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In 1994, 61 people contributed $44,000 to a charitable remainder trust, administered by the Ontario Arts Foundation to create an income for Mary Jolliffe (1923-2014) one of Canada’s best known publicists. Mary was a character, who like many artists, devoted her life to supporting the arts in North America. Her first role as a publicist was with the Stratford […]

There is a constant flow of information and articles about arts, culture in response to the digital environment we increasingly live in. The New York Times recently published a special section on the Visual Arts, which included an article titled Museums Morph Digitally. The article speaks to decisions now widely being made by museums to allow visitors

A recent study Time, Treasure and Talent: Canadian Women in Philanthropy by the TD Bank on understanding the financial needs, goals and aspirations of Canadian women also included a focus on philanthropy and charitable giving by Canadian women. In 2012, the Canada Revenue Agency reported that charitable donations by Canadians reached $8.3 billion. The banks’ report suggests one of the most

South of the border, a US based organization Grantmakers in the Arts undertook over the last four years research on the important topic of the role of capital in an arts organization. This can summarily be described as “having the capital to execute strategy” or perhaps a little more elegantly, “Capitalization is the accumulation and application of resources

Imagine this, a man walks into a bakery and says to the baker, “I need a gluten free cake, but I can only pay you 20% of the cost, and you can only spend my money on eggs, but not butter and not on electricity for the oven; you have to find someone else to

The Foundation holds two types of capital funds:  endowment funds where capital is held permanently and only income is available to be disbursed, and restricted funds where capital can be disbursed, depending on the agreement with the donor. Our investment objectives are long term, with the goal of achieving investment returns which allow for annual income payments to arts

I read a timely blog posting that should be on the agenda of the Board of any arts organization. The thrust is that a greater focus is needed on developing the professional skillsof arts managers/leaders. It is well accepted in the corporate world that an organization’s success is tied with a continuous focus on growing the abilities and

In a recent submission to the Province of Ontario recommending re-instatement of the Arts Endowment Fund matching program, we make the argument that an investment in the arts is an investment in economic growth and job creation. Economic studies increasingly report on the positive economic activity resulting from arts and culture activity. As examples:  

The federal budget proposes to increase flexibility to Executors in the tax treatment of charitable donations made by an individual at their death through a bequest in their Will. During your lifetime, Canada’s tax rules allow an individual, who makes a charitable donation to claim an income tax credit calculated on the fair market value

I recently attended a leadership program at the Ivey School of Business. It involves a lot of reading and I found one article interesting and I think useful for board members and arts managers who are hiring for a new position.  As well as skills and experience that we look for in a candidate, this paper referenced three