Pre-conference
Sunday October 2, 1:00-4:00pm
- Essential Skills and Strategies for Grantmakers (Joint PFC-Council on Foundations session).
Cost: $50 per person.
Cost: $50 per person
Sunday October 2, 5:00-9:00pm
Cost: Conference participants $100 per person, dinner-only $150 per person
More information and to register.
Essential Skills and Strategies for New Grantmakers (Joint PFC-Council on Foundations session)
Sunday October 2, 1:00- 4:00pm
Cost: $50 per person.
Facilitated by Matthew Nelson, Council on Foundations
Some of the elements of the curriculum to be covered:
- The role of philanthropy in society
- Key events in the development of philanthropy
- The infrastructure that supports grantmakers
- Current issues and debates about philanthropy
- Function with an awareness of the macro context in which you are working
Making Sound Funding Recommendations
Understand:
- Typical steps and best practices used in the proposal review process
- Issues to consider in arriving at a funding recommendation
Be able to:
- Gather applicant information
- Assess the viability of the applicant and proposed project
- Make defensible funding decisions
Managing Your Grant Portfolio
Understand:
- Standard expectations and requirements of grants management
- Typical issues and effective practices in grants management
Be able to:
- Monitor grants
- Anticipate and oversee grant implementation problems
- Learn from grant experiences
- Maximizing Grant Impact
Understand:
- Common strategies outside the grantmaking framework for achieving greater good
- Key strengths and constraints of each strategy
When and how strategies can be employed
Be able to:
- Consider the use of complementary strategies to enhance the probability of success and the positive impact of individual grants, your portfolio, and your mission
Mission-related and Impact Investing Workshop for Canadian Foundations
Sunday, October 2 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm
Cost: $50 per person.
Targeted at board and investment committee members as well as senior foundation staff, this 3.5 hour workshop will set the context for the growing interest in Mission Related and Impact Investing, explore why and how foundations are doing it and the resources available to assist them in implementing and monitoring MRI/II approaches.
The workshop will include a roster of leading practitioners from Canada and US. It is intended for conference participants, board and investment committee members of all PFC members and other Canadian funders and organizations interested in MRI.
A set of tools and resources will be distributed to participants in a combined print/USB stick format. This will include key thought leader reports and papers, policy guidelines, resources for implementing an MRI strategy, resources for engaging asset managers, matrices of MR/I investment opportunities by theme and asset class in Canada, and lists of intermediaries and consultants.
Among topics to be covered are:
- Setting the Broad Context: Why are foundations looking for impact and mission fit from their investments, how are they doing it, how are they working together and stories from the leading edge.
- The Canadian Social Finance Task Force’s 10% recommendation: Where did it come from, why and what does it mean for Canadian foundations?
- Getting started in MRI/II: How does a foundation get started, engage its board and investment committee, work with its investment advisors, think through strategy, etc?
- Direct mission/program-related investing: How does a foundation do direct investing, what resources are available, what are colleagues from the front lines doing and learning?
The workshop is co-sponsored by Philanthropic Foundations Canada, Community Foundations of Canada and the Canadian Environmental Grantmakers Network.
Trustee Dinner
Sunday, October 2, 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm
TIFF Bell Lightbox, 6th floor, 350 King Street West
Please join us for a special pre-conference dinner, open to all conference participants and to board members of private and public foundations. This is a rare opportunity for directors and trustees of foundations to come together for networking and information on their unique role. Conference registration is not required to attend this pre-conference event which is open to the grantmaker community.
Our keynote speaker is Susan Berresford, the President of the Ford Foundation from 1996 to 2007. She is currently member of the board of a family foundation, and director on the board of the Californa Endowment, a healthcare foundation. As a member of the Panel on the Nonprofit Sector convened by Independent Sector and the Board of Directors of the Council on Foundations, she has worked to ensure charities and foundations define and champion high ethical standards that maintain the public’s trust in their work. She was instrumental in bringing together many of the United States’s large private foundations to create and adopt common governance principles. Her leadership in developing the practice of foundation governance and her mentorship of young leaders make her uniquely well-qualified to speak to the challenges of foundation governance.
Before the dinner, please join us for a tour of the extraordinary new TIFF Lightbox facility and a cocktail reception. Tour begins at 5:00 pm. Cocktail begins at 5:30 pm. Dinner is at 6:30 pm.