August 2024 Newsletter

Since our last edition...

• Members of the PFC Team have been enjoying some summer vacation time with family and friends. We hope you and your teams have also been taking some well-deserved time off to recharge batteries! 

• We are very grateful for and excited about the sector’s enthusiastic response to our Together 25 Ensemble Conference, which has sold out.  
   
  Colleagues from every category of our diverse ecosystem have registered to come together to meet one another, learn, collaborate, debate and celebrate our work in philanthropy in Canada. For those of you attending the conference, more event details will be shared in September.  

PFC Updates & Insights

• With the 2025 federal budget process underway, Sara Krynitzki, PFC’s Director of Public Affairs and Research, shares PFC’s latest pre-budget submission; “Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the Upcoming Federal Budget 2025.”  

• Dr. Michele Fugiel Gartner, PFC’s Lead Researcher, authored “People and practices: A Canadian philanthropic foundation research agenda” in the Philanthropist Journal highlighting her findings from PFC’s inaugural 2024 Landscape Report which presents our new research agenda which aims to address the data gap and enhance accountability, transparency, and practice. 

• Dr. Michele Fugiel Gartner also published the second post in our Unveiling the Landscape Blog series entitled “Collecting the data we need!"

• As we prepare to celebrate our 25th anniversary at the Together 25 Ensemble conference next month, we invite you to read this Philanthropist Journal article from 2019 entitled "Reflections on 20 years of work at Philanthropic Foundations Canada", in which former president Hilary Pearson looks back on two decades of work at PFC. PFC’s goal, she writes, is to challenge funders to do their best work. 

• Earlier this week, Krista Bissiallon, PFC’s Program Coordinator, distributed our Programming Mid-Year Survey to all our Affinity Group participants, with the aim to collect views to continuously improve our program offerings. We are keen to collect your feedback between now and Friday, September 6.  

Upcoming PFC Programming

Together 25 Ensemble
PFC's National Conference in Ottawa
(In person)

Monday, September 23, 2024
12:00 PM - 9:00 PM (Local time)
Tuesday, September 24, 2024
  8:00 AM - 9:00 PM (Local time)
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
7:30 AM - 7:00 PM (Local time)

Check out our full programming and list of speakers here. And, since we have reached capacity, we invite you to join the waitlist. Details are available here. 

Affinity Group Meetings at
PFC Together 25 Ensemble National Conference

Monday, September 23, 2024 (In person)
First set: 1:00 - 2:30 PM (Local Time) 
Second set: 3:00 - 4:30 PM (Local Time) 
Location: Governor General 1-3 - Westin Ottawa

As part of our conference programming, we are hosting in-person individual Affinity Group meetings for current members of Affinity Groups.  Conference registrants will receive details about these sessions through conference communications.  If you would like to learn more and join an Affinity Group, please visit our website. 

Inspiring Impact:  
Nonprofit Reception on Parliament Hill

Wednesday, September 25, 2024 
5 PM to 7 PM (Local Time) (In person) 
Sir John A Macdonald Building, Ottawa

This gathering is to celebrate the work and contributions of Senator Ratna Omidvar, a champion of Canada's nonprofit and charitable sector, as we mark the occasion of her retirement from the Senate will close PFC’s Together 25 Ensemble national conference.   

This special event will be hosted by Philip Lawrence – MP for Northumberland-Peterborough South, along with PFC and Imagine Canada, in advance of their 2024 Day on the Hill, and will bring together leaders from the Canadian nonprofit and charitable sector, Parliamentarians, Senators, civil society, and Hill leadership. 

New Member

PFC is happy to welcome the newest member to our network:

The Qube Charitable Foundation is a registered public foundation based in Western Canada. Employing the same stewardship principles as Qube Investment Management, it aims to make philanthropy simple, effective, and impactful. It ensures that the charities they support have developed and deployed efficient solutions to identified societal problems. They look to be not only a source of funds, but also a partner in driving real change. Their mission is to provide resources that help relieve poverty, advance education, promote religious principles, encourage the arts, and other causes beneficial to your community.

