Building a stronger Burlington, a community where everyone belongs

Burlington Foundation is your local community foundation partner. We exist to support and advance the well-being of our community and residents, and we believe in a community where everyone belongs.

As one of 200 community foundations across Canada, we address local needs unique to Burlington and partner with residents and businesses to provide resources to support the vitality of our community today and tomorrow through growing, stewarding and granting resources.

Established in 1999, Burlington Foundation operates much like a private foundation, where resources can be invested through donor-advised funds and pooled into a unique community endowment fund, forever. As a registered charity, we help people connect with causes important to them in our community and support their generosity planning, providing tools, resources and guidance to create the greatest impact, in support of a stronger Burlington.

Our core pillars of community impact:

  • We connect leaders: We bring passionate leaders and key public and private organizations together across our community to actively identify and address important needs.
  • We give grants: With our deep understanding of our broader community, the Foundation links donors and charitable needs in the community. We help donors respond to the vast range of needs while supporting their objectives for giving. Through the generosity of the giving community, we adjudicate and award vital grants to charitable initiatives doing important work across health and social services, arts and culture, education, recreation and the environment. Each grant truly makes a difference to our neighbours, friends, colleagues and their families, as together, Burlington Foundation and our donors continue to strengthen Burlington through impactful, sustainable giving.
  • We build legacies: We partner with donors who would like to leave a lasting legacy by creating and stewarding long-term endowed funds to support charitable needs in the community now, and for years to come. We invest and manage these donations and grant a portion of the available earned income, enabling funds to live on in perpetuity.

As a hub for charitable giving in our community we also:

  • Educate and raise awareness throughout the broader community on needs
  • Create and facilitate giving opportunities for businesses, charities, families and individual donors
  • Advocate giving and encourage generosity across the community

Trust us to make change happen. Give brilliantly TM

Burlington Foundation takes the guesswork out of giving. Since 1999, individuals, agencies and corporate donors have chosen us to connect their charitable gifts to 1,000’s of community members. Whether it’s your 1st or 100th gift, our purpose is to help you give with confidence.

A widowed senior rediscovers laughter and friendship at a community centre. A child from a low-income family puts on a jersey and learns how awesome it is to be part of a team. A 15-year-old anticipates their future with newfound optimism. These are just some of the tangible and meaningful ways donors are leaving their mark on our community. 

As your partner in giving, we understand how important it is to know that a gift of any size can make a real difference. Each and every day, we collaborate with key leaders, agencies and other organizations to ensure that grant donations directly impact people’s lives and address important community needs.

By partnering together, we amplify the power of your giving, creating a fantastic ripple effect of change in our community for today, and in years to come. Giving smartly, making the most impact. Now that’s Brilliant.

We invite you to make change happen with Burlington Foundation!

3 Pillars of what we do:

 

We connect leaders: We bring passionate leaders and key public and private organizations together across our community to actively identify and address important needs.

We give grants: With our deep understanding of our broader community, the Foundation links donors and charitable needs in the community. We help donors respond to the vast range of needs while supporting their objectives for giving. Through the generosity of the giving community, we adjudicate and award vital grants to charitable initiatives doing important work across health and social services, arts and culture, education, recreation and the environment. Each grant truly makes a difference to our neighbours, friends, colleagues and their families, as together, Burlington Foundation and our donors continue to strengthen Burlington through impactful, sustainable giving.

We build legacies: We partner with donors who would like to leave a lasting legacy by creating and stewarding longterm endowed funds to support charitable needs in the community now, and for years to come. We invest and manage these donations and grant a portion of the available earned income, enabling funds to live on in perpetuity.

As a hub for charitable giving in our community we also:

• Educate and raise awareness throughout the broader community on needs

• Create and facilitate giving opportunities for business, agencies, families and individual donors

• Advocate giving and encourage generosity across the community

We currently manage over $15.83 million in assets, steward 107 charitable funds and have distributed more than $6.4 million in grants in Burlington and the surrounding area since inception. We do all this to advance the quality of life in Burlington so that our community can be the very best in Canada.

 

Land Acknowledgement for the City of Burlington

Burlington as we know it today is rich in history and modern traditions of many First Nations and the Métis. From the Anishinaabeg to the Haudenosaunee, and the Métis – our lands spanning from Lake Ontario to the Niagara Escarpment are steeped in Indigenous history. ​

​The territory is mutually covered by the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy, the Ojibway and other allied Nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes.

We would like to acknowledge that the land on which we gather is part of the Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit.

Burlington Foundation’s Vision, Mission and Values:

Vision

Communities throughout North America see us as the best way to make change happen.

Mission

We understand the difference we can make is greater when people work together. Our role is to make that happen.  

 Values

  • Passionate for making a difference
  • Leadership is collective decision making
  • Open and honest about what we will do and what we won’t do
  • Change that matters comes from working together
  • Measurable results for the short and long term
  • Innovative and flexible in everything we do

 

Click to see our 2019-2020 Year in Review annual report

Click to see our Mar. 31, 2020 audited financial statements

 

Burlington Foundation is a proud member of:

Burlington Foundation is a proud member of Community Foundations of Canada, the national membership organization for over 191 community foundations across Canada which contribute time, leadership and financial support to local initiatives, helping people give back where their communities need it most. To find a Community Foundation near you click here. We are also a sector champion member of Imagine Canada, a national program to promote public and corporate giving, volunteering and support to the community.

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