Alice MacKay introduced an innovative approach to charity-giving in Vancouver almost seven decades ago that continues to attract more and more enthusiastic supporters with each passing generation.
Ms. MacKay left an estate of $1,000 when she died in 1943. Without any children, she had decided to leave her life savings to women living in poverty.
But she did not want the funds to be handed over directly to the indigent. She insisted that only interest earned from the funds should be used for charity.
Local industrialist W.J. Van Dusen was intrigued with the idea of financing community charity with an endowment fund.
He spoke to some of the wealthier families in Vancouver about contributing to a foundation dedicated to helping less-fortunate people in the city.
Mr. Van Dusen and nine others put in $10,000 each, providing the Vancouver Foundation with its first endowment fund of $101,000.
The concept of a legacy fund, giving across the generations, has resonated with British Columbians. The Vancouver Foundation has a collection of endowment funds worth $660-million as of December, 2008, which is the most recent, publicly available statistic. The foundation has distributed around $725-million since 1943 to groups and individuals in the community. The funds came entirely from interest on investments, while donations to the funds remained untouched.
Similar to Ms. MacKay, businesswoman Rita Cheng and staff at her local tofu company, Superior Tofu, decided a few years ago they wanted to do something to help those living in poverty in the Vancouver area. They were also interested in giving back to the community where their staff, customers and suppliers lived and worked.
The company's initial donation to a Vancouver Foundation fund was $1,000. Fundraising events have built up the endowment to its current level of $15,000. They aim to reach $100,000.
"We're now 27 years old. We may go to 30 years, we may not last to 40. But whatever the future of the company, it does not matter. As long as we build up the fund, we are leaving a lasting legacy to the community, and that is what is important," Ms. Cheng says.
Ms. Cheng is especially pleased that the company had an endowment fund when the economy dropped into recession. "We all feel very fortunate in this economy that we are still able to thrive and do everything we need to do. But we all know friends and people out of jobs or in circumstances that have changed," Ms. Cheng says.
The Vancouver Foundation, however, kept going. "The good part about the Vancouver Foundation is that once we set up the fund, it will continue, on an ongoing basis," she says. "The Vancouver Foundation idea of a perpetual gift appeals to us. Whether we have a good year or a bad year, once we set up the fund, it will continue to contribute to the community we are involved with."
The foundation did not escape the recession. Before the downturn, the endowments were worth around $785-million. In order to continue its support for community groups, the B.C. Legislature had to bring in special legislation to allow the foundation to borrow against its assets. And despite the unusual step, the foundation this year gave out around $30-million, a drop of around 50 per cent from the amount handed out in grants the previous year.
But foundation staff expected the setback to be temporary. British Columbians like the idea of a foundation that enables their money to be distributed to charities they care about long after they are gone.