Investing in Perpetuity. How Good Intentions Grow Legs: The Power of Endowment

Kevin McCort

When he established Vancouver Foundation, Whitford VanDusen was already adept at orchestrating charitable giving on a large scale.

But he wanted more than to pass money from one hand to another. He wanted to stretch, grow, and deploy every dollar as

Whitford widely as he could.

Van Dusen What model might multiply the charitable impact of donors? Could he serve as more than a go-between for the good (often ebbing and flowing) intentions of donors?

A financially savvy lumber magnate, VanDusen had already been contemplating the idea of a permanent endowment. But when Alice MacKay, a retired secretary, made a $1000 bequest, the concept was cemented.

A financially savvy lumber magnate, VanDusen had already been contemplating the idea of a permanent endowment. But when Alice MacKay, a retired secretary, made a $1000 bequest, the concept was cemented. MacKay had specified that her bequest be invested intact and that the income be used to support women in poverty. That is how the endowment model at Vancouver Foundation was struck: Two unlikely visionaries who shared the same goal of sustained giving to the community.

In 1944, interest rates hovered at around 3 per cent, leaving the Foundation with $30 for charitable action in MacKay’s name. VanDusen contemplated $30 from MacKay’s $1000. • What if that $1000 were $101,000? • And what if that $101,000 continued to grow?

VanDusen saw the potential of a base of funding that grows impact by growing itself. He added his own $10,000 to the pot and challenged a circle of influential peers to do the same.

By 1948, Vancouver Foundation held $101,000 in trust. The idea resonated with the community and an ever-increasing number of donors began establishing their legacies at Vancouver Foundation. By 1960, holdings of almost $3 million generated $219,000 in income that was granted to dozens of charities involved in all aspects of our community.