Chambers of commerce in Cambridge, K-W give back to community with ease thanks to grant partnerships with WRCF

Ian McLean, President and CEO, Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce

Time and resources are at a premium in today’s fast-paced world.

“We’re all busy running our organizations, working 10, 12 hours a day,” said Cambridge Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Greg Durocher.

Greg Durocher, President and CEO, Cambridge Chamber of Commerce

All the while, the desire to give back to the community remains as strong as ever. If the will is there, so, too, can there be a way. When it comes to formulating how to most effectively give back to their respective communities served, the region’s two Chambers of Commerce are examples of many organizations in the region who turn to the Waterloo Region Community Foundation (WRCF) for help.

The Cambridge Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce are separate entities and operate independent of one another. However, both not-for-profit organizations have enjoyed unique longstanding partnerships with WRCF as part of their ongoing goodwill efforts.

Through the foundation’s Donor Assisted Funds, which operate like a private foundation but without the time-consuming administrative work, each chamber can give back while letting WRCF handle the details.

Each year, the organizations determine what causes to support in the community, then lean on WRCF’s expertise to help with any granting decisions along the way.  
In essence, for the chambers it’s a mostly hands-off process without relinquishing control of their giving.

“It makes all kinds of sense to set something up with the infrastructure that’s in place,” Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Ian McLean said of his confidence in the WRCF fund. “It doesn’t have to be, ‘well, it goes into this dark hole.’”

For many years, the K-W organization supported causes with money raised through one-off corporate challenges and “big workplace campaigns.” Over time, the fundraising evolved, leading to the eventual establishment of the Greater KW Chamber of Commerce-Corporate Challenge Fund that exists today.

Through this fund, the chamber has helped Syrian refugees, Ukrainian groups and, most recently, provided financial support to the Youth Creativity Fund alongside the Business and Education Partnership of Waterloo Region, the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce and Smart Waterloo Region. The Youth Creativity Fund aims to empower local children and youth and improve their sense of belonging. The fund provides micro-grants up to $1,000 to youths (Grades 5 to 12) to bring their innovation ideas to fruition.

“We get some advice from the Community Foundation … ‘here’s some things that fit into your wheelhouse – youth, innovation – that might need your support,’” McLean said. “You still effectively can control where it’s going, direct where it’s going, make the decision about whether you’re doing something or not doing something.”

Further east down the highway, the Cambridge chamber is likewise thrilled to be supporting the Youth Creativity Fund alongside its K-W chamber neighbours.

“The two chambers haven’t merged,” Durocher noted. “We’ve merged an idea.”

The Cambridge Chamber of Commerce Fund has supported a variety of causes including anti-bullying and youth-centric programs.

“If we can take several thousand dollars every year and contribute it to a value-added program directed at youth – that’s our future at the chamber of commerce,” Durocher said. “We try to get the Community Foundation to focus on youth programs that have a business twist to them as well. That’s why the Youth Creativity Fund hit that sweet spot for us.”

Establishing Donor Advised Funds with WRCF has given the chamber a worry-free approach to giving and it’s something Durocher said he would recommend to other membership-driven organizations.

“The beauty of having the Community Foundation look after your funds and invest them is it takes a very big load of the responsibility off your shoulders,” he said. “If the intent is to do good, create the opportunity where your organization can assist the broader community with a stipend of finances for a particular program, then really it only makes sense to utilize the Community Foundation as that vehicle.”

The K-W chamber CEO echoed that sentiment.

“I think it’s very easy and functional for funds to flow into the foundation, be tax-receipted, all that admin stuff is covered by the foundation. Oversight and auditing, all that stuff is covered through the mechanism … you have the support you need when you need it from the foundation,” McLean said, adding the chamber and WRCF “have that back and forth and there’s familiarity, a comfort and an ease because we don’t have to do the work. And trust.”

Giving is no longer once-size-fits all and having choice and a say at the table is essential.

“The foundation is probably the best option (an organization) can find, especially as they get started. There’s flexibility in the way the foundation now offers tailored funds, tailored beneficiaries, ease of use for the funds that are there,” McLean said

“If someone is like, ‘I want to make a difference or a contribution, with small dollar amounts they can get started at the foundation.’”

Please contact Dan Robert, Director, Philanthropy at dan@wrcf.ca or 519-725-1806 x 205 to answer your questions, help you make a donation, set up a fund, or learn more about our focus areas.