A Love of Helping Charities Help Others

It’s not a mistake to call Christine’s career in the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA’s) Charities Directorate a labour of “love.” Back in 2000, when she started working for the Charities Directorate, Christine was sure of one thing: she wanted to make a difference. While she left for two years to work elsewhere within the CRA, Christine returned to Charities in 2010. Coincidentally, she started both posts in Charities on Valentine’s Day.

“The February 14 start dates is an accurate indicator of the love I have for charities,” Christine laughs.

Most recently, Christine was a team member on the Outreach Team in the Charities Directorate’s Client Interface and Service Division (CISD), where she works to deliver in-person charity information sessions and as of late (due to the pandemic) virtual webinars.

These information sessions/virtual webinars provide charitable organizations with guidance on how to operate a registered charity in compliance with CRA policies. She plays a role in everything from scriptwriting, to choosing necessary web content, to presenting the information live during the session or webinar. Christine and her team take topics that can be quite technical, such as how to apply gifting and receipting rules or keep proper books and records, and explains them in a way that’s approachable and easy to understand.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all in-person information sessions delivered by the Charities Directorate were postponed, and they are currently replaced by information webinars. Being able to present an information session through a virtual MS Teams webinar allows the CRA to help registered charities and qualified données stay up to date on a variety of topics.

Christine always reassures her audience that she’s there to make their jobs easier, and help them along the way. She wants people to leave the webinar with the information they need to answer their questions.

It’s clear that Christine loves her work and wants to make a difference in helping charities do the work that benefit communities all around us. “Being able to present and share all the knowledge I have acquired over the years, presenting sessions and offering that knowledge within the webinars brings satisfaction to my work. Adding tips from my client service and in-person session days can help charities get a better understanding of the policies and regulations,” she mentions.

It’s also an opportunity for Christine to express her gratitude for the work charities do. She always concludes her webinars on this note, “I know this doesn’t get said enough, but from the bottom of my heart, thank you. I want to thank you for the work you do in our communities. We all have the occasion to benefit from charities, and I know you communities really appreciate the work you’re doing.”

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