Finally! After lots of paperwork, sending papers for signatures across the country, and waiting for the BC government to process our application, Vulnerable Children Society is now officially registered as a (non-profit) society in British Columbia.

The timing was great, because I (Arnica) caught the gentleman who processes the applications at his desk last week, and he faxed me a copy of the papers so I wouldn’t have to wait another week for them. You see, our account at PayPal was limited until we got our paperwork back from the government. (I’ll tell you, the security measures PayPal has in place are well above and beyond any bank, for ensuring that you are truly a non-profit or a charity!) Until we had those papers in, we could accept donations, but not take money out from PayPal. So receiving our incorporation documents was crucial to sending money to Ethiopia, as well as for setting up for the future.

FAQ: We have had a few questions about tax receipts, and if we are a charity. The answer to both is “not yet.” FIRST, you have to “incorporate” or register as a society or non-profit association in your province. THEN, you can fill out the huge amount of paperwork to apply to Revenue Canada for charitable status. Once received, the applications take up to a year to be processed. So it’s a pretty lengthly endeavor to become a registered Canadian charity. That all said, we set a goal to fill out all the paperwork for charitable status within a year, and our registration as a non-profit society is one step closer to that goal.

Here is a copy of our incorporation papers (with addresses blanked out for privacy’s sake) so you know that we are on the up and up!