About WRCF

Waterloo Region Community Foundation (WRCF) collaborates with partners to ensure our communities are equitable, connected, and sustainable; and people are thriving. As a leading community-building organization, we connect regionally and locally, working with three cities and four townships, to include the people and places across our region. Together, using a trust-based philanthropic approach, we develop forward-thinking innovative solutions and seize opportunities to meet current and future needs of our community.

In 2024, WRCF is focused on improving social infrastructure in Waterloo Region. We define social infrastructure as the system of organizations, spaces, and experiences that enable people to connect with each other, the bridges necessary to build trust and civic participation, to create a sense of belonging and wellbeing. It’s the system that enables sustainable widespread community development. Here is a link to a blog post we shared to provide a bit more background.

At the heart of our work, WRCF has three great tools in our toolkit to make measurable and sustainable impact in our community – Granting, Investing and Mobilizing. And, we are focused on making philanthropy easy for individuals and companies to support organizations and issues they care about.

  1. In partnership with our Fundholders and donors, we Grant.
    When you make a donation to WRCF, we invest that gift into a permanent endowment fund which generates income that is then distributed to support a broad range of charitable causes within our community.

  2. We also Invest.
    A portion of our assets are used to make investments in organizations that are specifically focused on making social or environmental impact. Our remaining assets are invested in the market and we are in the process of transitioning to an overall 100% mission-aligned portfolio.

  3. And, we Mobilize community to spark shared action on key regional issues; we build partnerships across organizations and sectors to support future-focused ideas; and we contribute research, stories, and expertise to inform community solutions.

WRCF holds $137 million in total investments under management. In 2023, we approved grants of $8.2 million to hundreds of local charities and non-profits, bringing our collective granting impact since inception to $81 million. Since 2017, we have also made 21 impact investments totalling over $13.3 million, including almost $2 million in 2023.

 
Young man with Down syndrome and his tutor with arms around looking at camera indoors at school

Vision: As Waterloo Region grows to one million residents, our communities are equitable, connected, and sustainable; and people are thriving.

Mission: Waterloo Region Community Foundation strengthens local organizations, spaces, and experiences to increase connection with communities across Waterloo Region.

Values: Equity-centred, Approachable, Accountable, Catalytic, Collaborative, Impactful


Charitable Registration Number: 132170994RR0001

Waterloo Region Community Foundation is a member of Community Foundations of Canada, the national membership organization for 191 community foundations across Canada who contribute time, leadership and financial support to local initiatives, helping people give back where their communities need it most.

 

We…

  • Act as a community catalyst. Because community foundations support all kinds of charities, not for profits and social enterprises, we are well-positioned to bring people and organizations together to address local issues and opportunities and then collaborate on solutions.

  • Offer flexibility gift vehicles from permanent endowment funds to spend-down funds and flow through options.

  • Approach our work with an equity-mindset, and by incorporating trust-based philanthropic practices

  • Are governed by a Board of Directors and Committee Members, with strong ties to our community, who offer their expertise and leadership to be effective stewards of today and take us where we need to go tomorrow.

  • Seek out the most innovative and effective organizations to support Waterloo Region residents now – and in the future. These partnerships span local, provincial, national and international organizations in both the public and private sector.

  • Are driven by results. We work in collaboration with community partners to set meaningful financial and social impact goals and achieve them together.

  • Focus on issues in the community requiring attention; re-direct funds as community needs change and facilitate discussions with other funders and partners to align and support transformational project.