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

July 18, 2023

How to Start a Nonprofit in Canada: Everything You Need to Know

The Muttart Foundation released a new report (July 2023) that outlines how to start a nonprofit organization in Canada, with specifics for each province and territory and at the federal... 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

May 1, 2022

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

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

November 25, 2020

Review of David LePage’s Book “Marketplace Revolution”

Review by Bernadette Johnson. In his concise book, Marketplace revolution: From concentrated wealth to community capital, David LePage lays out his vision for a rethink on wealth and capital in... 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