For community foundation donors who are eager to target their grant making to address the highest needs, Vital Signs is a valuable resource. Typically, copies of the report are widely available through inserts in daily newspapers and direct mail outs to the community foundation’s own donors and other partners. At least one foundation, the Toronto Community Foundation, has gone the next step and developed a companion publication, Vital Ideas, which catalogues high impact and closely-vetted grant opportunities in the same issues areas (Learning, Health, etc.) that are covered in Toronto’s Vital Signs. By directly linking research about the community with real grant opportunities, the foundation provides donors with the complete knowledge needed to engage in strategic community philanthropy.
The Red Deer & District Community Foundation found that the biggest impact of Vital Signs came from the way it engaged the community, and consequently the foundation’s Board, in a process of priority setting. Through Vital Signs homelessness and the environment were identified as key priorities. In response, the foundation created new funds dedicated to supporting those areas and has hosted fundraisers attracting both existing and new donors.
While Vital Signs is not designed to involve original research, sometimes the act of compiling data and putting it into the public realm allows community foundations to uncover and highlight areas in need of attention. In the Canadian context there are many ways that data about quality of life in our communities is shared: think-tanks, governments, media, etc. Vital Signs is an opportunity for discovery because it gathers data across the established issue areas, whether or not those are the usual domains of discussion in a particular community, and whether or not that data has previously had public attention. As a consequence, from time to time Vital Signs reports shine the light on urgent matters that have received insufficient attention.
For example, Calgary’s Vital Signs 2008 brought public attention to a number of disturbing statistics about how immigrants were settling in Calgary. Due to the local economic boom, Calgary has become a magnet for migrants from other regions of Canada, including many newcomers. Calgary’s Vital Signs revealed that while 50% of employed immigrants who come to the region have post secondary educational credentials, their average income is 63% lower than non-immigrants. By raising awareness, the report gave confidence to the city’s diverse community to work together to combat marginalization. The Ethno-Cultural Council of Calgary’s 1,000 Voices initiative is bringing together cultural community leaders and policy makers to address issues including racial profiling, access to health care, accreditation of foreign credentials and hate crime.
When the Community Foundation of Ottawa sought to highlight domestic violence statistics in its 2008 report, they made a significant discovery. No statistics about shelter use were being kept across the city’s shelters. The shelters all kept data and offered to work together to create a city-wide tally. In talking to shelter staff the foundation learned also that a stunning total of 5,150 women had to be turned away due to full capacity at these shelters. This information was the lead story in the city’s largest daily newspaper on the day Ottawa’s Vital Signs launched, raising awareness of the statistic and domestic violence more broadly.
The Sudbury Community Foundation has given its report a Northern Ontario flavour, publishing data about a number of communities in the region facing similar challenges and opportunities. As well, to reflect its significant Aboriginal population, Sudbury’s Vital Signs contains a section titled Aboriginal Community Life which contains stats about population growth, education attainment, income levels, etc. In these ways, the Sudbury Community Foundation uses Vital Signs to demonstrate its connection to, and build awareness of, regional and Aboriginal concerns.
Tomorrow's blog: Part 3 - Vital Signs: A Springboard for Action
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