September is Community Foundations Month

Happy Community Foundations Month! This annual celebration aims to raise awareness about community foundations and how they support local non-profits and charities.

What are Community Foundations?

Community Foundations are different from other non-profits. Instead of collecting donations for specific causes, their purpose is to guide financial and volunteer support to where it is needed most. In other words, Community Foundations help people ‘give where they live’ by working with donors and partners to create permanent endowment funds that generate income to support local charities and non-profits long term.

From big to small, there are over 200 community foundations across Canada making a difference. With approximately 50 community foundations alone in British Columbia, they collectively granted over $121 million to organizations throughout their communities during the 2020 fiscal year.

Community foundations across Vancouver Island

The Victoria Foundation would also like to recognize the wonderful community foundations committed to improving quality of life in communities across Vancouver Island.

• The Metchosin Foundation
• Salt Spring Island Foundation
• Nanaimo Foundation
• Alberni Valley Community Foundation
• Parksville-Qualicum Community Foundation
• Comox Valley Community Foundation
• Clayoquot Biosphere Trust
• Campbell River Community Foundation
• Saanich Peninsula Community Foundation

The story behind the Victoria Foundation

Did you know that the Victoria Foundation is the second oldest Community Foundation in Canada, after Winnipeg?

Established in 1936 by Burges Gadsden, we started our 86-year journey as a soup kitchen called the Sunshine Inn. Located on Pandora Avenue, it had a vision to support the community during the darkest days of the Depression. Gadsden’s dream of creating a solid funding source to support charities throughout the community was finally realized following an Act of the B.C. Legislature.

The first gift came from Burges’ mother, Fannie Gadsden. Though she gave $20 “with the wish that I could afford one hundred dollars to so fine an undertaking,” her generosity changed the community forever. To this day, the Foundation still stewards this original gift.

Now a registered charity, we have since managed numerous charitable gifts to create permanent, income-earning funds that support hundreds of charities each year. As a result, we have granted over $287 million to our community since 1936 and distribute approximately $1.5 million a month in grants.

Aligning philanthropy with the UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2006, the Victoria Foundation joined the Vital Signs Program. Spearheaded by Community Foundations of Canada and led by community foundations across the country, it is Canada’s most extensive community-driven data program. The Vital Signs Program helps support evidence-based solutions to improve the quality of life in communities.

The Vital Signs Program also enables us to measure the vitality of our region, identify concerns, and support action on issues that are critical to our quality of life. Based on the results of our annual citizen survey, we produce a Vital Signs report to align philanthropy to community needs and opportunities.

The Victoria Foundation also connects our program to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This helps us measure local data while aligning our initiatives with common global indicators. The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals are an urgent call for action that aim to build a better world for all people and our planet by 2030. They are ambitious and require a new way of thinking and a refined form of philanthropy.

Happy Community Foundations Month!