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2023-24 is The 50th Anniversary of Good Foundation Inc.!

Started by Milton R. Good in 1974-75, Good Foundation Inc. will celebrate this coming fiscal year its 50th Anniversary. In its first year of operation the Foundation made grants totaling $38,364. Still a very modest operation as foundations go, our annual grants, after 49 more years, add up to a total of about $8 million. The Foundation clearly understands that while significant family resources have been used in this distribution, the Canadian government through its tax policies has also made a significant contribution. The family is grateful to have been given the opportunity to assign what are essentially public funds to various community projects and activities. We hope we have been good and efficient stewards.

In recognition of this, our 50th Anniversary year, Good Foundation Inc. is making five special grants of $50,000 each to organizations with whom we have worked: Theatre London (The Grand Theatre); Museum London; London Symphonia; London Regional Children’s Museum; Region of Waterloo Arts Fund.

The above grants are discretionary. Funds will also be available for our annual 2023-24 granting process as outlined on this website.

Current Grant Situation,  January, 2023

We are now starting to look at grant requests for our 2023-24 fiscal year, which beings on April 1st, and are sending out requests we receive to Board Members for consideration and evaluation in the context of our guidelines.

Please note that we accept requests only for arts, cultural, and heritage projects, mainly in south western Ontario. We seldom donate to the Toronto region because of the abundance of funding organizations already based there.

A Change to GFI as of July 2021

We are very happy to be able to report that after 48 years of do-it-yourself administration, Good Foundation Inc. is getting help from a new “Administrator” who will take over some secretarial and organizational tasks. Ms. Elizabeth M. Abbott. Elizabeth now assists in keeping the Foundation on track and in helping to guide its procedures and policies. Ms Abbott has considerable experience with charitable institutions and private foundations, and is currently involved as well with the The Walter J. Blackburn Foundation, also based in London, Ontario. 

New Phone Number as of 2021

The Foundation receives very few phones calls apart from those wanting to clean our ducts, save us from credit card fraud, or keep us out of jail.  Rogers new technology currently does not make it possible to have a second phone line without sacrificing other communications features.   The new phone number of the Foundation Office is now 548 688-6260.  The number is also the residence number of Jim and Eva Good, but the line goes to the same desk as the previous number. The change saves desk space, money, and  allows us to improve the technology both personally and for the Foundation.

Region of Waterloo Arts Funding (Since 2019-20)

Good Foundation Inc. will again this year assign $50,000 to the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund for redistribution in its Fall 2023 Competition. The “Arts Fund” has in place an adjudication structure for area arts funding with an overview that the Foundation cannot match or duplicate. It is our intention for this current year to once again explore the use of this existing mechanism. [Region of Waterloo Arts Fund.]

The consequence of the above  is that Region of Waterloo arts, cultural and heritage organizations should apply directly to the “Arts Fund”  which will have an additional $50,000 available for the Fall 2023 competition. Good Foundation Inc., for this year (2023-24) no longer accept directly requests for funding from the Waterloo region.  If the grant request is not one that can be considered by the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund, exceptions may be looked at by the Directors at the discretion of the Directors.

Good Foundation Receives A “Denney” Award

November 22nd, 2019

We are proud to announce that Good Foundation Inc. received the  “Denney” Award as “Arts Philanthropist” for 2019 at the Arts Awards Waterloo Region on Friday, November, 22nd. It was in recognition of 45 years of community grants, mostly in the fields of arts, culture and heritage.  It was accepted on behalf of the Foundation by John Good.  We are grateful to the Arts Awards Committee and would also like to recognize Bill Poole who played a significant role.

Requests From British Columbia

February, 2020

Good Foundation Inc. is an a-political organization that does not take positions on political issues or engage in any partisan discussions.  That said, its mandate is “to support and enrich the communities in which the Foundation’s members are involved.”  Because we have had members with BC residences, Victoria in particular has qualified for the past 17 years as a community “in which Foundation members are involved,” and something over $200,000 has been donated to the cultural life of that region in the last two years alone.  Unfortunately, British Columbia’s new “Speculation Tax” and the more than tripling of vehicle insurance rates for those from out of province may well force our Ontario members to give up their BC property, which seems to be its intent.  We are still trying to clarify the situation, but it is unlikely that Foundation members will support new projects in British Columbia until it is clear our members can continue to participate in that region as concerned and caring Canadian citizens rather than being designated as mere self-interested financial speculators. Current obligations in BC have been fully paid, and no more will be incurred under the present circumstances.

Holiday Season Requests

December 2020

The Foundation receives annually a significant number of mainly generic requests for year-end holiday oriented donations. We do not consider these formal applications and generally do not acknowledge or reply to them, Also, these requests will not be carried over to any new granting period.

Please Note: At no point does sending us a brochure from your organization constitute in itself an application for a grant.  Some attempt must be made to suggest how and why your project links to our own goals, aims, and the regions we support, which can be fairly broad.

That said, Best of the Season to all.