Areas of Focus

We believe investments in charities that support health, education, and skills development are fundamental to changing the lives of Canadians. For that reason, we focus on charities that have a proven track record of addressing these areas and the specific needs of vulnerable groups, and that also have the opportunity for substantial growth.

What We Fund

Our investments are for activities that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of charities so they may better serve their community. We build their capacity by addressing organizational and governance gaps, developing a systematic approach to prove and improve their social impact, and by identifying strategies to scale their innovations into new markets.

The Legacies in Action Society gives priority to initiatives that:

  • Are strategic in their approach, aiming to address the complexity of the issue and to have impact beyond immediate delivery.
  • Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the issue in a broader context and have a strong case for support.
  • Have national or broad regional implications or have the potential for broad national or regional scaling.

Organizations that are:

  • Well managed, effective and leaders in the field.
  • Results oriented and committed to examining and communicating outcomes.
  • Willing to share knowledge and resources with stakeholders.
  • Dedicated to advancing policy and practice.

Note: We support Canadian registered charities or other qualified donees as identified by the Canada Revenue Agency. Only initiatives that align with our granting approach and fall within one of our three funding areas are eligible for funding. We may undertake to do some of this capacity building work ourselves or use third party not-for-profit intermediaries.

Types of Initiatives Supported

Legacies in Action Society typically provides grants and support for term-specific initiatives, with a maximum granting period of three years.

    • We support charities to create and implement plans to address gaps in organizational capacity and governance, including operational support, policy and procedure development, recruitment, branding and communication initiatives, fundraising campaign planning, and addressing legal barriers to future growth of successful charitable programs.
    • We also support the assessment of an organization’s functional areas to ensure organizational capacities are aligned correctly with its strategic goals and that it is delivering services in an efficient and effective manner.
    • We help charities determine their strategic direction through the development of a strategic plan and assist the organization in making critical decisions about its direction, resources, and monitoring progress against its strategic goals.
    • We also support charities in articulating their theory of change - that is, why a charitable program works, which activities are required to produce successful, positive outcomes, and how those activities must be completed.
    • We assist in creating a plan for scaling or expanding a charitable organization’s ability to provide more, higher-quality services to individuals and their communities - including the development of performance measures tied to their theory of change that will help them determine their level of success.
    • We also support charities with change management and may include research, feasibility studies, and operational support.
  • We understand each organization is unique and the path to improving effectiveness, building capacity, and supporting scalability is different for each. As a result, other incidental activities may be required. The Legacies in Action Society provides grants and support for each of these activities.

What We Do Not Fund or Support

The Legacies in Action Society does not support the following:

  • Local and small-scale projects
  • Start-ups
  • Ongoing program delivery
  • General fundraising campaigns
  • Capital campaigns
  • Legal Challenges
  • Endowments and Chairs
  • Bursaries or scholarships
  • Projects delivered outside of Canada
  • Individuals
  • Advocacy groups or causes
  • Political campaigns or lobbying

Note: We may, from time to time, make trustee-directed donations that fall outside our regular guidelines. These are proactive in nature, and Legacies in Action Society will not consider unsolicited proposals to our Board of Directors.