500,000-$1 million, mainly to ensure the position recipient’s ability to work. Such an effort requires a long-term plan, at least a five-year plan, as opposed to the usual Israeli tactics of improvisation and cutting corners. Such an effort requires close cooperation and real self-examination by all stakeholders - the government, research universities and all branches of industry.

Such an effort is not simple, but it is possible. Moreover, it is a national exigency.

The writer is president of Bar-Ilan University.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443756948&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

posted here by Moishe Alexander, CFC canadian funding corp CEO

Earlier this month the Jewish Agency announced that after Monday, when the current session ends, Ulpan Etzion will move to Beit Canada, a larger property in the close but less attractive area of Armon Hanatziv, or East Talpiot, to save expenses.

The next session begins January 15 at Beit Canada. The official stressed that Etzion will maintain its format in the new location, offering on- and off-campus students a five-month absorption program.
Advertisement
After the announcement, students and alumni began trying to raise funds to keep the program in Baka, an area popular with Western immigrants.

Deputy Knesset Speaker MK Colette Avital (Labor), a member of the Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Committee, told Anglo File Wednesday that while the most important thing about Ulpan Etzion is the program itself, “if new immigrants think they need to be in a place where they can best integrate into Israeli society, every effort should be made to prevent [it] from being moved.” Avital said she would call Jewish Agency Chairman Zeev Bielski to discuss ways to keep the ulpan in Baka.

“If we receive new donations, we will calculate the costs and if we can continue Ulpan Etzion and Beit Canada at the same time I will be more than happy to do it,” the director-general of the agency’s department of immigration and absorption, Eli Cohen, said. Both agency officials and activists, however, thought it was unlikely that the necessary sum of about $1 million could be raised before January 15.

“Some of us spoke with our communities in our countries of origin,” said Ariel Kogan, an Argentinean-born alumnus. “Some contacts were made with people who can donate significant amounts,” he said.

Cohen said he appreciates the activism and is himself searching for funding. Nevertheless, he said the move was unavoidable and would actually benefit immigrants in the long run. About two years ago the campus was forced to contract after the buildings’ owners decided not to renew the agency’s lease for some of the facilities. In a telephone interview from Chicago, Cohen said that cut on-campus housing from about 160 beds to 79, while Beit Canada has dorm space for 250 students.

Established in 1949, Ulpan Etzion is Israel’s oldest ulpan. All of its students are Jewish, single, college graduates between 21 and 35. Their shared experiences have resulted in countless long-term friendships and several marriages.

Ex-Londoner Louise (nee Angel) Szczerb, 28, and her husband Wolf, 25, a Rio de Janeiro native, met at Ulpan Etzion. Wolf almost didn’t get there due to a bureaucratic glitch, and ended up starting the January 2007 semester one month late.

“We met on his first day,” Louise recalled this week. “He lived on campus and I lived off-campus, and we weren’t in the same class, but we met and have been together ever since,” she said. They were married two months ago in Jerusalem and live in Modi’in. “That is just one of the reasons why Ulpan Etzion is so special, because it brings people together from all around the world,” Louise said.

“I was looking forward to seeing all of the new people coming in - now it’s going to be completely abandoned and depressing here,” said Mimi Borowich, 26, who came from New York in July for the current term. She said she heard about the move right after renting an apartment next to the Baka campus.

Borowich wrote letters to the Jewish Agency, joined the fund raising campaign and also contacted Jerusalem’s new Mayor, Nir Barkat, who has promised to make the capital attractive to young people again.

http://192.118.73.5/hasen/pages/ShArtStEngPE.jhtml?itemNo=1046092&contrassID=2&subContrassID=16&title=%27Students%20and%20alums%20fight%20to%20keep%20Ulpan%20Etzion%20in%20Baka%20%27&dyn_server=172.20.5.5

reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

By Giuseppe Valiante, National Post

York University teachers should be prohibited from expressing personal political views unrelated to the course they are teaching, according to a
report from a commission of Toronto-area Jewish groups on improving campus life for Jewish students.

The commission, composed of the United Jewish Appeal Federation of Greater Toronto, Hillel of Greater Toronto, Hasbara at York and the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy, compiled hundreds of submissions from students, faculty and Jewish community members after recent events at York “have left many members of our community shocked and shaken,” the report cited.

The final report cites episodes of “intimidation, harassment, ridicule and virulent anti-Israel sentiment” on the York campus over the past year.