We welcome you back to the PFC network! 

Appointment and Awards

• Justin Wiebe (Board of Directors, PFC) is the newly elected Chair of the Board of Directors of The Definity Insurance Foundation. 

• Camille Georgeson-Usher and Lori Tagoona have both been appointed as new members of the Board of Directors of Inspirit Foundation. 

Do you have any exciting news you’d like to share with our network? Let us know! 

Member & Sector Job Board

• Director, Strategic Initiatives, Foundation for Black Communities 

• Member of the Board of Directors, Equality Fund 

• Committee Resource Persons, Catherine Donnelly Foundation  

• Program Manager, Ontario Trillium Foundation 

• Associate Director of Finance, Canadian Race Relations Foundation 

Member & Sector Insights

• The Lawson Foundation released “The Power of a Relational, Values-Driven Approach to Building Adult Capacity: Final Evaluation Report of Outdoor Play Strategy 2.0”, a comprehensive evaluation highlighting the significant strides made in promoting outdoor play in early learning and childcare (ELCC) settings across Canada. 

• The Lawson Foundation also released a new report entitled “More Than a New Course: A Framework for Embedding Outdoor and Land-based Pedagogies in Post-Secondary ECE Programs” which provides guidelines to help integrate Outdoor and Land-based teaching and learning in post-secondary early childhood education (ECE) programs across Canada, aiming to get faculty, students, and ultimately children outdoors and connected to nature and the Land. 

• Aqueduct Foundation, Definity Insurance Foundation, and Ivey Foundation, among other foundations, are featured in an article entitled "The Foundation Perpetuity Myth" in All about Estates 

• De Gaspé Beaubien Foundation's Dominique Monchamps co-authors article entitled "Invest in water to protect the summer we love" which suggests that by creating a robust Canada Water Agency, investing in fresh water and renewing the Canada Water Act, the federal government can demonstrate its commitment to addressing climate change and protecting Canadians. 

• Viewpoint Charitable Foundation’s blog post entitled “Maximizing Impact: Ensuring Your Multi-Year Donations Keep Their Value” illustrates how the real value of multi-year contributions can be preserved, ensuring philanthropic goals are achieved, even years down the line. 

• Inspirit Foundation, Lawson Foundation, and McConnell Foundation along with PFC 2024 national conference partner, Tapestry Community Capital, are featured in Philanthropist Journal article entitled "A growing group of foundations are investing in community bonds – here’s why", which illustrates how supporting community bond issuers and building a thriving marketplace is one way to address the power imbalance between community organizations and their funders. 

• The Foundation for Black Communities is encouraging philanthropy leaders to give more control to the communities they are trying to serve in Philanthropist Journal article entitled "How one foundation is using Black community members’ expertise to improve charitable programs." 

• Equality Fund recently launched "Funding our Future: Resourcing the Feminist Movements Driving Climate Action," a new policy resource in collaboration with Mama Cash which highlights that feminist movements are at the forefront of climate justice, offering critical perspectives and innovative solutions at all levels and that despite their vital role, organizations led by women, girls, and gender expansive people remain vastly underfunded. 

• Canadian Race Relations Foundation's podcast entitled “The Health Care Divide "Uninsured: How Universal is Canada’s Healthcare System?" can help you understand what happens when hundreds of thousands of people who are living in Canada without health coverage get sick, or hurt, or pregnant. 

• Mastercard Foundation which funds the Africa Indigenous Knowledge Research Network, is acknowledged in this Carleton University article entitled "African communities have a lot of knowledge to share." 

• PhiLab's "PhiLanthropic Year Volume 5" is a synthesis of three major themes addressed by their research partnership teams: deepening knowledge of the philanthropic ecosystem; situating philanthropy's contribution in social and environmental justice terms; better understanding the interventions carried out by medium-sized foundations. 

• Canadian Centre for Nonprofit Digital Resilience reports "Canada’s Nonprofit Tech Workforce" and "The Demand for Digital Skills in Canada's Nonprofit Sector" delve deep into Canadian census data to evaluate the composition of the tech workforce within the nonprofit sector and emphasize the importance of understanding the current demand for digital skills within this sector and provides valuable insights through the analysis of job postings data. 

