Sara Lyons, Program Director, Community Foundations of Canada Don Basham, Director, Sunshine Coast Community Foundation Trina Prior, Manager of Grants.

Sara Lyons, Program Director, Community Foundations of Canada

Don Basham, Director, Sunshine Coast Community Foundation

Trina Prior, Manager of Grants & Community Initiatives, Vancouver Foundation

Community Indicators Consortium Webinar Series:

Vital Signs Part 2: Engaging Local Partners Across 30 Communities

Nov 9th, 2011

Background

• Began in Toronto in 2001• moved from primary to

secondary research • Introduced as a national

program by CFC in 2006 with 6 foundations publishing

• 22 local publications (coast to coast) in 2011 and 32 community foundations in the program

• Internationally: Brazil, Australia, US, UK

What is Vital Signs?

• An ongoing program and regular publication

• Collates and presents existing research data on the local community from a variety of sources

• Published by local community foundations, coordinated and supported by CFC

• Ten common issue areas : 1. Gap between Rich and Poor 6. Getting Started in our

Community2. Safety 7. Arts and Culture3. Health and Wellness 8. Environment4. Learning 9. Work5. Housing 10. Belonging and Leadership

• Community engagement in defining areas of interest, sources of research, grading of indicators and leadership

What is Vital Signs?

Measuring the vitality of Canadian communities in critical areas helps community foundations:

•Increase the effectiveness of our grantmaking •Better inform our donors about issues and opportunities in the community •Assist us in making connections between individuals and groups to address those issues•Providing a context and catalyst for community discussion and deliberation•Platform for collaboration, action and change

Reports

What is Vital Signs?

Alongside local program, the national program features:

• Vital Signs Giving Guide, a national insert published in the Globe and Mail newspaper

• Website featuring all the national and local content, as well as local stories and contact information

• New national research each year focusing on quality of life in Canada, for example in 2010 we commissioned a national poll to learn more about how Canadians feel about their local environment

• Social media including the Vital Signs blog featuring regular Vital Signs program stories and quality of life news, written by a variety of bloggers.

The Community Engagement Process- WHY?

• Vital Signs is about incorporating feedback and priorities

• Whereas much data is already publicly available, we add value by bringing it together and bringing it to life

• Adding profile, communications, public outreach and leadership capacity to facts

• Creating a platform for action

The Community Engagement ProcessHOW?

• Early: Building awareness, interest and momentum

• Participating: Contributing to the project, accessing data, laying groundwork for collaboration and action

The Community Engagement ProcessHOW?

• Launch:• Awareness raising• Key messages and positioning

• Presentations:• mayor and council; provincial and federal representatives• major charities and other non-profit organizations• social planning and social service organizations• citizen groups, service clubs• multi-cultural agencies• Chamber of Commerce, business associations• local economic development agencies• Vital Signs funders and potential funders• other community funders• community foundation donors• local media

The Community Engagement ProcessHOW? (cont.)

• Feedback and Prioritization: perceptions, experiences, interests, conversations

• Grading 1. In dire need of corrective action

2. Of concern, needs attention3. Progress is being made4. We’re doing well & headed in the right direction5. Awesome! Our community’s tops!

• Polling

Sunshine Coast Community Foundation

Community and program context

• Pop 29,000

• Accessible by ferry only

• Vital Signs report in 2009 and 2011

Sunshine Coast Community Foundation

Community engagement in producing the Report

Community Expertise• Management team• Group meetings• Community experts

General Population• Online survey• Revised 2011 approach

Sunshine Coast Community Foundation

Post Report community engagement

• Strategic planning• Community workshop• VOICE

• Funders dinner• One-stop website and grant writing workshop

• Sustainability Plan- Vital Signs as vehicle to monitor progress?

• Credit Union study

Vancouver Foundation

Foundation and Vital Signs program background

Community Conversations•Why we decided to do the community conversations

•The format we used and why

•Outcomes/Feedback

•Next Steps

Conclusion

Thank you

www.vitalsignscanada.ca

www.cfc-fcc.ca