Howard English, the UJA of Greater Toronto’s vice-president for communications, said the incidents have prompted Jewish donors to York to express concern to the administration. He added there is a history of anti-Israel expression at York.

“We’re talking about off-hand comments, or scurrilous comments … unwarranted or unjustified political personal opinion that is not based on fact or is unrelated to the course that an instructor is teaching,” said Mr. English.

“We had one case of a [teaching assistant] who told a student who was wearing a Israel Defence Forces T-shirt to never come into his class again with that T-shirt on,” said Mr. English.

The report asks York to establish a confidential hotline for students to report “abuse of the podium” incidents. It also recommends that York implement several other measures, including providing school security forces with “enhanced training in order to deal more effectively with disruptive events and individuals” and to “rigorously define the academic standards expected of all university-sponsored conferences.”

The report also recommends the university should no longer allow Vari Hall, a central meeting place for students, to be booked for political pusposes, for the universitiy to “increase the severity of sanctions for those who repeatedly violate the Code of Conduct,” and “empower York Security to issue reprimands … that would remain on a student’s academic transcript for a period of not less than two years.”

This list of recommendations was delivered to the York University Task Force on Student Life, Learning and Community, which was created in March by university president Mamdouh Shoukri to improve the atmosphere on campus.

Patrick Monahan, the dean of Osgoode Hall Law School and chair of the task force, was not available for comment yesterday. And the York University Faculty Association did not return calls as of press time.

It’s been a tough 50th anniversary for York University. Three of its unions went on strike for months last fall, delaying classes and final exams, the university’s endowment is down by 18% and recent reports cite that 7% fewer Ontario high-school students accepted a full-time, first year spot at York than last year.

Mr. English said York might feel a financial strain if Jewish students continue to feel intimidated.

“Well, we know that many Jewish donors to the university are very concerned … many Jewish donors have spoken in the most honest terms, in the most candid terms with [Mr. Shoukri] and other administration officials,” he said.

Mr. English said that he is not aware of a “mass withdrawl” of donations at this point, but said “the longer an atmosphere exists at York which is considered by many Jewish students to be intimidating or hostile, the greater the risk of donors withdrawing funds.”

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/toronto/archive/2009/06/16/report-calls-for-york-profs-to-keep-political-opinions-to-themselves.aspx

The Jewish community of Toronto can trace its roots back to the 1800s. As the Jews of Eastern Europe, living under oppression and persecution, fled their towns and villages, many arrived in Toronto seeking freedom and a brighter future.

Regardless of which shtetl the new Torontonians came from and any hardships they faced, they all shared one common vision: a city that could sustain a growing population and fulfill their need to live vibrant Jewish lives.

In 1917, Toronto’s first Jewish federation — the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies — was incorporated, replacing the unorganized collection of individual Jewish charities, each knocking on doors and raising funds for their own causes. The Federation’s primary responsibility was fundraising for what was to become United Jewish Appeal.

As Toronto’s Jews became an increasingly organized, unified force, so too did their dreams. Understanding that the Jewish community would continue to grow due to the waves of immigration flooding into Toronto, their dreams turned to building a city where Jews could flourish and succeed.

In 1930 the YMHA (Young Men’s Hebrew Association)was born, offering members various programming opportunities in rented rooms in the Brunswick Avenue and College Street area. By 1953 a new facility was built — the Bloor Street “Y” at Bloor and Spadina — today the Miles Nadal JCC, to house the growing membership of a burgeoning community.

As Jewish life began moving north up the Bathurst Street corridor, so too did the Jewish facilities and services. 1958 saw the groundbreaking of the North “Y,” the current Bathurst Jewish Community Centre.

Building for the

Next Generation

A tradition of one generation building Jewish infrastructure for the next was born. Many of the visionaries who worked tirelessly to ensure that the North “Y” was built, would never use the facility, live near it, or benefit personally from it. Nor would their own children. But these visionaries understood that a strong Jewish identity is fostered in a robust Jewish city, and the way to keep a community thriving is to keep meeting its needs.

