Each year, in advance of #GivingTuesday, we publish a Charity List. This charity list is a compilation of organizations that our consulting clients and the donors through the Place2Give Foundation, supported over the year. In many cases, these are agencies that we have reviewed and recommended, based on a donor risk tolerance and/or the funding objectives of the donor.

Carrying on from last year, we broke out the organizations that participated in a 2021 Philanthropy Roundtable. We held three this year covering the following topics: Food Security, Mental Health and Gender-Based Violence. For ease of reference, we have provided a categorization of the charities that were supported.

If you are interested in supporting any one of these agencies, please visit the GIVE page at Place2Give where you can specify the charity you’d like to support. In addition, you can choose to support a fund that has outlined how it will be allocating the funds in the coming year.

About the Philanthropy Roundtables:

Held throughout the year, these roundtables bring together a cross-section of industry experts to provide deeper understanding on a topic or issue area. By soliciting a diverse set of perspectives on complex issues facing North American communities we gain a better understanding of the ripple effects that philanthropy can have and more importantly identify where the gaps in the system may lie.

If you would like to host a Roundtable to dive into a complex social issue in your community, please email us at info@karmaandcents.com.

2021 Roundtable Charity List

Mental Health

  • Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation (Calgary)
  • Alex Community Health Centre (Calgary)
  • Anxiety Disorders Association of Manitoba (Winnipeg)
  • Bruce Oak Recovery Centre (Winnipeg)
  • Calgary Counselling
  • Calgary Health Foundation
  • Capitalize for Kids (National)
  • CASA – Edmonton
  • Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre (Red Deer)
  • CMHA – Alberta (Edmonton)
  • Distress Centre (Calgary)
  • Edmonton Police Foundation – Community Safety & Wellness Accelerator
  • FRAYME (National)
  • Fresh Start Recovery Centre (Calgary)
  • Jack.org (National)
  • Kids Help Phone (National)
  • Mental Health Foundation – Kickstand Initiative (Edmonton)
  • SickNotWeak (Toronto)
  • Two Ten Recovery (Winnipeg)
  • United Way of Winnipeg – Integrated Youth Hub
  • University of Calgary – Cummings School of Medicine

Intersectional Feminism

  • Artemis Place (Victoria)
  • Centre for Sexuality – WiseGuyz Program (Calgary)
  • Community Links (Airdrie)
  • Making Changes Society (Calgary)
  • University of Calgary – Faculty of Social Work: SHIFT program
  • University of Calgary – Werklund School of Education
  • University of Victoria – Trans-Gender Studies
  • Sagesse (Calgary)
  • Skipping Stones (Calgary)
  • Victoria Women’s Transition Housing Society

Girls in Sports

  • University of Toronto – Faculty of Kinesiology
  • Fast & Female (National)
  • Canadian Women and Sport (National)

Food Security

  • Leftovers Foundation and Fresh Routes (Calgary)
  • The Alex Food Centre (Calgary)
  • Community Food Centres Canada (National)
  • BB4CK – Brown Bagging for Street Kids Society (Calgary)
  • Made by Momma (Calgary)
  • Veterans Food Bank (Calgary)

2021 General Charity List

In addition to the Roundtables, we have reviewed and supported donors in accessing additional information on the following agencies:

Environment & Conservation

  • Alberta Institute for Wildlife Preservation (Canmore)
  • Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area (Rockyview County)
  • Ducks Unlimited (National)
  • Ghost Bear Institute (National non-profit)
  • Manitoba Wildlife Federation
  • Nature Conservancy of Canada (Winnipeg)
  • Pembina Institute (National)
  • Wildlife Preservation Canada (National)

Animals

  • AARC – Animal Rescue (Calgary)
  • ARTS Senior Animal Rescue (Cochrane)
  • Calgary Humane Society
  • Cochrane Humane Society
  • CPAWS (National)
  • Dogs with Wings (Edmonton)
  • MEOW Foundation (Calgary)
  • Yamnuska Dog Sanctuary (Cochrane)

International Development

  • Amnesty International Canada
  • Centre for Affordable Water & Sanitation Technology (CAWST)
  • Dentistry for All (Guatemala)
  • Doctors without Borders
  • Give Sight Global (United States – India)
  • Human Connections (Mexico)
  • Magen David Adom (Israel)
  • Villages of Hope – Africa (Malawi)

Youth & Children

  • Calgary Reads
  • Kids Up Front (Calgary)
  • Calgary Flames Foundation
  • carya – Starburst Program (Calgary)
  • CUPS – One World Childcare Centre (Calgary)
  • Ogden Youth Centres (Calgary)
  • Shaw Charity Classic (National)
  • Trellis (Calgary)
  • Thorn (United States)
  • YMCA – Calgary

Healthcare

  • ALS Society (National)
  • Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation (Calgary)
  • Alzheimer’s Society of Alberta
  • Autism Asperger’s Friendship Society (Calgary)
  • CNIB (National)
  • Canadian Cancer Foundation
  • Cerebral Palsy Association (Calgary)
  • Epilepsy Association of Calgary
  • Heart & Stroke Foundation (National)
  • Juvenile Diabetes Society (National)
  • Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (National)
  • Kidney Foundation of Canada
  • Ronald McDonald House (National)
  • Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation (Edmonton)
  • STARS (Calgary)
  • Stollery Children’s Hospital (Edmonton)
  • University of Calgary – Cummings School of Medicine

Housing

  • Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter
  • Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness
  • Inn from the Cold (Calgary)
  • Mustard Seed (Calgary)
  • Places for People (Haliburton)

Poverty

  • Salvation Army (National)
  • United Way of Calgary & Area

Entrepreneurship

  • Family Enterprise Foundation (National)
  • Futurepreneur Foundation (Toronto)
  • Momentum (Calgary)
  • Platform Calgary
  • University of Calgary – Haskayne School of Business

Refugees & Immigration

  • Bow Valley Christian Church Refugee Sponsorship (Calgary)
  • Centre for Newcomers (Calgary)

Arts & Culture

  • AlgomaTrad (Algoma)
  • Honens (Calgary)
  • National Music Centre
  • Westben Centre for Creativity & Connection (Campbellford)

Think Tanks

  • Fraser Institute (National)
  • MacDonald Laurier Institute (National)
  • The Walrus Foundation (National)

Education

  • AUArts (Calgary)
  • Calgary Public Library Foundation
  • Hebrew University (Jerusalem)
  • Mount Royal University – Institute for Community Prosperity (Calgary)
  • United Jewish Appeal – PJ Library
  • University of Calgary – Schulich School of Engineering

As with all of our work, this list is unique to the donors we worked with this year. These organizations meet the individual philanthropic objectives of the funders’. Of note, this list is not an endorsement of an organization’s overall transparency or performance. A connection between a donor and a charity is based on the risk tolerance set out by our client.

#GivingTuesday Dog

What we consider when reviewing a charity or project

We assess the following areas in relation to our clients’ overall philanthropic risk tolerance: governance, leadership, competitive landscape, program delivery, community engagement and financials. As practice we only look at the financials if the organization has met the standards in the other performance areas.

Additional Resources

Check out these posts and whitepapers for information on what to consider when reviewing charities: