Series - Editorial Fellowship: Transforming Funding Models

It’s 2023. Are you still using a ‘lip service’ land acknowledgement? There’s a better way — and a new Indigenous-led fundraising school is here to help.

Author Marja Monteiro
“I think that truly, people would rather not hear an acknowledgement, than hear one that just totally misses the mark,” says Morgan Kalk, instructor of a workshop on Indigenous protocols.

Why It Matters

Indigenous people are donors, volunteers, partners and beneficiaries in the charitable sector. Non-Indigenous teams need to be well-equipped to respectfully engage with Indigenous people in all of these roles. It’s both basic respect, and it’s mission-critical for modern charitable organizations’ funding models.

This independent journalism is made possible by the Future of Good editorial fellowship covering the social impact world’s rapidly changing funding models, supported by Future of Good, Community Foundations of Canada, and United Way Centraide Canada. See our editorial ethics and standards here.

For the David Suzuki Foundation, “lip service” land acknowledgements are on the outs.

You know the ones: A speaker reads from their notes. They name the Indigenous peoples whose territory the event is taking place on. They might also briefly describe their organization’s commitment to supporting Indigenous people — but there’s little more to it.

At the David Suzuki Foundation (DSF), one of the country’s best-known environmental organizations, on the ins, instead, are lan

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