Aaron McRann, executive director of the Community Foundation for the South Okanagan-Similkameen, and regional development co-ordinator Sarah Trudeau, made a presentation to the Osoyoos Rotary Club during the organization’s weekly meeting last Thursday at the Best Western Inn Hotel. Club president Brian Rawlings posed with the pair after their presentation. Trudeau is hoping a new committee in Osoyoos will be able to raise more money and assist more charities in 2014. (Keith Lacey photo)
An organization that has accumulated more than $9 million in assets to assist non-profit and charity organizations over the past 20 years is planning on helping Osoyoos charities in a much bigger way in the coming years.
Speaking at last week’s regular weekly meeting of the Osoyoos Rotary Club, Aaron McRann, executive director of the Community Foundation of South Okanagan/Similkameen, and Sarah Trudeau, the regional development co-ordinator, said a newly-formed committee from Osoyoos will hopefully lead to many more local charities receiving funding from the community foundation in 2014 and in future years.
“We want to create a culture of philanthropy,” said Trudeau, who was hired last year to promote the community foundation and the good work it does in all of the smaller communities located across the South Okanagan outside of Penticton.
What started as a donation of $200,000 from the Vancouver Foundation back in 1993 has now grown to more than $9 million in assets, all of which is raised through donations from private individuals, said McRann.
Less than 20 years later, the Community Foundation of South Okanagan-Similkameen now assists hundreds of charity organizations and distributes more than $220,000 in annual funding, he said.
There are now 193 community foundations spread across Canada and the goal, as presented by Governor General David Johnston last year, is to have a community foundation in place for every community in this country before 2017, which is the year Canada will celebrate its 150th birthday, said McRann.
The local foundation is a member of the Community Foundation of Canada, which provides research, legal and support services to individual foundations from coast to coast, he said.
The way the local foundation runs is capital that is donated to various endowment funds is held in trust forever, but the interest from the growing fund is distributed to various charity organizations following a detailed application process, he said.
“All of our work is based on the concept of creating a vibrant community,” he said.
Last year, the Community Foundation of South Okanagan-Similkameen distributed $223,000 in funding and that will increase by roughly $17,000 for 2014 as the total endowment fund continues to grow, he said.
A board of directors reviews all applications and decides where the money will be distributed, he said.
While all charity organizations are eligible to apply for funding, history has shown that the majority of money is given to three key areas, including social services (43 per cent), children and youth services (17 per cent) and arts and culture (16 per cent).
Administration takes up less than five per cent of the costs, as he and Trudeau are the only full-time employees.
When a private individual makes a donation, they often make specific demands on where they would like the money spent and for specific causes, said McRann.
The foundation is obligated to fulfill those wishes and “about half of the money we distribute goes to a charity of choice,” he said.
The other half goes to where the board of directors feels it would best be spent, he said.
There were a total of 65 applications and $650,000 in funding requests last year and that is expected to rise exponentially in 2014, he said.
“There is a lot of need in the community,” he said. “The federal government and provincial government continue to cut back on providing assistance to charities and that puts more pressure on organizations like ours.”
The foundation has expanded its mandate over the past decade and now offers services in areas like grant advising, donor relations, tax and will seminars, grant writing workshops and producing a document called “Vital Signs” that details information and statistics about each community it serves, including Osoyoos, he said.
Trudeau said a local committee that currently has eight members is looking to expand the role and impact of the community foundation in Osoyoos.
Osoyoos charities received just over $5,200 in funding in 2013 and the goal is to dramatically increase the amount of money donated locally and to be able to distribute a much larger amount of funding moving forward, she said.
A major fundraiser will be held in Osoyoos in April, but the exact details haven’t been finalized, she said.
A tax and will seminar will also be held in October.
“We’re still looking for community members,” she said.
The deadline for organizations looking for funding from the Community Foundation of South Okanagan-Similkameen is February 7.
Anyone wanting more information can contact McRann or Trudeau in Penticton at 250-493-9311. You can get more information online at www.cfso.net.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
