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Good morning. I’m delighted to be here and to be part of this day on Crown corporation governance. I would like to thank Federated Press for this wonderful opportunity to speak to you on stakeholder partnerships. It’s something that we at the Ontario Trillium Foundation have learned a great deal about.
We are privileged to work with multiple stakeholders -- each with different mandates, different views and different interests. Each contributes in its own way to its own community. Each is focused on achieving certain results.
Yet time and time again, I’ve seen these diverse groups draw together through the Foundation, balance their interests, and work with us as stakeholder partners to make a project stronger and to better meet a need.
Is the process always smooth? No.
Is the process worthwhile? Absolutely.
Today, I plan to share experiences and lessons learned as the Foundation works to build partnerships and balance varied interests, including our own interests as an agency of the Crown.
First though, a bit of background.
For those who may not know, the Ontario Trillium Foundation is an agency of the Government of Ontario and is one of Canada’s leading grantmaking foundations.
Each year, we distribute $100 million in grants to not-for-profit and charitable organizations across the province, which in turn fund community initiatives in sports and recreation, arts and culture, human and social services, and the environment.
We choose these grants carefully.
Our grantmaking decisions rely on the good work of more that 300 caring and capable volunteers and staff who review proposals from their region - as well as our Board of Directors, who guide the work of the Foundation and ratify about 1,500 grants each year.
With every one of these grants, the Foundation rededicates itself to its fundamental mission: Building healthy and vibrant communities throughout Ontario by strengthening the capacity of the voluntary sector through investments in community-based initiatives.
We don’t do the building ourselves. Rather, we are the catalyst that enables others to work together - building on the talent, creativity and drive that exists everywhere in this province to improve the quality of life in communities.
In almost 25 years, the Ontario Trillium Foundation has supported thousands of projects that have made a real difference to Ontarians.
As a Government of Ontario agency, we are just as focused on being responsible stewards of public trust, public funds and public interest.
Our mission, core values and operating principles shape all our decisions and actions. They also shape our relations with our stakeholders.
The Ontario Trillium Foundation has five principal stakeholders: the Government of Ontario; applicants and grantees; the not-for-profit sector; other foundations and funders; and our own human resources. At times we’re working with one; at times we’re working with three, four or even all five.
Under these sometimes complex circumstances, a key factor in building relations lies in each partner understanding its own role and that of everyone else at the table so that expectations can be effectively managed.
Ontario Government as a stakeholder
Consider the Foundation’s relationship with the provincial government. It may appear to be straightforward.
We are an agency of Ontario’s Ministry of Culture. We have a memorandum of understanding with that Ministry. We share priorities. We share a business relationship whereby funds are flowed to the Foundation, and we are accountable for them to the Ministry in return.
Each party has defined roles with exact expectations.
Straightforward? Yes. But the government partnership has other layers.
OTF is an arms-length agency. We are separate. But there are areas of common interest. For instance, one of our four granting sectors is the environment. In fact, the Foundation is the largest funder of the not-for-profit environmental sector in Ontario.
We’ve funded community initiatives that support energy conservation. We’ve supported initiatives such as The Ontario Sustainable Energy Association’s plan to stimulate green energy projects in communities across the province.
This potentially broadens our partnership from one with our direct stakeholder to one with other ministries -- the Ministries of Energy or the Environment, for instance.
Again expectations are clear. We don’t influence each other’s programs or funding decisions. But there may be opportunities to support joint projects where we share priorities.
Another layer occurs through contact with elected officials. MPPs represent the interests of their communities. And they may be very enthusiastic about a grant proposal put forward by a local organization. That’s their role. But OTF also works with MPPs so that they know our role, and expectations are managed.
They know we approve grants solely on the way in which a proposal meets the Foundation’s mission, our priorities, criteria and values. And while their input is always appreciated, it cannot influence our decisions.
Applicants and grantees as stakeholders
Our relationship with applicants and grantees is also quite defined. Specifically, applicants want grant dollars to help fund their project. We want to ensure OTF dollars are wisely invested in the ways that best strengthen and benefit Ontario communities.
In this case, balancing expectations can be more emotional. Typically, applicants are highly committed to their idea. And while it may indeed be worthy, the Foundation may find that another proposal from another organization is a better fit with our priorities. This is where our long-time focus on building personal relationships can be very helpful.
The OTF has 16 catchment areas across the province, and staff is available in each region to work with applicants every step of the way. They are very credible, having for the most part worked with not-for-profit and charitable organizations or served on boards in the past. They provide information and advice as well as assistance in developing a proposal.
If the applicant is successful, they’ll celebrate right along with the organization. If the applicant is unsuccessful, they’ll explain why. They’ll also work with the organization to find other sources of funding or to help them rethink the proposal and perhaps re-submit to OTF at another time.
To be honest, warm and fuzzy is a big part of stakeholder building in the grantmaking business.
Building personal relationships gives us added insight into the mission of each organization. We learn its strengths and how it hopes to make a difference. It also directly benefits our overall cause of building healthy and vibrant communities.
