University of Toronto

Donor Recognition in the Commons

Here’s a charity trade secret.  One of the best products in a fundraiser’s toolkit is “donor recognition”, in particular naming a piece of real estate.  Recognition is effective in inspiring donors, and for some, but not all, an important part of charitable giving.  However, donor recognition sometimes produces a backlash from the public. Yes, donor recognition is gracious and pragmatic, but public space is branded by private citizens and money…..

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Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Uncategorized

4x $100 million+

[caption id="attachment_9581" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Looking south to the U of T Schwartz Reisman Innovation Centre, image by Weiss/Manfredi[/caption]   In 11 weeks between March 25 and June 3, 2019 three $100 million dollar charitable donations were announced in Ontario. On February 13th, McGill University in Montreal announced a $200 million donation. These are enormous sums, and this unprecedented donation cluster is just the beginning of bigger things to come. It’s….

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Estate Donations, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Uncategorized

Canada’s Greatest Impact Donation

The FitzGerald Building at the University of Toronto housed the School of Hygiene (Public Health). It was funded by The Rockefeller Foundation with a $650,000 grant in 1927. What’s the greatest impact donation in Canadian history? I’d argue it is a forgotten gift of $75,000 made by Colonel Albert E. Gooderham in 1915 to purchase and outfit a farm north of Toronto for the Connaught Laboratories to produce vaccines for….

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Estate Donations, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Uncategorized
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