Hi John!
Can you believe it's almost a new year? As we're checking off our end of year to-do lists, and preparing for all of the work we have to do in 2024, we thought we'd share some recent news you might find interesting.
[But, if you're not interested in learning how governments aren't recognizing peace building as a charitable activity and want to skip ahead to making your first ever donation to World BEYOND War before the end of the year, you can do that here.]
Otherwise, carry on...
As a follower of or participant in our work, I'm assuming you, like all of us at World BEYOND War, are hoping to grow the global anti-war movement. And you, like us, probably also know that in order to do that, we need to build our funding pipelines. You also probably know that we don't accept support from governments, corporations, or any institutions that support the war machine in any way. That's why we rely so heavily on individual donations. One incentive we hope to offer donors across the world is to make their donations tax deductible. However, this is impossible if their governments don't recognize us as a charitable organization.
Unfortunately, this is what we're experiencing in Canada when World BEYOND War was recently denied charitable status for being biased about war.
After two long years awaiting the Canada Revenue Agency's determination of our charitable registration application, we were told this October that due to our "biased viewpoint", our work did not meet the statutory eligibility requirements and our application was denied and automatically withdrawn.
We were told that in order to be eligible for Canadian charitable status, World BEYOND War must advance the alternative viewpoint to peace in its educational materials. In short, WBW will not be granted charitable status unless it shows, advances, and educates on the benefits of war or at least preparations for war.
As an organization founded on the belief that there is an alternative to war in building a just and sustainable security system based in diplomacy and international law, we cannot and will never make an argument that war is necessary, inevitable, or beneficial. And in fact, our work and educational materials actively dispute these claims.
To say we were disappointed with this finding is an understatement. While we're unable to offer Canadians tax exemption so that their donations are tax deductible, we're hoping our global network will step up in place of governments' recognition of the charitable nature of peace building.
Will you consider making your first donation to WBW this year? If you happen to be from the United States, your donations will be tax deductible for the 2023 tax year if you make it before Monday (as the U.S. is the only country in which we've successfully obtained charitable status thus far).
In solidarity and wishing you a happy new year,
Alex McAdams
World BEYOND War is a global network of volunteers, chapters, and affiliated organizations advocating for the abolition of the institution of war.
Donate to support our people-powered movement for peace.
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