INTRODUCTION
The Evolution of Strategic Philanthropy in Canada BY PAUL NAZARETH
“T PAUL NAZARETH, MFA-P, Vice President, Education & Development. Canadian Association of Gift Planners (www.cagp-acpdp.org)
foundationmag.ca
hink big, start small, scale up”, a phrase shared often by our community leader Ruth MacKenzie, CEO of the Canadian Association of Gift Planners. CAGP, founded almost 30 years ago has been thinking big and successfully scaling for some time now — excitingly, as we build on the investments of so many we have reached a tipping point of scale and a new energy has taken root in our movement. We are grateful to Steve Llloyd and Foundation Magazine for a place to tell more stories of our mission; A better world through strategic charitable giving. Gifts of assets like public securities, gifts of life insurance, property, art and the most significant gift one can make, a gift in a Will are the “how” of philanthropy that has been underutilized in philanthropic strategy even though here in Canada we have the most favourable charitable tax system in the world. I’m excited as this issue’s guest editor to bring some interesting insight to this strategic vision with some of our sector’s brightest and most creative champions. But this new energy I speak about is the ethos of the “why”. Why do we give, where is the connection between community and capital of philanthropy and the spirit and soul of generosity? Excitingly, Canada and our own CAGP community are unpacking philanthropy’s roots in supremacy and inequity too. We are even more excited to be bringing these expert voices to this issue, who are active in utilizing this capital strategy of assets to effect change in racial justice and social equity. We also cannot ignore technology’s role in making change and too often it has been discussed in the context of a high volume of smaller donations, but it applies to strategic giving too. Thank you to all our writers who have given their time and expertise to add to this conversation. We hope you find value in it. As a frequent speaker I often describe personal generosity as a healthy tension between head and heart. This issue is a testament to what our CAGP community represents; excellence in these areas of the “how” and the “why” to create that better world. A famous African proverb says “if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”. And through this issue we hope you’ll agree that activating the strategic philanthropic potential of charities, advisors and donors as CAGP does, will help our nation and world, go further, together. July/August 2021
FOUNDATION Magazine
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