Publications

The guide provides information on what types of funding partnerships we engage in and how we assess proposals.

The application orientation webinar provides an overview of our focus areas as well as the new process for applying for McConnell Foundation funding.

This document provides instructions and a sample application for our focus area funding streams.

McConnell is traditionally viewed as an Anglophone foundation, but as we deepen our engagement with French communities across Canada, we are learning how to improve our communication in our second language – French. We were recently sensitized to the changing norms of the language and realized that our existing practices needed to evolve. We conducted […]

With the emergence of the global COVID-19 pandemic, social purpose-driven organizations are stepping up to the challenge of pivoting their business models to play their role. Now, more than ever, leaders are called upon to make immediate and profound decisions with far-reaching consequences – and with the potential to accelerate and scale their social impact […]

In June 2018, the McConnell Family Foundation convened a meeting to discuss and review the landscape of philanthropic involvement in Canadian public interest journalism. McConnell’s interest in this subject is ingrained in the organization’s history, as its founder was a former publisher of the Montreal Star. Most recently, the Foundation has been interested in building […]

Acting on the net-zero carbon imperative For decades, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned that to avoid catastrophic climate-related risks to our natural and physical environment, we must limit the global rise in temperatures to no more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial era. In its most recent report in 2023, […]

Intersectionality and social justice movements are transforming the way climate change is addressed. For philanthropy to be part of this transformation, funders need to be involved in identifying the systemic barriers that individuals and communities face. In this way, they can work together to help overcome the obstacles to address the climate crisis.   In their […]

Building an inclusive and resilient climate economy in Quebec At the Future Economy Lab (FEL) we are bringing together a select group of organizations to pioneer a new way of nurturing entrepreneurial ecosystems that create inclusive and resilient economies. The first iteration of FEL launched in partnership between Maison d’innovation sociale, McConnell Family Foundation, SecondMuse […]

In this webinar, our program staff explained our new approach to the Communities focus area, including how we got here, as well as our updated priorities and funding strategies. The webinar also shared resources for applicants and answered participant questions. Watch the video above, or download the presentation slides, including the summary of the Q&A […]

The guide provides information on what types of funding partnerships we engage in and how we assess proposals.

Progress Reports are an opportunity for a grantee to share how their work is progressing, and for the Foundation to offer feedback and insights on this progress. While we are interested in the activities that have been undertaken, we are most concerned with the learnings and impacts that have emerged from this work, and how […]

Introduces the concept of developmental evaluation to potential users and provides some tools to support its use.

The purpose of A Developmental Evaluation Companion is the same as that of the original A Developmental Evaluation Primer — to introduce the concept to changemakers, and to the evaluators, critical friends and reality testers, who are their partners in that change journey. The aim is to provide an overview of the essential elements  of Developmental Evaluation (DE) to […]

The Foundationcategorys primer for those developing or referring an Applied Dissemination proposal

This full report provides a detailed look into our 2022 impact portfolio, offers an overview of our revised impact management approach, and shares more about our progress towards 100% impact.

Acting on the net-zero carbon imperative For decades, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned that to avoid catastrophic climate-related risks to our natural and physical environment, we must limit the global rise in temperatures to no more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial era. In its most recent report in 2023, […]

The purpose of the Statement of Investment Policies and Procedures (SIP&P) is to outline the principles governing the investment policy of the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation and to address key matters such as investment beliefs and the asset mix.

Canadian university presidents collaborated for five years from 2017 – 2022 to accelerate their universities as a greater force for good. Supported by the McConnell Foundation, a group of 30 presidents (the Canadian University Presidents Social Impact Collaboration) created several tools, resources, and connections to scale their social impact and put Canada on a more […]

Towards More Systemic and Sustainable Approaches to Mental Health and Wellbeing in K-12 Education In Canada, K-12 education systems have a key role in developing strategies to support the mental health and wellbeing of students and staff. While stand alone programs have provided useful content for educators in addressing mental health and wellbeing, it is […]

As this publication sets out to explain, for the Foundation, enhancing resilience means investing in the capacity of Canadians to handle challenges at multiple levels. Our concept of resilience links social and ecological systems, people and nature, and can be addressed locally at the level of the individual, family, or community, and nationally or even […]

Considering the importance of the work being done by non-qualified donees (NQDs), a group of funders — including ​Fondation Lucie et André Chagnon, Inspirit, Laidlaw Foundation and the McConnell Foundation — ​have come together to create a toolkit to help and encourage more funders to support NQDs. As a collective, our experience lies primarily in […]

In 2023 the crises of our time seemed to multiply. Climate change-fueled disasters like wildfires smothered North America in smoke, the cost of housing reached historic highs, and conflicts abroad created rising tensions and fear of violence in communities closer to home. Their implications disproportionately affect certain groups, compounding the effects of division and polarization. […]

The McConnell Foundation greatly values our relationships with our partners. We aim to work in a spirit of mutual accountability. In 2023, the Center for Effecitve Philanthropy conducted a second perception survey - four years after the first one - with current partners.

The Reconciliation focus area webinar shared the latest updated strategies. Also, find the webinar PowerPoint slides and Q&A summary.

This summary of the Questions & Answers period to the Reconciliation Webinar on November 7 2023. In October 2023 we announced a refinement to our Reconciliation Focus Area. We shared the latest updates during our November 7, 2022 Reconciliation Focus Area webinar.

The Indigenous Innovation Summit Report 2015 is a detailed overview of everything that the NAFC and its partners accomplished with the inaugural edition of the Summit. It provides a detailed list of all Summit themes, goals and panels. It also includes some preliminary information regarding the 2016 Summit, which will be hosted in Edmonton, Alberta

The Social Innovation in Canada book explores the opportunities and challenges that the movement has and will continue to face in Canada.

A key question on the minds of many social change practitioners and funders is how do we scale up our impact? Many feel overwhelmed by the fact that they have invested resources for decades into numerous local projects, which may have great results, but fail to collectively change the overall state of the system. Scaling Out, Scaling Up, Scaling Deep, by Darcy Riddell and Michele-Lee Moore, addresses how to solve this problem. The findings in this study reveal specific strategies for achieving scale, depending on whether the target is spreading an innovation, changing laws in the wider system, or shifting the cultural context within which a problem exists in the first place.

How do we make the social innovation field more than the sum of its parts? What are our systems change goals for the next 10 years? Accept Vimeo ? to watch this video