From fall feasts and hospital lotteries to raffles and auctions, most people have interacted with the foundations that help fund many of our health and social service organizations. While medical care is free in Manitoba, extra supports and services are not; that’s where professional fundraisers and their teams step in. Those working in this ever-evolving sector are always open to learning about new needs and stepping up to meet them.
Christie Lafreniere, the Fund Development Director for Fondation Actionmarguerite Foundation and the Friends of St. Joseph’s Foundation, is a year into her time as the first full-time employee in the role, which means there’s a lot of opportunity ahead. As she, leadership and especially residents and their families begin to build a plan to support the needs of all those who live in one of Actionmarguerite’s locations, she’s already very clear on how the foundation decides what to support.
“We’re transforming long-term care from person-centred care to person-directed care,” she explains. “The reality is that our operational funding has not increased in 17 years so there are some big needs to fund in general, but most of all, this role is about listening to residents and families. Their hopes, dreams and desires lead the way, and then we find the funds to make it happen.”
In organizations like Actionmarguerite, where residents, family members and staff interact daily and sometimes for years at a time, the direction of fundraising dollars is decided in a relational way; through conversations with staff, input from resident and family committees and other informal interactions.
In a health care environment like St-Boniface Hospital, where patients often only stay a few days at a time, their feedback is also always considered, along with requests from the hospital staff itself. “We do our best to fund the tangible needs that won’t be funded any other way,” shares Karen Fowler, CEO of the St-Boniface Hospital Foundation. “For example, the hospital is very much committed to its journey to reconciliation, and they asked us to fund a position that would be focused on that path. As our health care environments evolve, we’re having conversations about what matters most to patients and how we can support that.”
The hospital foundation also supports the Research Centre, the fifth biggest research centre in Canada, which goes about its work in a building on the south side of the hospital campus. “We help fund the annual operation of the centre,” explains Fowler. “And we help connect donors to causes that matter to them, whether that’s research on cardiac care or neuropathy. It’s often a personal connection that motivates donors, and that certainly is something we’re seeing more of: for those individuals who can afford to give at a higher level, they’re taking on more personal commitment to getting projects completed.”
Christie Lafreniere agrees with that observation. “We have great numbers of staff giving, and even many generous residents, although our major donors usually have a strong sense of exactly how they’d like to make a difference, how they want to help others,” she shares. “We can get caught up in campaigns and dollar figures, but our recent courtyard revitalization project was launched by something very human: residents just wanted to go outside. That’s the heart of this work, to really connect with people and help make lives better.”
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To learn more about St. Boniface Hospital Foundation’s Voices of Hope campaign, please click here.
Actionmarguerite has just completed their capital campaign called Cultivating Hope. Please click here to find out what’s next!