The Osprey Community Foundation is a volunteer organization that has been growing endowment funds enabling upwards of more than $1 million to fund a variety of community organizations and initiatives.
Since its modest beginnings in 2000 when the organization first gave out $5,000, the ambitious group has grown their endowment funds to more than $6 million.
The organization’s goal of perpetuity is reached by distributing only the interest earned and this has amounted to more than $280,000 in 2014 to seed and supplement dozens of projects in the area.
Executive director Vivien Bowers and board chair Nelson Ames both agreed that their main focus is growing their community fund which sits at $233,000. While the organization rarely asks for money, for the second year in a row a private donor has promised $1 for every $2 otherwise contributed to the fund.
Bowers said,“If we grow our fund by $2 million, we can fund that many more projects and initiatives.”
“We don’t know what the needs are going to be 20 years from now,” added Ames. “For as many organizations that do receive funding, there are way more requests than funds.”
If donors do have another specific fund in mind, there are many fields of interest to chose from, the largest of which is the Sheba fund, from an anonymous donor again, that is more than $3.5 million.
One half of the earning of this fund are designated for projects that improve the lives of the elderly in extended and intermediate residential care, as well as home care. This is helping fund Nelson CARES seniors project for an age-friendly community which has brought all the different organizations together.
The remainder is split between supporting acute care patients and animal welfare. The foundation works with Friends of Nelson Elders to disperse a portion of the fund’s earnings.
A volunteer board of 12 and two part-time employees manage and administer the dozens of Osprey community foundation endowments, the majority of which are invested with the Vancouver Foundation.
“Osprey is a small part of the Vancouver Foundation,” said Ames. “They are a leader in community foundations and the largest in the country.”
It is this interest that goes towards all the various funds allowing for perpetuity.
Another role the foundation plays is acting as administrators for 16 designated funds for local charities that have established endowment funds with in the community foundation. Earnings from these funds flow back to the organizations.
An example of a new fund is the Mary Woodward Legacy that was created when the outdoor enthusiast passed away last spring. The fund is designed to encourage girls in sports.
The Kootenay Lake Hospital Foundation and the L.V. Rogers School Legacy fund are two more designate funds. They assisted with five additional donor-advised funds and 12 scholarship funds.
And to top it all off, they offer affiliated community funds.
Osprey is one of 191 foundations in Canada. For more information, visit ospreycommunityfoundation.ca.