UJA Federation’s Tomorrow Campaign is the next logical link in the chain that has connected Toronto’s Jewish community from one generation to the next. It is the Campaign that has worked to revolutionize Jewish Toronto, bringing our community to the forefront of innovation. It is the Campaign that will raise $350 million dollars to continue the tradition of building infrastructure to preserve and enrich Jewish identity and culture. It is the Campaign that will change the landscape of Jewish Toronto forever.
reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO
http://tomorrowcampaign.com/index.php?action=history&camp_id=2

In a letter to the Choson Kallah Fund of Toronto, Terry de March, director general of the CRA’s charities directorate, stated that the organization’s charitable status will be revoked, preventing it from issuing official donation receipts. Choson Kallah is no longer exempt from paying tax, unless it qualifies as a non-profit organization, and it may be taxed on its remaining assets, CRA stated.

“It remains our view that the charity has willingly lent its name and tax-receipting privileges to the tax shelter in exchange for monetary compensation. In our view, the charity has participated in a program designed to abuse the charitable gifts incentive provisions of the Income Tax Act,” stated a CRA document outlining the reasons behind the revocation.

“Between 2004 and 2005, the charity issued receipts in excess of $177 million, or 90 per cent of the charity’s total income, for donations of pharmaceuticals earmarked for international programs… In 2006 alone… the charity issued receipts totalling over $131 million,” far above the charity’s previous average of between $4 million to $6 million per year, the CRA said.

In receiving the pharmaceuticals and issuing tax receipts “the charity was merely operating as the receipting agent in this arrangement – issuing receipts for property it did not see, need or want and passing this property to a third-party organization,”the CRA said.

In exchange, Choson Kallah received a little more than one per cent of the value receipted, from which it paid a fee to an administrator, the letter stated. The charity did not attempt to independently verify the values of the donations for which it issued receipts, the agency said.

The CRA noted the charity netted only .05 per cent of the value of the donation receipts after expenses, and it failed to maintain the documentation necessary to prove recipients of allocated funds met the definition of charity required by law. Some recipients were not suffering poverty, but received money for wedding assistance, fertility treatments and to pay private debts.

Rabbi Eli Gross, president of Choson Kallah Fund, said the decision will be appealed.

“Right now, I don’t think I will be able to continue our good works,” Rabbi Gross is quoted as telling the Toronto Star. “I don’t know the mechanics of the tax fund, the legality of it or how it works.”

He told the Star that Choson Kallah has been operating for more than 20 years. It started as a small operation that helped people get married, but grew to provide $4 million in poverty relief, mostly to Israel.

Choson Kallah did not return calls from The CJN.

The CRA stated it is “reviewing all tax shelter-related donation arrangements (for example, schemes that typically promise donors tax receipts worth more than the actual amount of the donation)” and it “plans to audit every participating charity, promoter and investor.”

In the past few months, the International Charity Association Network and the Banyan Tree Foundation were stripped of their charitable status. Last week, the CRA stated in a news release it had “revoked the status of the Canadian Amateur Football Association as a registered Canadian amateur athletic association,” with the power to issue tax receipts for gifts or donations.

reviewed by Moishe ALexnader, CFC CEO

In their editorial entitled “Charity begins with priorities” (April 14), the editors of The Jerusalem Post suggest that the current economic climate requires the “rich” in our community to set aside their “philanthropic dalliances” in favor of funding communal needs determined by “collective decision-making.” That certainly is one way to address the problem the Post describes as “too many organizations… and too much competition for resources” in American Jewish life.

Of course, what may appear to be a “dalliance” to one philanthropist may be a strategic focus of another. Rather than bemoan the breadth and depth of Jewish interests, Jewish expression and Jewish spirituality, those of us who care deeply about the future of the Jewish community should embrace the diversity of our interests and find ways to weave these various strands into a strong and rich tapestry. What is required to make that happen is collective action, not collective decision-making.

In Israel, as in the US and Canada, the newest organizations appearing on the scene, often with significant funding from previously untapped sources, represent a renewed spirit, energy and interest in Jewish life, all of which deserve to be nurtured rather than abandoned.

The key to success during the current economic climate is neither to spurn new ideas nor to continue to allow everyone to make Shabbat for themselves. Rather, we must allow those new ideas to take root in existing organizations while simultaneously encouraging those organizations to work together to eliminate unnecessary duplication and redundancies in the Jewish communal world. The time has come for us to take collective action to make sure that every philanthropic dollar is spent as efficiently and effectively as possible. Cooperation and collaboration are no longer sufficient by themselves; to borrow from Lee Iacocca, every responsible Jewish organization must lead, follow or get out of the way, either by closing their doors entirely or by finding ways to integrate their programs into stronger, more viable entities.

