November 15 is National Philanthropy Day 鈥� a day set aside to recognize and show appreciation for those who are giving either money or time for community good.

Oxford Dictionary defines philanthropy as 鈥渢he desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed especially by the generous donation of money to good causes.鈥� It comes from the Greek words for 鈥渓oving people.鈥� It is important to note that it is can be either time and/or money that are shared.

During these difficult times, when the need in community is increasing rapidly and charities and non-profit organizations are scrambling to meet the needs, it is easy to look at declining rates of volunteerism and rising rates of inflation as a time that philanthropy may be in decline. However, as an eternal optimist, a core belief of mine is people do want to share their gifts and do want to show their love of people, but how we engage volunteers and donors needs shifting.

Recognizing we are at a crossroads allows us to focus on how we can better serve both philanthropists and the participants we serve.

This may require difficult conversations that make people feel uncomfortable, but to be truthful, we need to start to be a little uncomfortable so that we can make change.

We need to recognize the colonialism inherent in the current systems and to work towards bringing an equity lens to these programs.

Please know that I recognize the altruism that is part and parcel of philanthropy. Someone who is sharing their time and money, is obviously interested in bringing equity to their community.

I have spent most of my career working in this sector and have done so because I strongly believe in equity. It was initially hard for me to recognize my blind spots (and I know I still have more to uncover) and I am committed to continuing my learning.

Through the privilege of my job, I am able to continue that learning daily and am also able to bring learning and capacity building opportunities to the community.

Board Boot Camp 101 and 201 are two workshops that KCR offers that helps philanthropists who share their skills as directors on boards. I strongly encourage anyone who is on a board, or thinking of joining one, to join the sessions on Nov. 21 and 28. Both workshops run from 4-6 p.m. On Nov. 21, we also have the Nourishing Volunteer Managers workshop as Wendy Williams will share volunteer recruitment and retention strategies and tools. Go to www.kcr.ca to for all of our workshop opportunities.

Thank you to all the philanthropists in our community 鈥� you are making a difference and we are so grateful for all you do.

dorothee@kcr.ca.