While some might consider the pandemic behind them, nothing is less true for many individuals and families who have to rely, unwittingly, on the social safety net to meet their basic needs. We have to admit that in addition to affecting health, COVID has created significant gaps that have contributed to increasing vulnerability, distress and needs on the planet.
As a result, considerable pressure continues to be exerted on organizations that rely heavily on funding from fundraising activities from different types of donors. These causes have been creative, resilient and even combative to ensure not only their survival, but above all to limit service breakdowns as much as possible. We narrowly avoided the worst.
We have seen a strong mobilization in Quebec regarding the philanthropic needs related to the health emergency, other causes have not been able to find the necessary echo in the last 20 months and are at the end of their rope. At present, in addition to delivering their vital services to the population, organizations are thus facing a significant double challenge, namely that of demonstrating their capacity for resilience since the start of the pandemic and that of positioning their relevance and he urgently needs to be supported financially, more than ever, in a context where the demand will be strong at the dawn of the holiday season.
It is therefore likely that you will find that the requests for donations are more numerous than usual. But you should know that this time of year sometimes represents up to 30% of the organizations’ annual funding and that, without your generosity, these organizations could not continue to offer services, as only they know how to do.
Philanthropy could not be more relevant as it helps to rebalance the opportunities between those who have the capacity to give and those who require essential support. So it’s through fundraising, the engine of philanthropy and the causes that change the world for the better, that charities and the programs they run have the funds for today and for the better. ‘to come up.
And like almost all the social issues of the last century that have been carried by the charitable sector, philanthropy will be one of the essential keys to end this pandemic and meet the needs neglected during the health emergency.
This is why National Philanthropy Day takes on its full meaning, and more so in this period, when we owe it to ourselves to take a moment to greet, thank and promote philanthropists, volunteers, fundraising professionals and organizations which, through their generosity and philanthropic actions, make our world a better and more hopeful world. Hope we badly need.
Happy National Philanthropy Day!
Daniel H. Lanteigne, ASC, C. Dir., CFRE, CRHA
President of the Association of Professionals in Philanthropy – Quebec Chapter