Pursuing such an approach will require all of us - foundations and service providers alike - to make painful choices and decisions. And while no one likes to admit or accept that a project or program to which they have committed time and/or money is failing to meet the mark, the current situation demands that we think anew about all of our activities and seize this opportunity to restructure our organizations and initiatives so they have the greatest chance to succeed in the future. As the world learned from Jack Welch, the legendary CEO and chairman of General Electric, selling or closing businesses in which you are less than No. 1 or No. 2 in the marketplace is a proven way to move from weakness to strength.

Fortunately, both private and public conversations about consolidation are beginning to take place in boardrooms throughout our community. For instance, Rabbi David Ellenson, president of the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, recently sent an open letter to faculty, students, alumni and friends of the HUC explaining the need to seriously consider consolidating its three stateside campuses (Cincinnati, Los Angeles and New York) into a new, more streamlined configuration, while still supporting its Jerusalem campus. Exploration of integrating the type of teacher training programs pioneered at CAJE (Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education) into JESNA (Jewish Education Service of North America) is ongoing, as are discussions between two of the leading organizations for Jewish teens: BBYO and PANIM.

Other, more private deliberations are also proceeding. But probably not enough.

For our community to realize the full benefit of greater collaboration and consolidation, bold action and visionary leadership will be required. And not only among our service providers; our philanthropists must also take a hard look at themselves. While the decision of Warren Buffet to leave his fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the most extreme example of funder collaboration, many other opportunities and vehicles for philanthropic partnerships exist and are deserving of serious consideration. Not only could the growth of funding collaboratives generate greater leverage and increase efficiencies, it would substantially reduce the reliance many organizations place on a single donor and, in turn, help them avoid the fate of groups adversely impacted by the Madoff-related collapse of high-profile and generous foundations such as Chais and Picower.

A shining example of how collective action can help our community is the impressive work of the Foundation for Jewish Camp. Under the able leadership of Jerry Silverman, the FJC is assisting individual camps while advocating for camping as a whole. Camps are improving and their numbers are growing because of the expertise the FJC is bringing to camping as a field. By establishing itself as a “center of excellence,” the FJC has positioned itself to be a critical resource for individual camps.

In partnership with several other foundations, we recently helped to launch a new American organization, Repair the World, in the hope that it will serve similar functions for program providers in the realm of Jewish service. And, in Israel, we hope the Haruv Institute will play a comparable role for organizations engaged in the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect.

Our community has long talked about greater cooperation and collaboration. Now, the time to act has arrived. Consolidation and collective action represent two approaches with the greatest potential to encourage Jewish life to flourish.

Sandy Cardin is president of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation and Schusterman Foundation-Israel.

reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/collective-action-can-make-every-philanthropic-dollar-effective/

The CRA ruling found that Healing and Assistance Not Dependence Canada expended a “proportionally negligible amount” of its income on charitable activities, making it ineligible to grant tax receipts.

The law says a charity must act exclusively for a charitable purpose to give tax receipts.

The charity purports to “encourage and assist and serve alcoholics, chemically dependent persons and their families, friends and associates primarily, but not exclusively within the Jewish community.” It has no website and no listing in the Yellow Pages.

Tax shelters allow people to avoid paying income tax. Tax-free savings accounts and RRSPs are examples of legal tax shelters.

Illegal, so-called aggressive shelters promise inflated tax receipts for nominal donations.

A company might ask you for a donation of $100 and promise you a tax receipt for $1,000. The company might claim your money is buying bulk supplies that,

if purchased individually, would be worth $1,000.

Aggressive tax shelters essentially sell receipts, pocketing the donations and bilking the federal government out of millions.

CRA spokeswoman Caitline Workman said tax receipts can be revoked if the government believes the donor should have realized the return was too good to be true, however, she would not say if the agency would revoke receipts donated to Healing and Assistance Not Dependence Canada.

The CRA audit, which took place between Sept. 1, 2006, and Aug. 31, 2008, showed the charity received almost $2.8 million from the Canadian International Aid Program, a registered tax shelter fronted by the Canadian Organization for International Philanthropy (COIP). Healing and Assistance Not Dependence Canada transferred 70 per cent of the money it received to other participants in the scheme, keeping $900,000 for itself. Of this, only $282,000 was devoted to charitable programs.

Even this figure is doubtful. Healing and Assistance Not Dependence Canada claimed to contract out its treatment services to American and Swiss treatment centres, but the CRA found there were no descriptions of how programs were to be delivered on the charity’s behalf.

