This text is part of the special Philanthropy section
A growing trend in the philanthropic world.
“This is a trend that several foundations are considering taking into account,” summarizes Anne-Marie Day, general director of the Fondation Famille Léger. Increasingly, private foundations are looking for ways to become partners in different causes. They share information to make a greater impact with non-profit organizations or charities. » While she concedes that pooling is not yet commonplace in the philanthropic world, she believes that the phenomenon is nevertheless growing while the pandemic has increased needs and challenges remain numerous.
Pooling resources is “full of meaning,” for Chantal Thomas, senior director at the Philantra Foundation and private foundations of National Bank Trust. According to her, this way of doing things can allow philanthropic organizations to survive or keep management costs reasonably low.
At Banque Nationale Trust, clients are looking more for a less expensive option. “It becomes less expensive to get into a vehicle already ready with cost sharing. We can say that it is a kind of mutualization. It’s much cheaper than running your own private foundation. And that’s a strong trend,” she believes.
Having an impact despite the emergency
The Léger Family Foundation has also cooperated with other foundations during the pandemic. Thus, she came to the aid of the Cantine pour tous, a non-profit organization which set up a school meal program.
“What this brought was more significant financial support for the implementation of this program. It also made it possible to mobilize the government to invest more money. And today, these canteen efforts are bearing fruit and the government’s support is really more concrete,” rejoices M.me Day.
Thus, even if each organization has a distinct mission, the fact that several decide to collaborate on similar initiatives means that we can have more impact, she emphasizes. And even though the Fondation Famille Léger has only existed for eight years, it has already joined forces with those of other players in the philanthropic sector.
“We had the privilege of grouping together with other foundations, sometimes in similar fields of action. And this, to analyze what is happening in Quebec society and find what mobilizing projects are,” adds Mme Day. She believes that pooling allows philanthropic institutions to contribute more substantially.
She also indicates that, during the health crisis, several foundations joined forces to donate electronic tablets to elderly people so that they can communicate with their families in confinement. “We were in an emergency,” she recalls.
The pandemic has also mobilized philanthropic organizations. According to Anne-Marie Day, emergency situations force foundations to organize themselves in order to quickly respond to a need during a crisis. “They want to come together even more and change things,” she believes.
And even if the health crisis is behind us, foundations have maintained links in order to be able to join forces if the opportunity arises. “Informally, with other general directors of private foundations, we meet regularly and discuss the projects and requests for donations that we receive. We are trying to see which ones could be carriers and how we could respond to them effectively,” explains M.me Day.
Cost rationalization
Poverty, precariousness, mental health… Chantal Thomas observes that the needs are acute in several spheres of society and force philanthropists to ensure better management of their funds. “We are going to have discussions about rationalizing costs and efficiency, while private foundations and their clients are looking for reasonable formulas to carry out their philanthropy. We have crossroads or associations, meeting places, there are many things for people who work in philanthropy,” she lists.
Anne-Marie Day agrees and notes more organization within private foundations. An organization that facilitates sharing.
“Before, private foundations were often managed by a family who volunteered,” she concludes. Now, there are many philanthropy professionals who are at the heart of the structure and who support the governance of private foundations. This means that we can communicate better with each other. More and more, we see initiatives like these. It is certain that, if we speak again in five years, the picture will be really different. »
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