You don’t have to be a grandmother to support or join the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign! There are many ‘grandothers’. Grandothers are individuals from all walks of life who have become a part of the Grandmothers Campaign – women, men, daughters, sons, grandkids, friends, neighbours, schools, and faith groups – and they participate and contribute to our shared goals in meaningful ways. To learn more about how you can contribute and participate, please visit our Get Involved page, or email [email protected].

The Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign is an initiative of the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Launched in 2006, groups of grandmothers and grandothers organize events and activities to raise funds and awareness in solidarity with the SLF’s community-based partners and grandmothers in sub-Saharan Africa. For more information about the Grandmothers Campaign, visit About Us. Learn more about the Stephen Lewis Foundation here.

Our office is closed to the general public but our staff have returned in a new hybrid work model. If you will be coming to the office, please ensure that you have made arrangements with a staff member and be advised that you will be required to wear a mask while in the office and refrain from entering the office if you are ill. Your understanding is greatly appreciated.

Calls: All voicemails, including reception, will be monitored throughout the day each weekday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Eastern time). We will reply to your messages as soon as possible. As some staff continue to work remotely, return calls may come from a private/personal phone number.

Mail: Please continue to send mail to our office address. If you are sending a package, please contact reception to make arrangements at [email protected], or call 1-888-203-9990 Ext. 0.

Donations: Credit card donations made by phone and payments arriving by mail may take up to one week to process and for you to see the transaction in your account. Receipts for donations by mail typically take approximately six weeks to be mailed.

If you encounter issues donating online, please email [email protected], or call 1-888-203-9990 Ext. 0. We will be happy to assist you.

Yes, we can send you a duplicate of your official donation receipt by email or mail. Please email [email protected], or call 1-888-203-9990 Ext. 0. We will be happy to assist you.

If you encounter issues with your online fundraising page, please email [email protected]. We will be happy to assist you.

To make a change to your monthly donation please contact [email protected], or call 1-888-203-9990 Ext. 0. Please note that any changes to credit card numbers or expiry dates will need to be done over the phone for security purposes. Changes may take up to two weeks to take effect.

If you make monthly donations through your bank account or by credit card, the SLF issues an annual consolidated official donation receipt in February of the following year.

Yes, the Stephen Lewis Foundation is a registered Canadian charity. You will receive an official donation receipt for income tax purposes for donations of $20 or more.

According to the Income Tax Act, we may only send official donation receipts to the person making the donation. This means we can send a receipt to:

the person or people whose names are on a pre-printed cheque
the person who signed the money order
the person whose name is on the credit card

NOTE: An important exception to this general rule occurs with cash donations. Please see Fundraising: Issuing Receipts.

What if my donation is a gift to someone? The Income Tax Act does not allow us to issue a tax receipt to someone as a gift. We must issue the official donation receipt to the person making the donation. To let someone know you have made a donation in their honour, you can send them a tribute card.

Can the receipt to be made out in my partner’s name? We can send the official donation receipt to anyone whose name is pre-printed on your cheque. If your partner’s name is not on the cheque, check with the Canada Revenue Agency about sharing your tax credit with your partner when you file your income tax return.

For online donations, you will receive your official donation receipt immediately via email.

For a one-time donation made by cheque or by phone, your official donation receipt will be mailed to you within four to six weeks.

For monthly donations through your bank account or by credit card, you will be issued an annual official donation receipt in February of the following year.

Our Canadian charitable registration number is 89635 4008 RR0001.

Shipping goods to sub-Saharan Africa is expensive and often costs more than the value of the goods donated. For this reason, most NGOs recommend that you donate money, so that community-based organizations can purchase the specific goods they need most. If you have office supplies to donate for the Stephen Lewis Foundation office, in Toronto, please contact [email protected], or call 1-888-203-9990 Ext. 0

SLF is a charitable partner of the Aeroplan Member Donation Program. Find out how to donate Aeroplan Points here. We don’t have a partnership with any other loyalty programs at this time, but would be happy to explore ways for you to support our work with your miles and points. Please email [email protected].

Our Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign team will be happy to assist you with registering your personal fundraiser, setting up an online giving page, preparing social media, and by providing other support and resources. Please email [email protected], or call 1-888-203-9990 Ext. 0.

We can provide memorial donation notifications or arrange for personalized memorial donation cards to be sent to you. Please email [email protected], or call 1-888-203-9990 Ext. 0 to provide us with the address for where you would like the notifications or cards to be sent.

We’re happy to help you make your fundraising event a success. Our Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign team will be happy to assist you with registering your fundraiser, setting up an online giving page, preparing social media, and by providing other support and resources. Please email [email protected], or call 1-888-203-9990 Ext. 0.

Representatives from the Stephen Lewis Foundation or members of the Grandmothers Campaign may be available to speak at your virtual or in-person event. To inquire, please provide as much information as possible about your event to [email protected], or call 1-888-203-9990 Ext. 0.

Donations of $20 or more are eligible for a tax receipt. To issue a receipt, we need the donor’s full name, address, and amount donated. The easiest way to do this is to set-up a fundraising page via our website, and have friends and family donate online. They’ll receive a tax receipt instantly by email.

Contact [email protected], or call 1-888-203-9990 Ext. 0 for more information or help setting up your fundraising page.

In most circumstances, it is against the law to organize a lottery to raise funds for the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Unless you are a registered charitable or religious organization, you cannot organize a lottery or raffle or draw. The Criminal Code of Canada prohibits the act of ‘selling a ticket with a chance to win a prize’ unless a gaming license has been acquired. To acquire a gaming license, you must be a charitable or religious organization, which uses the funds raised for local purposes.

The Stephen Lewis Foundation cannot issue official donation receipts for the cost of a ticket, the partial cost of a ticket, or a suggested minimum donation to an event. According to the Income Tax Act, these contributions are not freely given – they are required in order to attend the event – and are therefore not eligible for official donation receipts. Any donations of $20 or more received at the event can be forwarded to the SLF and will be eligible for an official donation receipt. We need the donor’s name, address, phone number, and email address (if possible) to issue a receipt directly to them.

For any questions pertaining to event tickets and official donation receipts, please call 1-888-203-9990 Ext. 0, or email [email protected].

If someone gave you cash to donate on their behalf, you can send the money to the SLF by personal cheque, or by calling 1-888-203-9990 Ext. 0 and making a credit card payment. Please be sure to mention that your payment is covering donations received from someone else. We can issue an official donation receipt to cash donor(s), who donated $20 or more, as long as you provide us with their name, address, postal code, phone number, email (if possible), and the exact amount of their cash donation. We cannot issue a tax receipt to the person making a payment on behalf of someone else.

The Income Tax Act does not permit the SLF to issue official donation receipts for services rendered, or for donated time. The SLF does not issue official donation receipts for donated items, because Canada Revenue Agency requirements are too onerous. Event organizers have told us that many businesses are happy to deduct the donation as a business expense without requiring an official donation receipt.

For the latest information on the AIDS pandemic, we recommend that you visit UNAIDS, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization. For more about Stephen Lewis Foundation partners’ work, visit Areas of Work.

No, the SLF does not provide opportunities for Canadians to volunteer or intern in any of the countries where our partners work.

The SLF does not encourage visits to our partners, which are small, grassroots organizations, often with very lean operations. We always take our lead from our partners, and they have communicated to us that visitors can pose a serious strain to their day-to-day operations, and consume precious time and resources.