For instance, personal knowledge of various organizations can help us identify when a collaborative would make more sense than if each organization were to submit a proposal on its own. Our staff will facilitate introductions, see if the opportunity is there, and help the collaborative develop a proposal that meets the goals of all parties - and which OTF may be more able to fund. It becomes a win-win-win for the organizations, the Foundation and the communities.
Not-for-profit sector as a stakeholder
The importance of personal relationships can be seen in our third stakeholder group - the not-for-profit sector.
Many of you will recall the devastating flood that occurred in Peterborough two summers ago. There was an extraordinary amount of damage, including to more than 20 not-for-profit organizations. In the three worse cases, the flood destroyed all records, computer systems, furniture and infrastructure. The damage was devastating.
Our OTF office in that area has a very strong, long-standing relationship with the local United Way. Over the years, we’ve jointly sponsored practical events such as “how to write a funding proposal”. We’ve funded collaborative applications with the United Way as lead organization. And we each quickly grasped how devastating the closed doors of these not-for-profits would be to their clients. Within hours of learning the impact of the flood we sprang into action – together.
We knew our respective roles. No one expected the Foundation to simply hand over a cheque. But we worked together to pull the diverse groups together; and quickly determined what was required in the short and longer-term.
Short-term needs were dealt with through flood relief. For the longer-term, to help stabilize and recover the organizations and services, a collaborative application was developed and submitted to the Foundation.
The solid partnership with United Way and the strong foundation we had built over years of working together was essential to identifying and responding quickly to this emergency. The bonus was seeing the not-for-profits recover and get back to doing their important work in the community.
And the lesson learned? Taking the time to build personal relationships can help deliver more responsive and productive stakeholder partnerships that really gain results.
In terms of the not-for-profit sector as a whole as a stakeholder - our goals are closely aligned. This sector wants to strengthen its capacity to do the work it needs to do; which is also our goal as we work to strengthen communities and build the capacity of organizations through our investments.
That means there’s little to do in terms of balancing interests. Rather, it tends to be more of a consultative relationship.
The Ontario Trillium Foundation is interested in keeping up to date with the latest research, trends and developments within the not-for-profit sector. It makes no sense to fund applications that are contrary to its direction. Rather we want to build together on the good work that’s being done. In the same vein, we want to be sure that we are moving forward as a grantmaking organization.
Last year, OTF carried out a public consultation process that we called Community Conversations. We conducted nine meetings in eight locations across Ontario with more than 650 participants. Another 400 people responded to an electronic survey.
We asked for opinions on the effectiveness of OTF grants in their community; the way in which community needs were changing; the ways in which the voluntary sector is working to meet these changing needs; and how the Foundation can best help. We listened, we learned and we made some changes in response.
For instance, we heard that organizations valued the Foundation’s investments in capital projects, but would prefer a simpler process when applying for smaller requests. We’ve since put a new process in place so that organizations seeking small capital grants up to a maximum of $15,000, can use a streamlined application form with fewer required attachments.
Discussions with stakeholders are ongoing. In fact, we’ve just completed a follow-up to last year’s series, called Focused Conversations. Again, we held nine meetings in eight communities across Ontario. And as with the Community Conversations, these meetings will help shape the future direction of the Foundation.
These steps highlight another valuable practice in building stakeholder partnerships. We’ve learned to be a partner who listens. It’s important to do your homework. Know who and what you’re dealing with. Work to make a real contribution. Be strategic and, above all, be relevant.
Other foundations and funders as stakeholders
The Foundation’s fourth key stakeholder is other funders. That includes private foundations, corporate foundations and governments.
Collaborations between funders are often based around high profile projects. So again, it’s important to define roles and responsibilities up-front to ensure a solid front and best results.
For instance, the Foundation supports arts and culture projects. But you’ve likely also heard of the Ontario Arts Council. This is another grantmaking agency of the Ministry of Culture. Our two Crown agencies have specifically worked out our separate roles and areas of support to ensure there’s no duplication. This early work has helped us partner very effectively on several projects.
The new ArtReach Toronto project (ArtReach: Youth Engagement through Arts Funders Project) is a great example of a collaborative of funders from all three levels of government and other funding organizations – including OTF. We designed ArtReach in response to research that showed participation in the arts is highly effective in connecting youth to the community.
Partners’ interests range from youth engagement to the quality of artistic products to community development. In our case, it also allows us to indirectly support groups and people who wouldn’t be able to benefit from our own grants. For instance, ArtReach can fund individuals and unincorporated groups.
While pooling resources clearly allows many benefits, bringing together so many stakeholders can also pose challenges. Some of the more traditional funders are entering new areas, so the learning curve can be steep. But that also provides us with a huge opportunity to incorporate that learning into future work.
A more significant challenge is that each funder wants to be recognized for its contribution, but no funder must be allowed to overshadow the brand of the project. It’s not the Ontario Trillium Foundation’s ArtReach Program or the Laidlaw Foundation’s ArtReach Program – it’s ArtReach with a visibility and a life of its own.
A third challenge lies in making sure each stakeholder gets the respect that they’re due. A small organization that offers services-in-kind can be as important to the success of a project as a large financial contributor.
