I just have a bit of a beef. I finally received my receipt for my 2006 donation to the Liberal Party of Canada. Finally, because it took them over a month after I made it over the phone.
Haven't they heard of PDF files? And, compared to the price of a postage stamp, isn't e-mail less expensive anyway?
Most charities have far faster turnaround times -- so much so that a number now ask their donors if they'd rather have just one at the end of the year to save paper. Further, several charities I donate to no longer generate, at my request, paper receipts. Instead, they e-mail them to me and I just print off the donation slip on my printer (in case the feds ask me to submit them at a later date). It's valid because it is on hard copy. Furthermore, I netfile my return and print off my own copy in Adobe format again -- saving the government paper and processing time and the cost of a stamp.
The party has my name and e-mail address on file. Couldn't they just have sent me the receipt over their share of bandwidth? That goes for my party membership as well. I rejoined last summer and I still haven't obtained my card.
I know of several bloggers with similar experiences. Any others?
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2 comments:
In defence of the Liberal Party, about 2/3 of its entire staff is dedicated to Elections Canada and CRA requirements. Without exception, every transaction (contribution or otherwise) needs to go through a thorough quality control process to make sure the information is correct and that the donor hasn't exceeded their donation limit. The Liberal Party is well aware of the added benefits of timely receipts. And I'm sure the they're working deligently to find ways to make the process more efficient.
I like the idea of emailed receipts. I think at first they would need to be limited to online donations. And most people who contribute multiple times in the course of the year receive one receipt at the end of it...especially if the person is on a monthly giving program.
I appreciate the feedback. I just found it more of an inconvenience than anything else that it took this long.
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