Niagara is in a season of change. Over the last few months, there has been a lot of chatter about amalgamation and changes to our government structures, whether politically, within the environmental conservation field, or within our own charitable sector. There have been a lot of questions about what Niagara will look like in five, ten or twenty years, but one concern keeps coming back to the top:
How will these changes impact MY community??
And we get it. Local impact is our number one concern too.
Niagara Community Foundation (NCF) has been asked if anything would change for our organization if Niagara was to take on a different shape down the road and our answer remains clear:
NCF has been Niagara’s philanthropic partner for the last 25 years and NCF will remain Niagara's local partner forever.
Our commitment to Niagara is baked into our DNA. In 2000, we were founded on a vision to empower and support Niagara's local charitable sector in perpetuity. We were built on a community foundation model that was adaptable to our funder's philanthropic wishes, while remaining grounded in our commitment to our local community of Niagara. Over the last 25 years, we have welcomed over 400 fundholders into the fold and collectively we have invested over $100 million in our shared vision and have granted over $38 million into our local community. It is clear that Niagara's philanthropists are committed to local impact.
Now, we know that change is a sign of growth and maturity. Over the last decade, NCF has noticed a shift within the charities applying to our discretionary grant programs. We're finding that charities are less focused on the borders of their community and more concerned about meeting the changing and pressing needs of the people they serve. More and more, charities are expanding their catchment areas, partnering with like-minded groups, or joining forces with sister organizations to build capacity, resilience and resources. As a funder, NCF commends this level of innovation as it speaks to the sector's growth and evolution.
As a result of these change, over the last five or more years, NCF has had to adapt its funding models. Instead of focusing on equitable funding in each of the 12 municipalities, we are focused on meeting the most compelling needs of Niagara. NCF’s Grant Review team is looking for charities that are responsive to change and are ready for whatever Niagara’s future holds.
That being said, these adaptations don't change who we are. As a community foundation, we serve a variety of donors, some of whom want to make an impact at the micro-level. That's why NCF's pulls from our suite of fund types, to ensure that local donors can invest in the communities and causes closest to their hearts, in perpetuity.
Whether it's neighbourhood impact, or region wide investment, NCF is poised to be your philanthropic partner, no matter what the future holds for Niagara. NCF will always connect donors to causes and communities to resources, keeping Niagara our number one focus today, tomorrow, and forever.
