Fondations

Nazita Lajevardi, PhD Student
University of California, San Diego
Nicole Rigillo, PhD
McGill University, Montreal
Mirle Rabinowitz-Bussell, PhD
University of California, San Diego
James Stauch, MEDes
Mount Royal University


This literature review seeks to contextualize the Canadian foundation grantmaking milieu with respect to international examples, with particular reference to social innovation. It provides an overview of comparative contexts that either (1) resemble Canada or (2) are distinguishable from it, to generate a set of best practices relating to investments in social innovation by grantmaking foundations – both through grants to other organizations and via direct programming. In order to highlight a diverse range of socially innovative forms and practices, we examine best practices in grantmaking in two broad contexts: First, in three countries that share a similar history and institutional landscape with Canada (United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand), and second, in three countries where grantmaking has developed along very different historical trajectories and where it has taken on different institutional forms. France, Sweden and Italy are home to unique foundation forms and grantmaking practices that differ in the services they provide, the laws that give rise to their respective organizations, and the core principles that shape their practices.
The review is divided into three parts. In the introduction, we provide a context for our review, define grantmaking in in the two broad contexts described above, and offer a definition of social innovation broad enough to capture these diverse contexts and approaches. In part 1, we describe the institutional forms and structure that grantmaking takes in the countries selected in our review, asking which of these forms can reasonably and usefully be extended to the Canadian context. Here we also touch on various features such as sector size, history, culture, assets, legal barriers, and international grantmaking, and explain the basis upon which countries are grouped together as similar or dissimilar.
Part 2 examines social innovation in grantmaking through the use of individual country case studies that illustrate how grant-makers are applying novel techniques and strategies of grantmaking with the intention of having a greater social impact. This includes consideration of strategies such as using alternative community finance or investment models, scaling up programming, collaboration, pooled grants, cross-sector partnerships, technology and data sharing, the use of impact metrics, and/or grantmaking across international borders.

Cet ouvrage collectif et transdisciplinaire, constitué d'entrées thématiques et notionnelles présentées dans l'ordre alphabétique, réunit les contributions de 29 chercheurs et spécialistes qui décryptent les enjeux de débats anciens et contemporains et historicisent la masse des informations aujourd'hui disponibles.
cf. Bertrand Tillier et Catherine Wermester (dir.), Conditions de l'œuvre d'art, de la Révolution française à nos jours, Lyon, Fage éditions, 2011.

Depuis 1985, l'article 149.1 de la Loi de l'impôt sur le revenu (LIR) limite à 10 % la part des ressources financières qu'un organisme de bienfaisance enregistré (OBE) auprès de l'Agence du revenu du Canada (ARC) peut légalement attribuer à des activités dites politiques 1. Il importe d'indiquer que cette restriction juridique des activités politiques des OBE était lourde de conséquences.