A new children’s foundation that vows to operate on a business model to protect donor investments while offering charities longer-term access to funding is launching in Calgary this fall.

The Legacy Children’s Foundation says it will research and screen new and existing children’s programs to ensure they operate within strict criteria – including sound financial management practices, use of information technology to enhance service delivery, and empirical measurement of outcomes, or impacts, of the program on children at risk.

Legacy Foundation CEO Darryl Wernham, a former social worker and manager with the Alberta government’s Children’s Services, says many philanthropists and businesses don’t have the time to research every request they receive for funding. The foundation will act as a go-between to ensure donor dollars are used effectively.

“A big part of this is getting donor confidence. When donors are contributing back to the community, they want to know they’ve got the best possible organization to fulfil its mandate,” he says.

The foundation’s approach is “like doing an audit,” says Wernham. “We look at a number of issues like management and a board governors’ model, how well you use technology, and what your sustainability and strategic plans are like.

Shannon Oatway file photo, Business Edge
Brad Zumwalt, centre, is staging an ‘Olympics of Giving’ conference through SVP Calgary.

“I think we’re going beyond due diligence and really looking at the business operations. Programs supported by us will meet criteria around exemplary programming. And that means we do a ton of research and explore programs that have proven to be successful.”

Unlike some other funding sources, Legacy also plans to provide charitable groups with continuous five-year funding to promote their stability, “and that’s unique in terms of foundation work,” says Wernham.

The foundation will initially focus on Calgary-area groups that provide early intervention-type services in a number of areas, including early childhood education, special needs, young offenders and fetal alcohol syndrome. It later hopes to spread across Alberta.

About $150,000 in seed money has already been contributed to the foundation by an anonymous corporate donor, and Wernham hopes more donors, both corporate and private, will climb aboard over the summer before the foundation’s official launch this fall. Legacy has opened an office at #400, 2424 4 St. S.W., Calgary, and can be reached at 244-3074. Meanwhile, another group which helps charities through a business venture-capital model is gathering some of North America’s leading philanthropists for an “Olympics of Giving” event in Calgary next week.

Social Venture Partners Calgary, the local chapter of a continent-wide organization dedicated to volunteerism and giving, has invited 100 members from 23 affiliates to its third annual conference in Calgary on May 30-31 to learn more about strategic philanthropy.

“There are all sorts of needs continuing to emerge all the time,” says Brad Zumwalt, who with his wife Tanya founded Calgary’s SVP in 2000. “We’re focused on making sure there’s just as much growth in experienced, strategic donors as there is in the escalation of need that always seems to be going on.”

SVP members invest their money and expertise, with their only return on investment being social change, says vice-chair Jamie Leong-Huxley. The local chapter, which includes more than 60 individuals and couples, has since its inception contributed more than $450,000 to eight not-for- profit groups, including the Calgary Urban Project Society’s One World Child Development Centre, and Calgary Community Support for Young Parents. Like the new Legacy Foundation, SVP looks at longer-term funding relationships (three to five years) with not-for-profits.

“Most successful organizations, corporate or otherwise, realize the success of contributing back to the community, and I think more and more they’re realizing the benefits of doing so,” adds Leong-Huxley.

Web watch:
www.legacyfoundation.net
www.svpvcalgary.org