About Us

What is a Community Foundation?

Community Foundations bring together people who care about their communities. We are independent, volunteer-driven, charitable organizations that operate in a specified geographic location. Our aim is to strengthen our com-munities by facilitating philanthropy, partnering with donors to build permanent endowments and other funds from which we support community projects, and providing leadership on issues of broad community concern.

Winnipeg created the first Canadian Community Foundation in 1921. They now exist in more than a dozen countries worldwide. As of January 2010, there were 176 Community Foundation members of Community Foundations of Canada (CFC) with combined assets of more than $3.02 billion, granting over $158 million to support charitable organizations in every Province and one Territory.

Now the fastest growing source of philanthropic funds in Canada.

History of the Sunshine Coast Community Foundation

In March 2002 a group of citizens of the Sunshine Coast met to form the initial workings of a Community Foundation.

It was observed at that time that grants-in-aid resources of local governments and the business community were greatly stretched. They were unable to keep up with the need and demand for grants-in-aid and themselves might face cut-backs in the future.

The next step was to look for guidance from Community Foundations of Canada. With their help our development committee set out to assess the need and desire to start a Foundation through an open community meeting with the residents and leaders of charitable organizations on the Sunshine Coast. The meeting clearly endorsed the concept of a Community Foundation.

With a mandate from the Community in hand, the committee set out to create the Sunshine Coast Community Foundation.

In February of 2003, the Sunshine Coast Community Foundation was officially registered as a Society under the Society Act of British Columbia. Our incorporation number is S-45744.

In August of 2003, it received official charity status as a Community Foundation from Revenue Canada. Charity number 896086105RR0001.