National Philanthropy Day: Recognizing the diverse contributions of Canada’s foundations

National Philanthropy Day is celebrated annually on November 15. The day is meant to highlight the importance of working together for the common good. Philanthropic deeds come in all shapes and sizes — and on National Philanthropy Day, these acts are placed in the spotlight.

At PFC, our membership is similarly diverse. Our members are Canadian grantmakers – private, public, and community foundations, corporate giving programs, donor-advised funds, charitable organizations, and nonprofits.

It is true that foundations and grantmakers primarily give money away in the form of grants. But it is also true that many do so much more than that.

Canada’s foundations increasingly support the advancement of charitable objectives of non-profit and charitable organizations in a variety of different ways. Whether it is providing social risk capital and leadership, helping get initiatives off the ground – or if it’s supporting long-term engagement on important issues that may be under-the-radar or under-invested in by other types of donors, foundations often help to raise profile, and use their unique points of access, leverage and resources to advance issues, organizations and communities in different and sometimes unexpected ways, far beyond what society may assume.

Here are just a few examples:

The Azreili Foundation, Canada’s largest non-corporate foundation, is incubating a new initiative called the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence. Led by leading experts in the field and those with lived-experience who recognized a major gap in the sector, it is the only Canadian initiative to focus on the entire field of caregiving – supporting caregivers and care providers, advancing the knowledge and capacity of the caregiving field, and advocating for effective social policy.

The Law Foundation of BC is a steady, reliable source of funding for approximately 90 continuing programs. The programs located across the province are funded on an annual, ongoing basis. They fund legal education, legal research, legal aid, law reform, and law libraries. But in addition, they have other innovative programs, such as their $2M fund focused on racial justice and the law, open to non-qualified donees – recipients do not need to be registered charities or non-profits, as long as the work is connected with the legal system or the impact of laws and policies on people’s lives.

Burns Memorial Fund is dedicated to supporting children mainly from low-income families in Calgary. In its pursuit of ensuring more resources reach vulnerable youth, a few years ago they worked hard with the City of Calgary and other larger institutional funders to lead an innovative collaborative funding process. In the end, their efforts were significant, leading to a more simplified granting process for youth-serving agencies, increased participation in programming by harder to serve youth, and laying the foundation for continued and growing collaborative investments in Calgary.

On so many levels, philanthropy helps build vibrant communities and active civic participation by bringing people together to serve a common goal. The work of foundations increasingly strengthens society, contributes to important public policy development, and advances issues that improve lives and make Canada better. On this National Philanthropy Day, PFC recognizes our members and other philanthropic partners for the numerous ways they creatively and generously serve the public good.

Learn more about PFC’s members and their work here.