Philanthropic Foundations Canada conference

Event Philanthropic Foundations Canada 3rd Annual Conference
Date 28-29 October 2009
Venue Calgary, Canada
Title The Pulse of Philanthropy

Canadians have a reputation for calmness. They seem to have handled the economic crisis better than most: their banks did not embrace subprime lending with the gusto of their big neighbour to the south – whose troubles have inevitably washed into Canadian waters. At the Philanthropic Foundations Canada 3rd Annual Conference in Calgary on 28-29 October, I asked grantmakers about their reactions to the crisis.

Most were surprisingly relaxed. They spoke about endowments that had lost value but were regaining it quite well. They were meeting commitments and still, on the whole, making new grants, though in some cases only to current grant-holders. But no one spoke of counter-cyclical grantmaking, even when prompted.

In the conference programme and in the corridors and breakout sessions, there was little talk of recession but plenty about doing things better, making money go further and non-grant assistance. That could be a sign of business as usual – grantmakers’ conferences are always dominated by self-critical analyses of how to be more effective. Some speakers alluded to the pressure to perform better that the downturn places on all of us. And there was of course talk of increased unemployment, a new clientele at the food banks, and government cutbacks. But compared to other grantmaker gatherings this year, the recession was a shadow at the margins rather than a full-scale uninvited guest dominating the proceedings.

Was this just Canadian unflappability or a true reflection of a grantmaking community riding out the problem better than their US or European fellows? A September survey of 93 PFC members shows cautious optimism, with dollar expenditure holding pretty much to plan and 2010 budget projections for 72 per cent of respondents expected to be similar to 2009 or better, and the proportion forecasting a reduced budget smaller than in the previous survey in January 2009. So it’s a combination of calm and a better situation.

For more information
www.pfc.ca