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Donor Forum

Purpose

The purpose of the Donor Forum is to:

  1. Educate corporate members on how to be more impactful with their corporate citizenship and charitable giving, and provide examples of local and overseas best practices in the corporate giving field.
  2. Provide a sharing network among corporate members to raise awareness and understanding on social issues for the benefit of Bermuda.
  3. Leverage the collective corporate membership to effect positive change in the sector and in the community.
  4. Foster more engagement between the corporate members and the charitable community.

History

The Donor Forum was founded in January 2002 by a small group of foundations and international and local firms, out of a rapidly growing demand for higher standards of corporate social responsibility, good governance, accountability and sustainability.

Since then, the Forum has sought to offer its member firms an opportunity to network on a regular basis, to share best practices and learn collectively from one another and from other stakeholders within the Third Sector.

In May 2007 the Donor Forum membership agreed unanimously to join forces with the newly repositioned Centre on Philanthropy, and is now by Charter a member of the Centre.

Over the years the Donor Forum has hosted a number of informative donor symposiums and since 2003 has annually gathered and reported on, local giving trends within the donor community. 

In an effort to streamline the process for donors and charities alike, the Forum’s executive has also overseen the creation of a standard grant application form, grantee contract and evaluation report form.

Additionally, the Donor Forum has been significantly involved in the formation of the Bermuda National Standards Committee, lobbied for amendments to the Charities Act and has been actively involved in a number of private/public philanthropic partnerships.

In 2005 the Forum was approached by Atlantic Philanthropies to manage and distribute their Leadership Studies Tour grants. If you are interested in applying for one of these grants, or joining the Donor Forum email Pam.

Executive

  • Chairman: Gail Pantry, Oil
  • Vice Chairman: Erin Field, The ACE Foundation
  • Myra Virgil, The Atlantic Philanthropies
  • Jennifer Lindo, Coldwell Banker Bermuda Realty
  • Brenda Tatem, ArielRe
  • Joanne MacPhee, KPMG
  • Danielle Riviere, The Centre on Philanthropy

Activities

The Donor Forum has developed a mix of programmes to offer corporate members including:

  • Breakfast Sharing Meetings – speakers and topics presented on a quarterly basis
  • Training Workshops – half day workshops, such as the Donors’ Best Practices workshop held in January entitled, “Enhancing Your Giving Program”
  • Charity Road Shows (pilot program) – brief presentations (no pitches) by a selected “handful” of charities that all operate within the same category, such as Education or Youth services
  • Donor Forum Orientations – offered to new members to show them the Donor Best Practices Guide and the Gift in Kind module and to complete the Donor Directory profile

Annual Giving Survey

The Donor forum collects Giving Statistics from its members on an annual basis during the first quarter of each year.  If you are interested in participating, please email danielle@centreonphilanthropy.org

Donor Forum Standard Documents