C R E A T E A L E G A C Y
As the largest community foundation
in Canada, Vancouver Foundation assists
people in establishing endowment
funds in order to support charities and
causes. President and
CEO Kevin McCort
is especially proud of his organization's
Legacy Fund, a startup permanent
endowment with •exible donor advised
terms that can be started with a gift
as low as $1,000 plus a commitment
that a future gift of $9,000 or more will
follow through your estate.
Granting begins when the fund reaches
$10,000, either through the estate gift
or additional lifetime donations. "It's the
easiest way to get involved in legacy giving,
and the beauty of this strate‡y is it only
takes a line in your will stating that you
want to support your fund at Vancouver
Foundation," says McCort. "After that,
should you choose over time to change who
or what your fund will beneŠt, you simply
make the adjustment through us."
In the event donors stipulate that
Vancouver Foundation can do with their
assets as they see Št, the organization
abides by a rigorous procedure to ensure
the money is well spent. "Essentially,
we ask diŒerent charities to identify
speciŠc issues and determine their root
causes," says McCort. "Let's say the issue
is homelessness, and one root cause
might be the outcome of foster care: this
may allow us to direct assets to programs
that better transition foster children into
independent living."
Hundreds of individuals and families
have entrusted their legacies to Vancouver
Foundation, safe in the knowledge their gift
will make a real diŒerence for generations
to come.
United Way has been operating in the
Lower Mainland for 87 years now. The
non-proŠt organization works to identify
social issues, address root causes, and
aŒect positive, long-term change. "One of
the ways we work with the local agencies is
by providing core funding," says Michelle
Bernard, manager of philanthropy at
United Way of the Lower Mainland. "We
take an holistic approach to serving our
community."
It's a crucial strate‡y, given that so
many smaller organizations are struggling
One of the donors to the Vancouver
Foudation is Derek Wills, who established
the Derek and Janice Wills Foundation fund.
Flexible donor terms can start with a gift as
low as $1,000.