The auditor wrote “the charity did not, in fact, deliver any of the charitable addiction counselling, treatment, or education programs for which it was ostensibly raising funds.

The CRA also found that 79 per cent of the charity’s income was spent on fundraising, which far exceeds the “reasonable” amount proscribed by law.

The true purpose of the charity, said the CRA, was to receive and transfer donations on behalf of the tax shelter program.

The money the charity funnelled out landed in questionable pockets. Almost $2 million was transferred to the Orion Foundation and PanAggregate Financial Corporation. Orion was the subject of an investigation by the Toronto Star, which found that its head, James Arion (who has gone by many other names), was giving $2,000 tax receipts for $1,000 donations. The CRA is challenging many of those receipts.

The Star showed the Orion Foundation is also connected to the Canadian International Aid Program and COIP, which claims to provide AIDS drugs to infected Africans.

No one from Orion, PanAggregate or COIP would provide comment to the Citizen.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/fp/Charity+loses+status+over+shelter+scam/1675746/story.html

Reviewed by Moishe Alexander

In most cities in the U.S. and Canada, sales activity has frozen to a standstill. Would-be sellers are unwilling to accept the steep drops in value of office buildings, shopping centers and other commercial property. Even if they were, buyers can’t get financing.

But then there’s Vancouver, a city of about 578,000 people with views of the Pacific Ocean and the Coast Mountain range. Its office market has logged seven building transactions this year capped off by Germany-based Deka Immobilien’s recent $263 million purchase of Bentall V, a 33-story tower in the heart of the city’s district. Just as impressive, prices have held up well. By contrast, only five office properties valued at $5 million or more have sold in Manhattan in the first two quarters of this year, and average prices paid are off 32%, according to Real Capital Analytics, a New York-based real-estate research firm.

First of all, Vancouver’s office market hasn’t suffered the sharp increase in vacancies seen in most other cities. Vacancies are ticking up and putting pressure on rents. But the diversified economy, driven by a mix of companies that include mining, lumber and port-related businesses, and a lack of significant new construction leave it better positioned to weather the stormy global economy, brokers say. The first-quarter office vacancy in downtown Vancouver was 4.2%, below downtown Toronto’s 5.7% and downtown Calgary’s 6.9%, according to CB Richard Ellis. “It’s quite incredible compared to the rest of the country,” says David Eger, senior director with the Toronto-based Altus Group.

Such a high volume of sales is unusual for Vancouver, a city where small investors and pension funds are known for buying and holding properties. The seven office transactions that took place this year through May in downtown Vancouver, a city with a total of about 21 million square feet of office space, compared with two transactions in the year-earlier period, according to CB Richard Ellis.

But amid the global financial crisis, institutions have looked first at properties that have retained value as a less painful means of unlocking equity in their portfolios. The seller of Bentall V was SITQ Vancouver Inc., a real-estate subsidiary of Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. SITQ says it wasn’t under pressure to sell the building and only did so after getting an unsolicited bid. “We made a profit. That’s why we sold it,” says Amelie Plante, an SITQ spokeswoman. “It was very satisfying.”

Buyers in Vancouver have included Canadian pension funds and private investors, CB Richard Ellis says. Deka Immobilien Investment GmbH is a real-estate asset manager and a subsidiary of the DekaBank Group. The seven deals this year have had a total value of C$502 million (US$449 million).

By contrast, Manhattan, with some 1.6 million residents and about 366 million square feet of office space, saw the number of large office transactions this year through May slip to just five deals valued at a total of $984 million, from 45 sales in the year-earlier period, according to Real Capital Analytics. The average price paid per square foot in Vancouver this year fell just 2% to C$355 from the year-earlier period, compared with a 32% drop in Manhattan to $451.

The Bentall property sale price also has given hope to area sellers worried by deep discounting seen elsewhere. The nearly 100%-occupied building sold for a price that equates to a capitalization rate in the 6% range, just slightly higher than the 5.5% range it might have traded at during the height of the market a year or so ago, according to Jim Szabo, executive vice president with CB Richard Ellis, which represented Deka Immobilien in the transaction. Cap rates are closely watched valuation metrics in the commercial real-estate industry derived by dividing a building’s net operating income by the price paid.

http://futurerealestate.blogspot.com/2009/06/property-woes-slam-cities-across.html