Every year in Canada the philanthropic sector is the focus of deep examination and extensive research. These initiatives are often collated into reports which provide valuable insights into our world.
A handful of releases receive extensive coverage and have strong awareness in our communities and are faithfully examined by all of us. The annual Giving Report from CanadaHelps would be one example of research which most of the sector reads. Divulged each May, the release is highly anticipated and takes place during a public press conference that is available to attend online or sometimes in person.
Not all reports have our full attention, however. Not all reports attract coverage or get the exposure and publicity they deserve. These reports are conducted assembled and analyzed by organizations which may serve specific audiences, geographic areas or types of philanthropic missions. Many are examining parts of our sector which feed off the data and the insights to support their missions. The research helps their key audience understand what might be changing and how to address those changes. However, those research reports provide credible, useful and unique research which should be shared among the national collective of more than 80,000 charities, nonprofits and community organizations, and all the associated companies which serve philanthropy.
That’s why Charity eNews will be turning our ongoing attention to shining a light on research which appears each year and we invite our readers to thumb through these reports to consider how the results might impact their decisions for all aspects of their work.
This week, we shine our torch on three major pieces of reasonably recent research that you may not have seen, didn’t know about, or skipped over without realizing it. Some information was released in the recent past. Nevertheless, they remain current and invaluable. Here are the three organizations whose research is highlight in this issue:
- Victoria Foundation.
- CAF Canada
- Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation
Inside the Reports
Victoria Foundation: Vital Signs Report
Since 1936, the Victoria Foundation has managed charitable gifts to create permanent, income-earning funds that support hundreds of charities each year. The value of their total assets under administration has increased to over $650 million since their inception. The foundation’s growth has enabled them to support and develop innovative programs to help keep Victoria well. They provide insightful, effective grant distributions and the foundation has distributed more than $400 million to registered Canadian charities locally and across Canada. Their strategic funding drives impact and improves wellbeing in the community. Grants are distributed through a variety of ways including donor advised funds, donor designated funds, discretionary funds, open grant calls and more.
For 20 years, the Victoria Foundation has produced Victoria’s Vital Signs report. This annual community check-up measures wellbeing in their region, identifies concerns and supports action on issues that are critical to the quality of life. Based on the results from an online citizen survey and local community data, they develop the report to connect philanthropy to community needs and opportunities. Since its 2006 inception, more than 43,000 people have participated in the program locally. The Toronto Foundation helped develop and share the Vital Signs concept and Community Foundations of Canada for supports a coordinated national Vital Signs initiative.
Since that first issue, the annual check-up has kept the Victoria Foundation listening to the community, curious about its needs, and ready to help fortify areas that need the most strength. It’s expanded the Foundation’s capacity to create partnerships, fund collaborations, and to help organizations coordinate to tackle solutions. Vital Signs, like the Foundation, continues to evolve with the times. Over the years, it’s expanded dramatically and now includes a vibrant digital companion. This platform is full of bonus content and insights, fit for modern computers and mobile devices.
REVIEW AND DOWNLOAD THE REPORT
CAF Canada: The World Giving Report, Canadian Supplement
The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) describes itself as sitting at the centre of the giving world. They bring together generous donors and charities and do this by partnering with independent organizations around the world. The CAF International Network partners are experts in their region and together, work to encourage effective and compliant giving to anywhere in the world. They share regional expertise on pressing causes and innovative solutions to promote philanthropy to enable agile, targeted interventions where there is greatest need.
In conjunction with CAF’s World Giving Report, CAF Canada produced a supplementary report that dives deeper into key regional trends and giving behaviors across the globe. This spotlight offers a more detailed look at how generosity is evolving in Canada. This most recent World Giving Report reflects on the trends shaping global generosity, advancing a more connected, compassionate, and resilient world through giving.
One aspect of this research shows we are a bit out of whack in our perceptions of our own generosity. Canada ranks 50th out of 101 countries for how generous we think we are. We are 57th in terms of the proportion of income we donate. The majority of Canadians donate money, with charities being the most common recipient. Giving directly to others or through religious outlets are less common ways of donating. In fact, we lag behind the global average on these metrics. There’s this and so much more in the CAF Canada giving report.
REVIEW AND DOWNLOAD THE REPORT
Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation: Philanthropy in Place: Community, Care, and Rural Resilience in Atlantic Canada
Philanthropy in Atlantic Canada: Connecting Research, Policy and Practice to Build Resilient Rural Communities was presented at a conference which took place this past May in Newfoundland. It highlighted findings from collaborative, community-engaged research conducted by PhiLab’s Atlantic Research Hub from 2019 to 2025. Much of the existing research on philanthropy in Atlantic Canada builds on earlier research led by the applicant and team members (Barrett and Gibson, 2014; Gibson et al., 2014; Gibson and Barrett, 2018), which features exploratory research pertaining to philanthropic opportunities in the Atlantic region, specifically the role that community foundations play in rural resilience. Key points from this research have been made by other researchers, where they reiterate the vital role communities play in the social fabric and social economy in Canada, the complex dynamics involved in the role they play in enhancing sustainable well-being, as well as the potential they have for cultural and economic resilience.
This Connection Grant initiative focuses on convening intentional discussions to serve as a catalyst for knowledge creation, networking, and community-led development in building resilient rural communities and, in particular, the current and potential future role of philanthropy. Since the initial philanthropic research in Atlantic Canada there has been an emergence of new research knowledge and there is a strategic opportunity to share and weave this emerging research with community practice, policy, and programming. This initiative shared knowledge of innovative successful practices; created a network of community leaders, businesses, governments and researchers; identified new seminal questions related to the role of philanthropy in resilient rural communities; and provided training and mentorship to graduate students and community leaders.
As work continues to better understand the breadth of philanthropy and innovation in Atlantic Canada and the role it plays in building resilient rural communities, it is critical to facilitate dialogue among community development practitioners, policy makers, non-profit organizations and researchers to generate new insights, mobilize innovative practices, and expedite the sharing of lessons. To date, these fora do not exist. The outputs of this initiative will influence community-led development, rural policy, and academic knowledge. The link below is to an abstract of the research as published in the
READ AND DOWNLOAD THE ABSTRACT REPORT
If you haven’t examined any of these research initiatives, take a few minutes to delve into the summaries of the research and keep an open mind about whether they might reflect concerns or challenges in your own organization. Sometimes the route to change is off the usual pathways and may found in the experiences of fellow philanthropists at institutions which warrant the detour.
Steve Lloyd is the Editor of Charity eNews.
