Looking down the boardwalk approaching the NOOK, a public meeting place belonging to the Cortes Community Foundation
Community

Communitas: how the Cortes Foundation doubled the money for this year’s Grants in Aid

In this morning’s interview Manda Aufochs Gillespie, Executive Director of the Cortes Island Community Foundation, discusses a fund called Communitas and explains how the Cortes Foundation doubled the money for this year’s Grant in Aid.


image credit: Money by Rick via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

The Cortes Island Community Foundation’s roots go back to 2018 when,  operating under the charitable umbrella of the Cortes Island Seniors Society, it raised $1.2 million for the downpayment on the 51 acre parcel in Mansons Landing now owned by the Cortes Housing Society. The Foundation obtained charitable status in 2021. Unlike more traditional foundations, it does not rely on a long-standing endowment to fund its work.

Manda Aufochs Gillespie: “As some people know, because I like to say it a lot, we’ve only been around (as a charity) for four years and we’re from a new breed of foundation that does not have money sitting in an endowment. We’re a new foundation and we don’t want to wait to help the community organizations and groups and volunteers and neighbours that are doing good things. There’s so much to be done now.”

They’ve been fortunate in that, over the past four years, the government and Community Foundations of Canada have provided funding to distribute directly through community foundations to local groups. So the Cortes Foundation was able to distribute $100,000 to different Cortes organizations doing COVID recovery and between $200,000 and $300,000 to issues related to gender equity.

“We’re so proud of the work that the Cortes Island Women’s Center, Cortes Community Health Association (CCHA), and the Southern Cortes Community Association (SCCA) have been able to do around gender equity, including now having full-time childcare that gets $10 a day funding. These were all things that we were able to grant out over time.”

“We also have been practicing community granting by helping adjudicate and advise what we thought the Grant in Aid should be used for. Mark Vonesch, our Regional Director, has taken those recommendations to the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Board for final decision making. But every year there are projects that come forward that we are not able to fund because they’re not eligible for Grant in Aid, or there’s just not enough money. The Grant in Aid has more or less stayed the same for years, and $25,000 does not go that far.”

“We were really lucky this year because a donor came to us and said, ‘Hey, we want to direct some funds into the community for our greatest need.’ And we said, ‘Well, if you would trust us, what we would love to do is put this into a new fund called Communitas, where we would use it to do community granting and to engage in the process where we get community input and look at needs.’”

“So when Grant in Aid came around this year, we were so excited because, for the first time ever, we had our own funds! We could give out as we wanted and leverage the Grant in Aid funds that the SRD was giving out. We used that process that we were going through anyway, and we were able to make more with what was already there. It wasn’t just having more money. We could fund organizations such as the Cortes Island School Parent Advisory Committee (PAC), which had not been eligible for our Grant in Aid funding.”

“Through Communitas, we could add our own spin to it. So this year we said, if you want to apply for funds for collaboration—going outside the norm, trying something new, that feels a little risky—we’ll make you eligible for even more than what we usually do for Grant in Aid, so that you can take a risk on collaborations. You could spend a little extra time working outside just your lane and working with others, etc. We were really excited. The response from the community was great, and how amazing is it to be able to say more yeses!”

“The total pot we were able to give away this year was $25,000 that came from the Community Foundation via the Communitas Fund and $25,000 that came via the SRD through the Grant in Aid process, which is taxpayer dollars coming back to your community.”

Cortes Currents: Is this something you’re going to possibly be doing again next year? 

Manda Aufochs Gillespie: Yes, we now have a little bit of funding. What we’re hoping to be able to do is again look for places that we can leverage.”

“I hope to do the exact same thing with Grant in Aid. This is not our process, but it’s something that happens in the community. Every year we hope that our director, Mark Vonesch, and the Regional District will agree to let us play with them. It makes it more inviting to play with us if we can bring some of our own money.”

“This year we’ll also be using a little bit of the Communitas Fund to leverage our MicroGrants 4 Neighbours program. We have some other exciting announcements that will be coming up about our MicroGrants 4 Neighbours, which is going to launch in just about a month from now. So stay tuned.”

Cortes Currents: What about occasions that come up during the year for different social profits – or for different projects? Do you have to be a nonprofit to receive a grant? 

Manda Aufochs Gillespie: “You’re actually hitting on something that is changing right now. It’s the largest change in charitable law ever in Canadian history, as far as I understand. As of this year, community foundations will be able to start granting to organizations and individuals doing charitable work, even if they are not themselves a charity. Organizations that are not established as charities can apply for grants. They probably would not be eligible under Grant in Aid, but they would potentially be eligible under grants that the community foundation is giving out, like Communitas.” 

Cortes Currents: So the community foundation would make the definition of what they’re looking for, what and who they want to grant?

Manda Aufochs Gillespie: “Yes, a charity is a legal entity registered with, among other things, the CRA, but charitable work is different; it’s much broader and, I think, left to be defined. Charitable work is doing the kinds of things that used to be called charity. So if you’re helping relieve poverty, if you’re doing education, if you’re helping provide affordable housing, these would be considered charitable works, from my understanding.”

“I’m not speaking as a charitable lawyer, but as someone who’s been talking with a charitable lawyer. We’ve tried to keep this as open as possible and are doing things on the cutting edge for many foundations. This means we can go even further than we’ve done before. We’re working with lawyers, our board, and staff to figure out how to continue lowering the barriers between our community and the amazing work that they want to do.”

“I’ll add one thing: we are not a foundation that is sitting on a pile of money, so none of this is possible without the ongoing efforts to find the money. We hope to do a better job, again and again, of telling the story of our amazing community and all the hard work that’s happening there. We can help potential donors further the works that they want to see on Cortes and make it easier for them to donate to help those works. And we can make it easier for all the different community groups, neighbours, and volunteers doing the work to receive the funds that they need. That job of continuing to get the dollars where they’re needed is endless.”

Volunteers

“If people do want to fund things or have ideas about where to find the money, we are listening. If you are listening and you would like to donate, small or large doesn’t matter. The point of a community foundation is that even small amounts can make a huge difference because we’re piling it up with other money. Communitas is a great example of that. We were able to double what Grant in Aid did in the past through MicroGrants 4 Neighbours, which is coming out soon. Even $50 can make a difference. If you’d like to donate small amounts or large amounts, it’s all appreciated.”

“You can go to cortesfoundation.ca/donate and figure out what makes sense for you. CortesFoundation.ca— that’s all you have to remember. There are lots of ways to get to the donate button, or if you’re wondering what grants are available or other ways you might partner with the foundation, please visit our website.”

“There are no active grants on the website right now, but there will be soon, including the MicroGrants 4 Neighbours. You do not have to be an organization to apply for that. There are other ways you can partner with us, and we’re always interested in hearing how we can make doing the good work on Cortes Island easier.”

Links of Interest:

Top image credit: Yhe Nook – a place where the Cortes Community meets – courtesy Cortes Community Foundation

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