• Imagine Canada's "Let's Imagine Podcast Episode 21: Reframing biased perspectives of the nonprofit sector with Dan Pallotta" invites you to delve into deeply held perceptions about charities, how they are problematic, and how we can reframe the narrative and move forward. Also explore the potential of creative, breakthrough thinking, unburdened by costs & structure, as a powerful tool for real fundamental change in the nonprofit sector. 

• The Canadian Investment Review’s "Coverage of the 2024 Endowment & Foundation Investment Forum." reflects discussions held recently by a group of endowment and foundation investment executives, academics and money managers in Toronto. Non-profit decision-makers, treasurers from endowments and foundations and leading industry experts shared views, practices and theories to address the challenges and issues they face in the current economy. 

• Alliance Magazine article entitled ““Societal shift” around philathropists using endowment for positive impact" explains how philanthropists’ interest in incorporating impact investing, both in grantmaking and their endowment, is growing, as indicated in Impact Europe and Philea (Philanthropy Europe Association)'s new joint report entitled “Philanthropic Organisations Using the Entire Toolbox for More Impact.” 

• ESSEC Business School’s Philanthropy Chair Webinar on "Philanthropy for systems change: What foundations can do" aims to help foundation leaders think about systems change and how much they “walk the talk” and do systems change work with their grantees. It builds upon recent academic research and concrete examples to discuss what foundations can do in this regard. 

• New Power Labs' Equity Shot entitled "Beyond us and them" highlights the "us vs. them" approach which can manifest itself in various contexts, from workplace dynamics to political discourse and international relations. It often leads to decreased collaboration and increased conflict and can hinder progress on shared goals or societal issues. 

• Imagine Canada / Federal Nonprofit Data Coalition's webinar explored what we can learn from the largest government survey of the sector in 20 years: Statistics Canada's non-profit module of the Canadian Survey of Business Conditions, 2023. 

Upcoming Member & Sector Activities

• Musagetes Foundation to hold inaugural Long Dash Festival, a collaborative event bringing together the worlds of art and science. Explore interconnections and overlaps between arts and science. Sunday, August 18, 2024, between 10 AM – 6 PM at the rare ECO Centre in Cambridge, ON. Register here. 

• Accounting Standards Board (AcSB) survey to help inform a new exposure draft is relevant to financial statement preparers, practitioners and financial statement users (separate survey based on the individual's experience).  The AcSB would be grateful if you would be willing to share your views here. 

• Canadian Family Offices launched its first annual survey of multi-family offices reaching out to executives inviting them to participate. Their goal is to obtain a clearer look at the sector and learn basic statistics that will help them produce more informative articles and reflect the state of this growing part of the wealth management industry. Complete the 5-minute survey here. 

• Institut du Nouveau Monde - dedicated to increasing citizen participation in democratic life - seeks 8 motivated individuals to serve on its Board for a 2-year term. Deadline for nominations: Sunday, September 8 at 11:59 PM (ET). Election at annual general meeting on Wednesday, October 9, 2024. For more details, visit here. 

• MakeWay's Joanna Kerr, TD Private Giving Foundation's Joanne Ryan and Equality Fund's Jess Tomlin to be among the presenters at The Walrus Talks Shifting Power in Philanthropy on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, between 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM. ET at the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto. Register here. 

• Max Bell Foundation’s Policy Forward Speaker Series on The Future of Democracy in Canada will be held on October 7, 2024, between 5:00-6:30 PM (MT) in Calgary. Register here. 

• Canadian Race Relations Foundation and The Globe and Mail introduce Finding Common Ground: Addressing hate and racism in Canada that will take place virtually on Tuesday, November 19, 2024, between 12:45 PM and 5 PM (ET). First event in a series of nationwide conversations in 2024 and 2025 focused on fighting hate and racism in communities, health care, public institutions, and online spaces to drive change for a better Canada.  

