Taking our communities’ Vital Signs

With just one week to go until the launch of Vital Signs 2009, community foundations across Canada are getting ready to present research findings to their communities.

The launch of 16 local reports and our national Canada’s Vital Signs report on October 6 marks the fourth year of the national Vital Signs program. And although every community puts a lot of effort into their reports, I think some of the most significant contributions that Vital Signs makes to its communities takes place long before and long after, the reports are released.  

Months in advance of gathering statistical data for their reports, community foundations meet with a wide range of organizations, often bringing them together to ask ‘What does our community want and/or need to measure?’ In some cases, they discover gaps in research or realize they can pool resources to learn more. These meetings are not the stuff of front-page news, but do they lead to change? You bet.

During community consultations last year, the Community Foundation of Ottawa made an alarming discovery. Although 1,000 women were using shelters to flee domestic abuse, no one knew how many were being turned away because the shelters were full. The research that followed found more than 5,000 women were being turned away, galvanizing the media and the community.

The community is also engaged after the research phase, when citizens are invited to rate their community’s progress. Online surveys take place months before reports are issued. Some community foundations hand out postcards at events to encourage participation; others are using Twitter and Facebook to access growing social networks. In Vancouver youth used text messaging to rate their perception of the community. The goal? Reach as many citizens as possible to build understanding of local issues and offer a concrete way to share their own views.

Launch day brings lots of local and national media attention, but Vital Signs doesn’t end after the 11 o’clock news. Rather, October 6th is meant to act as a springboard to attract Canadians’ attention and engage them in an ongoing discussion.

In the city where Vital Signs was born, the discussion has already spanned a decade – transforming the way the Toronto Community Foundation defines and responds to the strengths and challenges of Canada’s largest city. That’s because the information gathered throughout the Vital Signs process is a goldmine of community insight and understanding. It helps all the participating community foundations set granting priorities, work more effectively with donors, and act as a catalyst within their own community.

For instance, Toronto’s Vital Signs has led to the creation of Vital People, a granting program that supports valued leaders in the non-profit sector. Then there’s Vital Ideas, connecting donors to high-impact community initiatives and providing grants to community groups so they can multiply the impact of their work by sharing their learning with others. The impact stories can be found in every community across the country.

Vital Signs is only one of many important indicator initiatives in Canada, but it’s a powerful formula for building community vitality: engage the community in the gathering and disseminating of local knowledge and then put that knowledge to work via community philanthropy.

Stay tuned, we’ll have much more to share with you in the months and years ahead.We will update this blog regularly, so visit often or subscribe to our RSS feed.

(Monica Patten is the President and CEO of Community Foundations of Canada)