Caravaggio and Complex Charitable Purposes
The story of the Confraternità del Pio Monte Della Misericordia and Caravaggio’s painting The Seven Acts of Mercy is a fascinating example of how art and charity can intertwine to convey a powerful mission. December 2024
A Community Fights to Save its Church
Portugal Cove South is a fishing village with approximately 86 residents on the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland that lost its church, but parishers fought back. It’s a story that has implications for churches, estate planning, and the charitable community across Canada. November 2024
Donor Recognition in the Commons
One of the best products in a fundraiser’s toolkit is “donor recognition”, in particular naming a piece of real estate. However, donor recognition sometimes produces a backlash from the public. Public space is branded by private citizens and money. How do we balance these views to achieve positive social outcomes? October 2024
The Foundation Perpetuity Myth
Philanthropy has a perpetuity obsession. For some foundations, perpetuity a sacred ideal, an aspiration that is sometimes unquestioned. Recently, foundations that “spend-down” are valorized as rare entities that value community impact over capital. But the reality is more complex. There is a long history of foundations that aren’t perpetual, and in Canada they are now, arguably, in the majority. July 2024
Child Sponsorship Fundraising
Child sponsorship is one of the greatest mass-market fundraising innovations of all time and a multi-billion dollar a year industry. It’s an effective model that has evolved over time, and it’s not without controversy. How did it emerge? Why is it so enduring? And, really, what’s happening behind the scenes? June 2024
When Philanthropy Offends
Rueben Wells Leonard was an early Canadian tycoon straight out of central casting. He was a pioneering philanthropist whose views created controversy in life and after death. His story is a key part of Canadian philanthropic history, and it contains some relevant lessons for today. April 2024
Nuns and Money With Purpose
This is a story about my mother, Carol Burrows, who dedicated her life to volunteer and community action. It’s also about how money has purpose and that purpose can be transferred from one generation to next. December 2023.
Scholarships & Other Educational Awards
Student awards are one of the most popular charitable purposes, especially in estates. Donors often strongly identify with the life changing benefit of direct educational funding to students. Named scholarship funds are often named and constitute part of the donor’s legacy. November 2023
The Perpetual Debate over Endowments
Charitable endowments are having a challenging moment. Endowments, which focus on long-term public benefit, have a built-in tension between capital and annual spending. Does the capital exist to provide steady future good, or could it be used better now? June 2023
Time Matters in Philanthropy
SickKids Foundation’s year-end giving campaign has generated a lot of attention for its gripping “Vs” spots. Skillfully edited, the ad borrows fight, hip-hop and adventure movie imagery to dramatize the plight of the hospital’s young patients. This campaign is highly effective and a great example of visceral, urgent annual fundraising. Raw emotion has a place in charitable giving, but it doesn’t serve large “exceptional” donations at tax year-end and in estates.
Community-based Scholarships
Generally educational institutions, particularly at the post-secondary level, do an excellent job of administering awards. In my work, however, I have found a growing number of donors who want to help students who are in a specific community and/or share challenges or characteristics. The goal of these donors is to help the student, regardless of where they intend to study. In other words, the loyalty of the donor is to the future students, not a college or university.
Charity v. Benevolence
Last week I received two inquiries from caring colleagues hoping to help individuals in need. One person had cancer and had lost his business, while the other was a sick child who perhaps could benefit from her own charitable foundation. As heart-rending as these stories are, neither qualify as “charity”. Both are forms of benevolence.
Charitable Matching Funds
As a fundraiser at a university in the early 1990s I discovered that a primary extra incentive for major charitable gifts is matching funds. Typically from government sources, matching funds are compelling to donors and important fundraising tools for a lucky few charities. Unfortunately they create an uneven playing field in the charitable sector.
Canada’s Greatest Impact Donation
Impact is one of those philanthropic buzzwords that’s hard to define, but perhaps easy to know when you see it. The Gooderham donation for Connaught has all the elements.
4x $100 Million+
In 11 weeks between March 25 and June 3, 2019 three $100 million dollar charitable donations were announced in Ontario. On February 13th, McGill University in Montreal announced a $200 million donation. These are enormous sums, and this unprecedented donation cluster is just the beginning of bigger things to come.
It’s useful to understand a bit of context.
The Plague and Charitable Bequests
In 1348 the plague hit Florence – and Europe – hard. Half the population died in this densely populated city of 80,000. One result of this mass die-off was 350,000 florins of bequests to one organization, Orsanmichele, a grain market with a miracle producing Madonna shrine…
The Charity Capacity Gap
Canada’s 85,896 registered charities have wide-ranging capacity, but these variations are often underappreciated. Estate donors – and their professional advisors – often focus on cause and tax status, but ignore organizational health indicators like history, funding, staffing, and governance. What should estate donors look for in a charity?
One in Ten: Why Bequest Donors don’t inform Charities
One in ten. That, according to charitable sector studies, is how many estate donors inform the charities in their will of their intentions. While this ratio varies by charity it underscores a fascinating paradox. Bequest donors trust charities enough to make them beneficiaries of their estate, but they don’t trust them enough to tell them in advance.
When Private Foundations Die
Private foundations are believed to be durable entities. Perpetuity is assumed. Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) data shows, however, that 2,319 private foundations closed during the period 2000 to 2021.
The Philanthropist as Villain
Some of the most nefarious villains in popular culture are philanthropists. The fabulous – and fabulously junky – Netflix series Lupin makes it clear. Philanthropists are smiling hypocrites with too much money and no scruples. Evil.