Another SYC Success for Ottawa

The Community Foundation of Ottawa (CFO) is celebrating another $10,000 Supporting Your Community fund – the foundation’s fourth in the past two months. “We put a great deal of work into our relationship with BMO up front,” says Bibi Patel, Director of Development and Donor Services. “It’s really come together in the past six months and now we’re on a roll.” CFO is currently exploring several other new fund opportunities through the SYC program.

The foundation’s most recent fund originated with a call from Richard Lauzon of BMO Harris Private Banking (BMOHPB). Lauzon was meeting with a new BMOHPB client and raised the SYC program during his initial discussion with her. Lauzon quickly learned that the client had no dependents and was planning to will most of her assets to charity through a bequest.

“Supporting Your Community really got her attention because she could support her charities of choice now, rather than waiting until after her death,” says Lauzon, who immediately made an introduction to the Community Foundation of Ottawa. “The foundation’s staff is very friendly and professional,” he says. “I’ve gotten to know them and I feel very confident referring my clients to them.”

The client, who is living with a disability, is heavily involved in raising awareness about the condition she shares with other Canadians. The community foundation offered a way to support her favourite charities immediately and the added benefit of more involvement with the community as a whole, was a strong attraction.

Patel spend almost two hours with the client, introducing her to the community foundation concept and talking about her life, her passions and her charitable goals. Later that same day the client returned to CFO’s office to bring some information about her disability and some organizations working on it. “We always encourage clients to make our office their home and she responded to that offer immediately, even though mobility is a real issue for her,” says Patel. “She is an exceptional woman.”