Members in the News

• The Definity Insurance Foundation announced a new partnership with Trinity Centres Foundation (Relèven) to support the development and operations of the Relève en Transition Fund in "Innovative social finance to repurpose faith-based properties for community spaces and affordable housing." 

• RBC Foundation gifts help two non-profits create new partnership to support people dealing with the loss of a pet in "2 charities, 2 cheques: RBC sends funds to Collingwood non-profits." 

• McConnell Foundation and Suncor Energy Foundation, who are among the funders of The Home Upgrades Program - the first and only program of its kind in Alberta - are mentioned in "Home Upgrades Program celebrates a full year of free energy upgrades for Calgary homeowners". 

• Canadian Race Relations Foundation’s Media Fellowships Program funds, which support The Independent’s General Assignment Reporter Fellowship, have led to the publication of this article entitled "Palestinian sisters in St. John’s say brothers’ safe passage to Newfoundland in limbo". 

• Peter Gilgan Foundation and BHP Foundation grants will allow the International Institute for Sustainable Development to share the findings and promote a project to improve water quality and remove harmful pollutants from the water — the first project of its kind in Manitoba - are highlighted in "Wetlands project propagating past Perimeter." 

• Shaw Family Foundation-supported Bridges to Brighter Futures program which provides children and youth the opportunity to positively interact with CPS officers in their community while learning about staying safe from victimization and crime is highlighted in "The Calgary Police Service hosts inaugural Indigenous Junior Police Academy program." 

• Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation is among 30 investors helping investment platform Inslandsis fund mobilize 130 million for its Inlandsis II fund in "Decarbonization of Quebec | A fund dedicated to the environment launches an appeal to Quebec entrepreneurs." 

• The Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation's support, which has allowed the DIALOG network, via the creation of the Kapakan Alliance, to hold around fifteen workshops and, more recently, a second forum which brought together around fifty participants, is highlighted in "Revitalizing Indigenous languages".  

• Mastercard Foundation support to help train Indigenous youth in health professions in Moosonee and coastal communities – allowing them to pursue higher education and build their careers close to home - is highlighted in "A future mindset: Queen’s hosts Indigenous youth interested in health sciences."  

• Mastercard Foundation gift to the Eenou-Eeyou Community Foundation to enhance the Cree Nation Youth Council’s capacity to represent, advocate and implement youth leadership development in ten communities of Eeyou Istchee, is highlighted in press release entitled "Mastercard Foundation Supports Cree Nation Youth." 

• The Foundation for Black Communities which is taking transformative action to support Quebec-based Black-led, Black-serving, and Black-focused organizations highlights its actions in "The Foundation for Black Communities Recognizes Quebec Recipients of the $9.1 Million Black Ideas Grant."  

• Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation contribution to a first-in-Canada initiative, which is redefining addiction treatment and breaking barriers through collaborative, patient-centred care, is highlighted in St-Paul's Foundation’s magazine article entitled “Revolutionizing substance use care at Road to Recovery.” 

• Conconi Family Foundation grant has helped Canada’s first public dementia care village open on Vancouver Island recently, as described in "Dementia care village opening in Comox". 

• Weston Family Foundation gift to help pioneer new agricultural technologies highlighted in "New growing system from TMU profs to revolutionize food production." 

• Graham Boeckh Foundation gift which helps fund one of six youth services locations across Ontario is featured in "Youth hub looking for new Haliburton home" 

• Burgundy Legacy Foundation's Angela Bhutani is featured in Canadian Family Offices' article "What’s best in giving back – a foundation, DAF or endowment?" which highlights that the path to charitable giving requires a careful analysis of a family’s needs and the desires of heirs, as well as a frank discussion about the administrative and governance requirements of each vehicle. 

• Northpine Foundation, which describes gifts as investing in "underserved and underinvested communities", is identified as a philanthropic funder of a special housing project in "B.C. government funds Victoria housing for former inmates."  

• Trottier Family Foundation gifts that will help try answer some of the deepest mysteries of humanity, such as "Where did we come from? How did the universe come to be? Is there life out there?" are celebrated in "McGill, University of Montreal receive $26 million for space studies." 

Get in touch!

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