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À chaque mois, nous abordons un thème différent avec un mot de la direction ainsi que de courtes vignettes portant sur les fonds, les philanthropes et les organismes qui forment la communauté de la FGM en se mettant à l’écoute et au service de la communauté du Grand Montréal.
From April 19 to 25, the 52nd National Volunteer Week is taking place, aimed at celebrating civic engagement and recognizing the work of volunteers across all sectors. According to the Fédération des centres d’action bénévole, volunteering is a meaningful act rooted in the gift of one’s time, knowledge, and skills, with no expectation of compensation. Like philanthropy, volunteering involves giving — it is both a free and voluntary act.
First and foremost, let us not forget that large swaths of the community sector — which recently and rightly reminded us just how exhausted it is (in French!) — would be unable to fulfill their essential role in our communities without the contributions of the countless volunteers who work tirelessly within them, day after day, often without counting their hours.
The Foundation of Greater Montreal supports this mobilization, which aims to ensure that the community sector has the public resources and the autonomy it needs to carry out its essential missions, while respecting the people who work in it, volunteer within it, and rely on it. We also support the cultural sector’s mobilization to have its crucial importance recognized — for the expression of our collective identity, for fostering social connections and for supporting economic development.
The social transformations needed to build a more just, greener, and more inclusive society depend on civic engagement. Whether through community or cultural organizations, citizen or artist collectives, cooperatives, mutual aid networks, advocacy and rights defense activities, or grassroots and other social or civic movements — every form of involvement has a role to play.
It is in this spirit that we launched the 2026–2027 edition of FGM’s Collective Fund for Social Equity, which aims to support the emergence and maintenance of collective spaces, places, and resources that enable marginalized communities to come together, mobilize, and build solidarity. Our Collective Fund for Climate and Ecological Transition also supports initiatives designed to empower communities disproportionately exposed to the effects of the climate crisis, from a perspective of social and environmental justice.
The Foundation itself has the privilege of counting on outstanding volunteers who make up its Board of Directors, its standing committees, and the advisory committees of its Collective Funds. Beyond the time and effort they contribute to FGM, each one of them also brings their expertise, experience, and unique perspectives. I thank them wholeheartedly for their deep and sustained commitment!
Over the past year, two members of the Foundation’s board have even created their own funds with us. The Karen Macdonald and François Vezina Fund will support in perpetuity the missions of both FGM and Centraide of Greater Montreal, and the Fonds Fondation Paquin, created by Raff Paquin, will support the impact of Quebec non-profit organizations by accelerating their digital transformation. I want to congratulate and thank them once again for their trust! These funds join those created over the years by several current and former administrators, including those of two other current Board members, Sophie Labrecque and Kenny Tang.
At the Foundation of Greater Montréal, we have the honour and responsibility of managing nearly 800 funds created by donors who have chosen to invest for the long term and make a direct impact in their communities across a wide range of sectors — including culture, health, education, social equity, diversity and inclusion, and ecological transition. They have many options, and our flexible approach allows us to respond to the needs and philanthropic goals of each person.
As I noted in a previous post, to meet the immense challenges we face today across all sectors, it takes all of us and we will need everyone to contribute in their own way: by giving their time, sharing their expertise, making a financial donation to an organization, or creating a fund at FGM. In philanthropy, we often say there is “no such thing as a small donation.” The same holds true for social and civic involvement — there is “no such thing as a small commitment.” Whatever your motivation, your timing, or your means, we need you — now!
President and CEOl
Foundation of Greater Montréal
