FAQs About Accreditation

The Canadian Centre for Christian Charities (CCCC) is an association of Canadian Christian registered charities. Since 1983, CCCC has administered a program to accredit registered Christian charities that comply with the CCCC standards. CCCC reviews each charity before accreditation and conducts regular Accreditation Reviews of the accredited charities.

CCCC reviews charities by examining their accredited membership application and the documents enclosed with the application. Charities must demonstrate reasonable compliance with the indicators of the CCCC Standards of Accountability to be approved for Accredited Membership.

After obtaining accreditation, CCCC Accredited charities must demonstrate ongoing compliance with the Standards of Accountability. This is completed through an Annual Standards Check including submission of documentation to CCCC and by responding to CCCC follow-up questions. In addition, CCCC conducts an in-depth Accreditation Review every four to five years.

You can be confident that each CCCC Accredited Member has not merely self-assessed its own performance, but has undergone a rigorous CCCC review.

CCCC uses three flags to identify charities that are not in full compliance with the Standards:

• The yellow flag indicates that compliance cannot be determined because CCCC did not receive the necessary compliance information by the review deadline, which is 6 months after the charity’s fiscal year-end. A yellow flag does not necessarily mean an organization is not in compliance with CCCC Standards, but rather, CCCC does not yet have sufficient information to make a determination.
• The red flag indicates that the organization is not in compliance with one or more of the Standards and has not submitted a plan with an acceptable timeline for compliance. Termination will follow within a maximum of 60 days.

CCCC strives to use an educational approach to our Accreditation program. We will extend a grace period and use every effort possible to help charities get back into compliance. If compliance is not achieved by the set date, the charity will no longer be permitted to display the Accredited Member logo.

CCCC accredits charities that comply with the Standards of Accountability. To comply with the first standard, all members of the organization’s governing board, officers, and key staff must affirm a Christian statement of faith. The organization must also publicly declare its Christian mission and demonstrate to CCCC how that mission guides its values and activities. CCCC does not require adoption of its own statement of faith, but the statement must include the commonly held and historic central tenets of the Christian faith as are found, for example, in the Apostle’s Creed.

Accredited Member charities upload their own information, photos, and videos onto their profiles. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of this information, CCCC is not responsible for any inconsistencies.

If you have a concern about an Accredited charity, we encourage you to try to resolve the issue with the charity first. If you are not satisfied with the charity’s response, and your concern relates to the CCCC Standards, please visit this page for more information about our concern review process.

CCCC does not provide recommendations about specific ministries to support but rather our goal is to help donors make informed giving decisions. CCCC Accreditation is one way to identify trustworthy ministries. Our directory of Accredited members contains information about Canadian Christian charities that have “opted in” to be assessed by CCCC and that comply with our Standards of Accountability. You can browse by ministry name, location, or focus.

If the charity you are researching is not in our directory, we recommend that you investigate it through Canada Revenue Agency’s website. CCCC provides guidelines on how to interpret the information you will find there. We provide several helpful tips for choosing a charity to support on this page.

Every charity must be registered with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). If you have concerns about a charity’s status, you can search CRA’s Charities Listings. You may have to search by “revoked” or “annulled” status if the organization in question has lost its charitable status.

CCCC does not list all registered charities in our directory, but only those that voluntarily apply for accreditation and demonstrate compliance with our Standards of Accountability.

If you know a charity that would like to consider Accreditation, we would love to hear from them.

CCCC offers four membership options: accredited, affiliate, web, and professional. Only accredited charities are listed on this website, because they are the only level that we review. If you have any questions about your membership package or if your charity is interested in Accreditation, contact us for details.

CCCC can facilitate anonymous gifts by receiving, receipting, and forwarding your gift to the charity or charities of your choice. Contact us for details.

In the event of an emergency or a natural disaster, many charities jump into action to respond quickly and effectively to the situation. You will hear appeals from many different organizations to raise funds for a response. As a donor, you want to be sure your donation will be used wisely and effectively.

We have provided helpful tips on this page.

CCCC does not provide charity ratings or comparisons. No two charities are alike. Rather than measuring one charity against another, CCCC has established standards to help people evaluate a charity’s worthiness of support. Attaining and maintaining accreditation with CCCC, means an organization is measuring up to standards of organizational integrity and accountability.

CCCC’s disclosure requirements allow a potential donor to assess the organization within the context of his/her own values and vision for ministry. An accredited organization has committed itself to make relevant information available to anyone requesting it. This readiness by the organization clearly demonstrates its commitment to accountability and integrity. This information then aids donors in choosing the ministries that match their passions and expectations.

In the Christian ministry context, rating based on comparisons diminishes each ministry’s uniqueness. This clearly contradicts the Christian community’s goal to foster cooperation and encourage mutual respect.

Organizational efficiency or performance in the nonprofit or charity community involves something more meaningful than the mathematical formulas and quick calculations people in the for-profit world often use for comparison purposes. Ratios have a place in measuring a charity’s current status, if a ministry’s own performance is compared with that of a prior period. Anything beyond that has limited value at best.

In over 40 years of serving Christian charities in Canada, CCCC has learned that any number of variables and a host of ranking criteria can impact an organization’s “performance.” The diversity within the CCCC membership defies any clear basis for comparison. Each of CCCC’s member organizations is “one of a kind.” Yet each fulfils a unique function within the kingdom of God.