And that’s another key lesson to be learned. Contributions may vary in size or scope, but each person or organization is at the table for a reason and they should be allowed full input and accorded recognition within the partnership.
Clearly, ArtReach is highly innovative in the way it proposes to fund individual initiatives to reach youth. And that leads to another point I’d like to make about innovation and risk.
The Ontario Trillium Foundation, as a funder, is not afraid to recognize and support innovative work. Regent Park’s Pathways to Education, a project that the Foundation funded at its inception, is now successfully helping a whole generation of young people from one of Toronto’s most troubled neighbourhoods stay in school.
Our contribution helped leverage other contributions, the model is now being looked at across the country, and OTF staff is still invited to celebrate with Pathways to Education graduating class each year.
Another innovative project? Last year, the Foundation provided funding to pilot the Lieutenant Governor’s Aboriginal Literacy Summer Camps in five fly-in northern communities. OTF identified the groups we felt could form the partnership to deliver the program, brought them together to get the partnership going, and funded the program. The pilot project’s overwhelming success led to 35 literacy summer camps this year.
These projects were innovative. They were risky. They were also worth the risk.
Of course, not all risks succeed. Nor do all funded projects achieve the anticipated results. There are times, for a variety of reasons, that things simply don’t work out.
Perhaps the executive director leaves an organization, or a partnership doesn’t click, or the infrastructure isn’t quite there.
In these cases, the Foundation works with the organization to help it identify the results that could achieved under different parameters. We can then revise the contract, revise the financial agreement, revise the timelines …
That points to another important aspect of building stakeholder relationships: flexibility.
There may be more than one way to get the same results.
We also want to be sure a project has the time it needs to succeed. The Ontario Trillium Foundation is open to making grant commitments of up to five years. For example, our support of the Canadian’s Women’s Foundation as lead in a collaborative of funders, is now in its second five-year term. As a collaborative, we’re helping women transition out of poverty. This takes time. But it’s also a project that has a critical impact on women’s lives and consequently to all communities.
Of course, like any responsible grant-maker, we strive to find the right balance between funding longer-term capacity-building projects and short-term projects where the outcome is clear.
Volunteers and staff as stakeholders
Our final stakeholder is the one the OTF holds perhaps most dear: our volunteers and staff.
Our work is made possible by the dedication and enthusiasm of more than 300 unpaid volunteers on our Board and our Grant Review Teams across the province. We are also fortunate to have over 100 bright and professional staff in our 16 catchment areas. All are passionate about building healthy and vibrant communities.
Their interests are highly defined. Volunteers and staff want to help their community, be engaged in their work, and make good decisions that have a positive impact on lives and neighbourhoods.
And they make a difference. Certainly, they have made an enormous difference to OTF as well as to the not-for-profits we support every year.
We’ve found our interests align very closely with the volunteer sector as a whole. On occasion, there may be a volunteer or staff member who is emotionally engaged in a particular project and urges the Foundation to support it. Their input is welcome, but the decision to fund the project will ultimately rest with its ability to fit our priorities and to meet our mission, criteria and values.
The lesson we’ve learned with this stakeholder group is clear. No one can do everything alone.
Our volunteers and the staff who support them are our ears on the ground and our closest link with the community. They represent the Foundation with dedication and pride. They allow us to reach people in communities on a more personal level and advance our mission. They are our partners.
In truth, all of our stakeholder groups are partners.
As a grant-maker and an agency of the Crown, the Ontario Trillium Foundation has learned to balance their interests with our own. And as I’ve indicated, we’ve learned some important lessons about building effective partnerships along the way.
Lessons Learned
One. The role of each stakeholder must be defined at the outset and respected throughout the partnership. It’s a matter of managing expectations from the get-go.
Two. Taking the time to build personal relationships pays off tenfold in delivering results.
Three. Listen. Be a partner who’s engaged, who understands the situation and appreciates what’s required, and who makes a relevant contribution.
Four. Respect all partners. Contributions may vary in scope or size, but all parties are at the table because they can offer real benefits to both the project and the partnership.
Five. Be flexible. There is more than one way to get the desired result.
Six. Don’t be afraid to step out of the box and take a chance. Whether it’s forming new partnerships or venturing into new territory, it’s worth taking some risks sometimes.
Seven. Embrace the concept of partnership. No one can do everything alone.
Now, let’s bring these lessons back to our work as a Crown agency.
The Ontario Trillium Foundation must balance accountability to the government with accountability to the community. We’ve learned we can do this best through relationships.
Having good relationships in place facilitates progress. Crown corporations, like any major corporation, can get mired in process. By building a personal and professional relationship with our stakeholders, by defining roles and responsibilities up-front, and by agreeing on shared outcomes, it’s possible to cut through some of that process and make good decisions more effectively.
I’m not going to pretend that we’re able to build relationships with every one of our stakeholders. That would be impossible, given that we have 1500 grantees each year and as many as 4,000 grants under management.
And I’m not going to pretend that balancing interests is always easy, or even possible. But by leveraging such key resources as our staff and volunteers, by putting a premium on relationships and by turning our stakeholders into partners, accountability will take care of itself.
Thank you.
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