Author Patrons have more fun!

Help make WritersFest happen and meet the author of your choice! Ticket prices account for only 17% of WritersFest costs, and our Author Patron program is a vital part of the mix that puts authors on the stage. Author Patrons are part of the WritersFest family – and we’ve plenty of treats for you!

As an Author Patron, you, your friends, your Book Club, or your business can help bring outstanding literary figures to our stage from around the world. Your donation contributes to the travel expenses and accommodations of the guest writer or moderator.

Author Patron benefits and recognition:

• Two reserved front-row seats at each of your author’s events (or more for Book Clubs, or sponsor two young people to attend a Festival Field Trip event in your stead)
• A signed complimentary copy of your author’s featured book
• A meet and greet at the event, with photo op
• Acknowledgment of your participation on our Author Patron banner at the Festival, in the Festival program, and on our website (unless you wish to remain anonymous)
• A charitable tax receipt for your donation, in accordance with Canada Revenue guidelines†
• An invitation to the Festival launch (10 July) and Author Cruise (September 27)
• Other impromptu opportunities related to the author that you are supporting

Interested? Please contact Kimberly Clarke at give@kingstonwritersfest.ca. We’ll match you with an author you’ll love to meet!

You can also support Kingston WritersFest as a BookLover Donor, or a Corporate Sponsor.

† Information on split receipting from the CanadaHelps website:

Before 2002, if a donor received anything back (i.e. an advantage or “consideration”) for the donation there was no gift. Now with the “split receipting” rules a donor can receive an advantage of up to 80% of the value of the donation but the amount of the advantage may reduce the eligible amount of the tax receipt.

Split receipting permits a charity to issue tax receipts for the eligible amount of a gift, which is the fair market value (FMV) of the gift minus the FMV of the advantage available to the donor. However, if the donor receives an advantage of over 80% of the value of the donation, then generally it will be considered that there was no “donative intent” and no gift was made. Registered charities cannot issue a tax receipt where the value of the advantage available to the donor is more than 80% of the fair market value of the gift.

CRA provides the following example of split receipting on its website:

Example
An individual donates $100 to a charity and in return receives a ticket to an art exhibit valued at $50.

FMV of gift $100
FMV of advantage (ticket received by donor) $50
Reciept issued to donor $50

If the FMV of the advantage had been $81 or more (over 80%), the intention to make a gift threshold would not have been met and the charity could not issue a receipt.

However, if the FMV of the advantage available to the donor is not more than the lesser of $75 or 10% of the FMV of the gift a registered charity does not need to deduct the advantage available to the donor when calculating the eligible amount of a gift. This is referred to as the de minimis rule and where applicable, the FMV of the gift would be the eligible amount of the tax receipt since no deduction is required.

CRA provides the following example of the de minimis rule on its website:

Example
An individual donates $100 to a charity and in return receives a mug valued at $6 and a pen valued at $2.

FMV of gift $100
Combined value of advantages $ 8
De minimis threshold (lesser of $75 or 10% of value of gift) $ 10

Since the combined value of the advantages ($8) is less than the de minimis threshold ($10), the charity does not need to subtract these advantages from the value of the gift when issuing the receipt.

If the FMV of the advantages had been $11 or more, the charity would have to subtract the advantages from the value of the gift when issuing the receipt.

For more information on split receipting, please visit CRA’s website at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/chrts/prtng/rcpts/splt-eng.html.