What happens when third-party fundraising goes awry?

What happens when third-party fundraising goes awry?

Join us for a unique and interactive luncheon that invites legal, accounting, and social advocacy professionals to examine the many layers of considerations when funds raised by third-party entities do not fulfil their stated charitable objectives.

Through a hypothetical case study, Sarah and Heidi will engage the audience to discuss the legal, accounting, and “soft” considerations in a situation in which CFEs face numerous obstacles to tracing missing crowdfunded donations which were alleged to have been raised by a third party for a restricted purpose. Using a decision-tree style model to assess avenues of recourse for those who suffer losses from misrepresentation or fraud, attendees are invited to provide their legal, accounting, and social advocacy acumen to map out the most viable approaches for CFEs in these types of scenarios. Naturally, this discussion also engages CFE ethics.

This luncheon will highlight key aspects of legal accountability and recourse, resources for forensic accountants, and social advocacy facets that CFEs must take into account when approaching this sensitive and complex scenario. Though this case study consists of applicable legal and accounting practices for Canadian registered charities, the principles discussed are broadly transferrable to many other multi-party transactions. The decision-tree approach is a great tool that may be adapted to any case where the parties are privately owned entities, individuals, or others who are not required to disclose financial information to the public.

Biography of Speakers:

Sarah Hawco

Sarah Hawco is a Chartered Accountant with a specialization in tax, as well as a Chartered Insolvency and Restructuring Professional, and holds a Master of Laws from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto. She is also a member of CPA Alberta, CAIRP, ACFE and the Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of Alberta. Prior to founding the business, forensic accounting, and dispute resolution advisory firm Hawco Peters, Sarah spent 13 years practising insolvency and turnaround management at national and international firms. She also provided a wide range of consulting, specializing in due diligence, business reviews and viability assessments, corporate taxation, estate planning, restructuring and alternative dispute resolution. In 2023 she also co-founded HP Capital Corp, which delivers short-term commercial loan solutions for bridge financing and working capital requirements.

A lifetime Calgarian, Sarah is an avid community and financial literacy advocate. Outside of her professional commitments, Sarah volunteers her time to teach financial literacy at various schools and shelters.

Heidi J. T. Exner

Heidi Exner has lived and worked in Canada, the US, and Australia. She is currently the Director of Policy, Risk, & Compliance for the private equity fund APERION Group, and the Founder and Executive Director of the Exner Foundation, which aims to address white-collar crime in Canada. She has served on numerous boards and councils, including TEDxYYC, Calgary Legal Guidance Society, Archives Society of Alberta, and the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Arts Alumni Advisory Council.

In addition to being a CFE, Heidi is a licensed PI in the Province of Alberta, and she completed her studies to obtain her JD and MBA at the University of Calgary in 2023. Heidi is currently working towards becoming a CFA, and she also plans to become a licensed attorney in the state of New York, USA.

Heidi is locally and globally celebrated for her academic, entrepreneurial, and community contributions; among her list of accolades, she was the only Canadian to receive the ACFE Foundation’s Ritchie-Jennings Memorial Scholarship in 2022.