There is a significant disparity that exists regarding the distribution of donations made by foundations between rural and urban areas, with the latter receiving the larger piece of the pie. A study published in 2008 by the Canada Revenue Agency (view here) stated that only 22% of charities were rural organizations (with over one out of three of these considered to be small organizations). In consequence, charitable funds are unequally distributed throughout the territory, with some groups having access to more resources than others. Research also mirrors this reality, with only a minimal portion of studies covering philanthropic activities outside of large urban centers.
This being said, the strong presence of foundations in cities must not lead us to minimize the dynamic philanthropic culture of rural regions, or occult the major role played by the latter in satisfying the variety of social needs of communities and building up solidarity among them. A philanthropic culture cannot be reduced to the grants made by foundations, or even, more broadly, to all of the philanthropic activities of the charitable sector as a whole. Philanthropic culture can also be expressed through other means, not in the least less important, such as volunteer participation, donations made by individuals or to social causes, corporate community involvement, or by all the manifestations of mutual aid that can be found in neighbourhood interactions. Thus, this special edition has a double objective: not only does it aim at inviting foundations to reinvest in the rural world at its full value, but also to encourage the research sector to discover philanthropy’s various forms of expression and insertion within different living environments.
Enjoy your reading!
- Editorial: Connecting the dots: The philanthropic sector and regional development opportunities in Atlantic Canada, by Brady Reid
- Interview: Arthur Bull – Former Chair of Rural Communities Foundation of Nova Scotia, by Brady Reid
- Transforming Fogo Island: Social enterprise and community resilience in rural Newfoundland. What role can social enterprise play in supporting rural communities? by Roza Tchoukaleyska
- Case Study: Social enterprise as economic salvation? The case of Fogo Island, Newfoundland, The PhiLanthropic Year, by Lukas Bosch and Roza Tchoukaleyska
- Rural Routes Podcast – Philanthropy, podcast with Ryan Gibson
- Book chapter: Service Provision and Rural Sustainability, with Ryan Gibson
- La philanthropie rurale au Canada : Les stratégies du 21e siècle foisonnent dans le Canada rural by John Lorinc, published by The Philanthropist.
- Infographic: A Glimpse of Rural Philanthropy in Canada, by Alex Petric and Ryan Gibson
- PhiLibrary – Rural Philanthropy , by David Grant-Poitras
November 2019 Newsletter: Rural Philanthropy
Special Edition: Rural Philanthropy