Columbia Valley Community Foundation
Our Work
As the Community Foundation for the region between Canal Flats and Spillimacheen, we build community vitality by:
- Pooling charitable gifts into a permanent, income-earning endowment that benefits the region and fulfills the philanthropic objectives of donors
- Making grants from the earnings of these funds to support a broad variety of initiatives; from health, education and social services, to arts, culture and the environment;
In addition, we also:
- Support strategic decision making through the publication of the Vital Signs report. This community snapshot is used by non-profit, public and private sectors to make better plans for our community’s future.
- Liaise with other members of Canada’s charitable giving landscape.
- Offer neutral advice and support to all kinds of individuals and organizations working to make philanthropic decisions in the region.
What is a community foundation?
What’s an endowment fund?
The term “endowment fund” means a sum of money which is permanently invested and whose income is devoted to a specific cause.
Our Organization
We were founded in 2001 by a dedicated group of community visionaries to support community vitality by building a mechanism for sustainable funding through investments. Our investments are made through a larger organization, the Vancouver Foundation, to ensure stable returns and good governance.
Since we began, we have donated thousands of dollars to causes near and dear to the heart of the Columbia Valley, We are a member in good standing of Community Foundations of Canada and a Registered Charitable Organization.
What is our relationship to government?
While we often help distribute money provided by the government for particular purposes through grant streams (for example, COVID Emergency Response Funds), we are an independent organization.
Milestones
- The Foundation is formed and charitable status is approved
- Grants distributed for the first time
- Endowed assets surpasses $1 million
- Single largest donation ($1,475,000) received from the Estate
of Arnold Ellis; Arnold Ellis Scholarship Fund established
- First Executive Director is hired
- First scholarships disbursed from the Arnold Ellis Scholarship Fund.
- First Vital Signs Report is produced
- Winner of Community Impact Award at the Columbia Valley Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards
- Cumulative Community Grants surpass $500,000
- The Foundation distributes $100,000 in COVID funding on behalf of the Federal Government
- Market value of all assets surpass $5 million.
- The Doerr Family donates $1 million to support Columbia Valley youth in memory of their son Tommy.
Granting & Endowments
We support a variety of initiatives for the public benefit in the Columbia Valley through our grants. Community Grants and Student Awards are offered annually.
We also provide local support for other granting opportunities as funding is made available by partners, including government and the Vancouver Foundation.
We also manage endowments that are earmarked for the benefit of specific organizations
