Social Finance
About This Collection
After a turbulent two years of a global pandemic and social unrest, communities are experiencing fundamental shifts to how we work, care, create value, get around, travel, play, learn, and purchase. From child care to affordable housing, from decarbonization to reforestation, from elder care to food security — there are game-changing transitions ahead. Through social finance, we have the enormous opportunity to accelerate solutions by creatively mobilizing private, public, community, and philanthropic capital.
How Greta Thunberg helped one Quebec foundation get hooked on funding social movements
Foundations have finite resources and big social policy objectives. A new report from the Broadbent Institute argues funders can make bigger strides on their social policy goals by funding social movements than they can through lobbying or research alone.
“Totally unethical” charity wage disparities compound effects of inflation, pandemic
Non-profits need staff to deliver programs, but without adequate funding they struggle to recruit and retain employees. Future funding models must take the full cost of doing business into account — and that means fairly compensating frontline workers.
Does an ‘extraordinary’ half-billion dollar donation offer new potential for affordable housing in Winnipeg?
The Winnipeg Foundation, Canada’s largest community foundation, just announced they have been gifted one of Winnipeg’s largest apartment rental companies. How they choose to steward this asset could impact Winnipeg’s housing market in the coming years.
Higher growth through sustainable investment? Winners of Great Canadian ESG Championship think so
How foundations, pension plans, organizations and individuals invest their assets has the power to fight climate change, nurture responsible government and drive social change. Raising awareness of responsible options can push investors towards sustainable options.
Investigation: After George Floyd was murdered, corporate Canada promised philanthropic support for Black communities. What have they disclosed donating since?
Black charities in Canada get a fraction of the donations raised by their white-led peers. When George Floyd was murdered and millions marched for Black lives in communities across North America, some Canadian corporations made six-figure donation pledges in support of Black communities. Whether they and their corporate peers have continued to give has material implications for Black Canadians across the country.
A flipped power dynamic: Philanthropists must apply to a council of aunties to fund these Indigenous groups
Funders and grantmakers often wield considerable power over their fundees, determining what gets funded, when and how. The Right Relations Collaborative flips this power dynamic by putting Indigenous aunties in the driver’s seat. The model is firmly rooted in a local territory, but offers a new approach to grantmaking that could inspire a shift in funding relationships across the country.