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Innovation in Philanthropy If you Google the definition of innovation, you will see phrases like “new ideas” and “new methods”. These are both true. But from a broader perspective, innovation is about looking at how we are currently doing things, and adapting those practices for greater impact and purpose. Innovation is something we talk a lot about in philanthropy. New solutions are needed to address big issues affecting marginalized people across our community, the country and the world. We wrote an article for the Advocate in the fall of 2018 that also talked about innovation in philanthropy, and it likely could be an annual submission. Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation (KWCF) continues to be committed to making it easier for businesses, organizations and individuals to do more good, and it’s important to adapt and evolve in the best ways to support those efforts.
Farwell approached KWCF to partner on this initiative. And by partnering with KWCF on a community-based fund, it gave local businesses an opportunity to get on-board — and according to Farwell, “that's when everything changed”. Instead of Farwell himself washing windows or weeding gardens for individual community members, now businesses also had an opportunity to participate by donating a portion of their sales or profit to the campaign. "Not only did it open up our campaign to a brand new and much larger audience, but it also allowed businesses to demonstrate their commitment to community,” says Farwell. “What better way to say you’re invested in where you work than by supporting a charity where the funds raised in the community, stay in the community? It’s obvious that businesses in Waterloo Region put community first.”
That is exactly what KWCF has been thinking about and doing over the past year. And, it’s become even more important in the time of COVID-19, when so many have been negatively impacted by the pandemic. Through innovation, there is hope.
The business community has also stepped up to help with campaigns where COVID has impacted the physical donation of items. This includes the ToastyToes Waterloo Region campaign, which has been collecting socks for Out of the Cold shelters since 2013.
Today, we want to share three examples of ways KWCF is collaborating with businesses and organizations to innovate in the philanthropic space. These include: setting up community-based funds that make it easier for businesses to participate in fundraising efforts, collaborating with businesses to support needs in our community, and partnering with others across Waterloo Region to tackle critical issues like affordable housing.
In 2020, ToastyToes creator Sharon Gilroy-Dreher asked charitable organizations supporting our most vulnerable neighbours how they wanted to receive socks. They responded that having access to funds, and the flexibility to purchase socks when they needed them, would be best moving forward. Then, with KWCF’s help, Sharon was able to set up a fund that could help facilitate that. (The current campaign runs until December 10, 2020).
Community-based fundraising This year, KWCF collaborated with local community champions to help manage donations through an endowment fund that also has a flow-through component. This allows dollars raised to flow right back out in the community, during a period when funds are needed immediately, while still ensuring there are funds invested to be able to grant into the community in the longer-term. One example is the Farwell4Hire Fund. The Farwell4Hire campaign started in 2014 with a simple tweet. Mike Farwell offered his services as a lawn-mower, car-washer, gardenweeder, and countless other tasks in exchange for a donation to cystic fibrosis. “It was as grassroots as you can get,” says Farwell. In 2020, the campaign came together for community – helping charitable organizations that were struggling to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic while continuing to serve vulnerable people across Waterloo Region.
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“I had to reimagine how ToastyToes would happen in the community,” says Gilroy-Dreher. “Now that the shift has been made to collecting funds, I took a chance and connected with some customer-facing businesses in the retail and food services space, in addition to the traditional brick-and-mortar, office-based businesses that had supported me for years. As a result I have a real mix of wonderful businesses, some workfrom-home and office-based staff, and some new independent customer-facing companies as well.” These are just two examples of the community-based funds created to support local fundraising efforts. Other examples include the: • Heart Beats Hate Fund, established by business and community leader Alan Quarry to help encourage kindness • Black Community Solidarity Fund, created to increase sustainability of youth-focused and community-care projects of the African Community Wellness Initiative (ACWI) and other Black-led organizations • Communitech COVID-19 Response Fund, which saw
