Our 2018-2019 Year

The year ending July 31, 2019 was the first full year The Thomas Sill Foundation operated with the new granting procedures put in place on the retirement of our executive director. Our administrative assistant has seen her responsibilities expanded to include initial grant request screening, correspondence and website update in addition to her previous responsibilities. A goal was set to reduce the grant approval timeline to a two month period from grant receipt to Board approval. We are pleased to report that this has been achieved for the majority of grants. Our arrangements with The Winnipeg Foundation continue to be beneficial to both parties as we interact with their staff on granting and other matters.

Grants for the 2019 fiscal year totaled $997,050. This was allocated to 101 organizations throughout Manitoba and 1 grant to the Experimental Lakes located in North Western Ontario. We have seen an increase in requests from organizations located outside of Manitoba. We continue to only become involved if the project has a direct impact and presence in Manitoba. In the 2019 year, 50 grants totaling $439,950 were made to organizations operating outside the city of Winnipeg. There were 52 grants totaling $557,100 made to organizations based in Winnipeg. Of the 52 grants to Winnipeg organizations 22 grants totaling $319,150 were made to organizations that provide services to all Manitobans. This calculates to approximately 76% of the grants potentially impacting all Manitobans.

The grant applications covered most of the categories in our granting guidelines. While the number of grants increased from the previous year the average size of the grants decreased. There were also a significant number of first time applicants which the Board was pleased to see. It is always a pleasure to see the important work done by charitable organizations, many of which operate with limited funds, rely heavily on volunteers and still have a significant impact on their community.

Please see the specific granting categories that form part of the annual report for a brief summary of grants.

Enter Annual Report