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about us
Vision Statement:
Making A Lasting Difference in Our Communites
Mission Statement:
The Community Foundation Grey Bruce exists to enrich the quality of life of the
people of the community by supporting not-for-profit charitable, educational,
and cultural organizations.
Purpose
Community Foundations bring together people who care about their communities.
Community Foundation Grey Bruce is an independent, volunteer-driven, charitable
organization that aims to strengthen communities through philanthropy by partnering
with donors to build permanent endowments and other funds from which community
projects can be supported. It also provides leadership on issues of broad community
concern.
Founded on trust, a Community Foundation helps donors achieve their charitable
goals and invest in their communities both now and far into the future. Currently,
the Community Foundation Grey Bruce manages $4.3 million in assets.
As responsible members of the voluntary sector, the Community Foundation strives
for flexible, transparent governance and leadership practices that welcome volunteer
involvement, encourage dialogue among diverse voices in the community and inspire
commitment to philanthropy. Any planned gift, big or small, to either an endowed
fund or a flow through fund is philanthropy.
It is the Community Foundation Grey Bruce's goal to help people realize their
philanthropy wishes and enable them to become involved in building their community.
All Community Foundations have 3 main roles:
Location
Community Foundation Grey Bruce is located at 946 3rd Avenue East in Carney's
Lane in Owen Sound.
What is a Community Foundation?
A Foundation is an organization managed by a volunteer Board of Directors to
accept funds, invest and manage them for maximum return and dispense the interest
regularly, based upon requests. The grants are distributed under established guidelines
designed to enrich the quality of life of the community. Foundations are charitable
non-profit organizations.
Foundations consider the community as a whole, in their support of not-for-profit
charitable, educational and educational organizations. Foundations enrich the
quality of life in the community. Foundations think and plan in the long term.
What do Community Foundations do?
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Pool the charitable gifts of many donors into permanent, income-earning endowment
funds that benefit local communities.
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Make grants from the earnings of these funds to support a wide range of local
initiatives-from health, education and social services to arts and culture and
the environment.
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Provide leadership to their communities by bringing people together from all
sectors to identify and address local issues.
Canada's Community Foundations hold combined assets of nearly $2.8billion. Community Foundations made over $140 million in grants to thousands of charities
across Canada.
Who gives to Community Foundations?
All kinds of people. Many types of gifts-cash, real estate, stock, artwork and
insurance-are contributed to community foundations. Donors can choose to support
their hometown broadly or designate a favourite cause or charity. Flexibility
is key. Community foundations provide many services to donors to help them make
the most of their charitable gifts.
Many charities also place their endowment funds with community foundations in
order to benefit from greater returns on their investments.
Why a local Community Foundation?
Governments cannot, nor indeed should not be expected to, provide support for
all the activities that make communities special. The funds generated by a local
Foundation would stay in the community and benefit its citizens directly. While
grants are not designed to support operating budgets, they are supportive of special
needs of local groups. Grants are based upon applications which are reviewed regularly
by the Board of Directors. The Board is comprised of members of the immediate
community.
A local Community Foundation would not compete with either the Donors' Association,
or the Hospital Foundation. Both of these organizations, and others like them,
are designed to support specific recipients. In the case of the Donor's Association,
funds are directed to the specified charity to disburse as deemed necessary. Funds
raised by the Hospital Foundation are managed by the Directors of that specific
corporation. The Community Foundation would disburse grants based solely upon
specific independent grant requests by a qualifying organization.
What is the source of funds?
Funds are raised, or donated as tax-deductible contributions. The preferred form
is a permanent endowment that has no restriction or designation.
Funds donated are pooled to gain the maximum investment return. Only the interest
received from these investments is available for grants. The invested principal
is managed by a committee of the Board of Directors.
How are Community Foundations structured?
Winnipeg established the first community foundation in Canada in 1921. Today,
they span the country from Vancouver Island to Prince Edward Island, serving large
and small urban centres and rural communities. Their endowment funds are professionally
invested in diverse portfolios to ensure that they are managed wisely and profitably.
Each community foundation is autonomous and governed by a volunteer board of
local leaders. Yet they are linked and supported by Community Foundations of Canada's
strong national network.
Under the direction of Ernestine McKenna, the Community Foundation Grey Bruce
was established in 1994 (as the Owen Sound & Area Community Foundation) with
the Eva Leflar pledge of $50,000. The Community Foundation has grown and now manages
over $2.5 million in assets.
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