Social Finance, Innovation & Impact

Social finance is a source of support for the nonprofit sector, aiming to integrate market mechanisms into the provision of public benefits. We examine social finance, financing tools and social finance initiatives.

Articles

October 23, 2024

The Asset Manager Tango

By Keith Sjögren. At the end of 2022, Canadian foundations held a total of $107 billion in long-term investment assets -- almost two thirds of charitable sector investment assets. These... More

September 5, 2024

Empowerment Squared

Leo Nupolu Johnson is the founder and Chief Empowerment Officer (CEO) of Empowerment Squared, a nonprofit organization that works with newcomer youth and families primarily in Southwestern Ontario and West... More

August 6, 2024

CEE Centre for Young Black Professionals

Agapi Gessesse has been the Executive Director of the CEE Centre for Young Black Professionals for six years. Born and raised in Toronto by a refugee mother, Gessesse’s commitment to... More

November 19, 2023

What Does a World-Leading Framework of Charities Law Look Like?

A report by Susan Barker is devoted to the question “What does a world-leading framework of charities law look like?” (from 2022) and draws on experiences in Canada, Australia, England... More

October 26, 2023

Imagine Canada’s 22 Case Studies About Ideas for Social Finance

In October 2023, Imagine Canada provided 22 case studies about organizations with ideas for social finance. Each organization was at a different stage of planning, with a few (such as... More

June 11, 2023

A New Report about Donor-Advised Funds and Our Sector

Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) have become more popular in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector in the past decade. "Influence, Affluence & Opportunity: Donor-Advised Funds in Canada" (May 2023), a new report... More

February 16, 2023

New Study Looks at Gift Acceptance Policies & Practices at Canadian Universities

Follow the money Tanya Rumble, Bill Mintram and Ellen Doty, graduate students in the Master of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership (MPNL) program, at Carleton University, recently released a study that... More

April 22, 2022

Metcalf Foundation on Enabling Social Impact

David Maggs and Michael Trent As a philanthropic organization, the Metcalf Foundation has three areas of focus: poverty reduction, the environment, and the performing arts. While the first two operate... More

October 25, 2021

Ally Smith on Social Enterprise in Canada and Scotland

Ally Smith is an MPNL graduate, a social entrepreneur, and a Research Associate at The Young Foundation, which develops better connected and more sustainable communities across the UK. She previously... More

June 21, 2021

Financing Canadian Charities

This is an excerpt from Chapter 9 of "Intersections and Innovations: Change for Canada's Voluntary and Nonprofit Sector," edited by Susan Phillips and Bob Wyatt and published as a free... More

May 26, 2021

Will They Lead? Sustainable Investing at Canadian Foundations

By Brigette DePape. (This article is a shorter version of a report submitted for publication.) Foundations and climate change To respond to the greatest challenge we face as a planet,... More

March 8, 2021

The Business of Charities & Nonprofits: The Need for Change

By Susan Manwaring and Katrina Kairys. (Download a pdf of this article.) Charities and nonprofits have long been entrepreneurial and innovative in developing new means of generating revenue to achieve... More

October 11, 2020

Social Finance: A Prescription for Resilience

Social finance allows a charity or nonprofit to recognize its assets, articulate its value and ask ‘Who else values these assets?’ and ‘Who’s willing to invest in what we do?’. This mindset is entirely different... More

October 2, 2020

Imagine Canada Releases Study on Charities & Social Finance

Why wouldn’t flexible, cheap capital offered in exchange for social return be more in demand by those who are, well, good at doing good? Some speculate that the social finance instruments on offer from the... More