For Private Foundations

Start your personal foundation here

Focus on what you care about most, while we handle administration and more

Starting or maintaining a private foundation is no small feat. There’s managing startup costs to ongoing administrative hassles, annual tax filings and more. That’s on top of the growing demand for support from increasingly hard-pressed causes. All too often, the many burdens can pile up and leave you so busy, there's little time or joy left for giving. But it doesn’t have to be that way.  

Housing a donor advised fund at Toronto Foundation is an ideal alternative to a private foundation. We handle all of the administrative services, freeing you up to focus on giving back. Plus, our team is here to support you and your family in defining your philanthropic priorities. We’ve been working with people just like you for more than forty years. 

We invite you to join our network of nearly 1,000 donors who’ve chosen to learn about the city’s greatest needs and invest accordingly—together. We’re strengthening relationships with community every year, building hope and momentum for a better Toronto. 

More comparisons from costs to admin to governance here.

What Toronto Foundation offers

Startup: Efficiency with No Initiation Fees and Minimal First Investment
We can get you up and running in as little as a few days. That's compared to standard six- to 12-month lead time to get a private foundation running where legal start up fees can run you up to $7,000. There’s no startup fee to establish a Toronto Foundation fund and we only require a $10,000 fund balance to get going, which is considerably lower than the minimum requirement for a donor advised fund at many banks.  

Administration Coverage
Our full-service administration includes accounting, audit, legal, receipting, tax filing, governance, compliance and granting – you make the grant decisions and we process the payments on your behalf.

Flexibility
You can permanently endow your money then annually grant out the interest earned or set up a flow through fund to give what and when you want. We offer several types of funds. 

Fees Flow Back to Community
Our fees are modest and essential. They cover the extensive services we offer and enable us to carry out our charitable mission. Financial institutions are sometimes able to offer lower fees for donor advised funds, but the revenues go back into the business rather than broader community needs. 

See how giving through community foundations compares to private foundations.

We can also help:

  • Hold your funds temporarily, so you can get a tax receipt while establishing your private foundation
  • Support with winding down a private foundation 

Our Expertise: We know responsible investing and we know community

Community Champion: Offering Insights, Connections and Commitment 

Community foundations are designed and driven to move donations into the communities they serve, while financial institutions ultimately exist to make a profit for shareholders.  

Once you’re set up with us, you can give to any registered charity or qualified donee in Canada. If you’re looking for advice on where to give, we can help with that too.  

For years we’ve led Toronto’s Vital Signs research in order to report back on and drive giving towards the city’s greatest needs. We build and maintain relationships with organizations driving solutions. 

By creating connections with these organizations, fundholders have opportunities to better understand the city’s inequalities, the important work of nonprofit and grassroots groups, and to diversify their giving to these nimble organizations.

Each year we make it easier to give where needs are the greatest by producing Good to Give Guides of donation-ready, smaller organizations. 

RockCreek: Our Trusted Outsourced Chief Investment Officer

We’re proud to call RockCreek our internationally renowned Outsourced Chief Investment Officer. Founded by the World Bank’s former treasurer and chief investment officer, RockCreek has helped us re-imagine our broader investing strategy for more aggressive, yet responsible, financial returns. Plus, what started with a finance-first agenda with our establishment in 1981, is evolving to match our equity-driven vision that bold financial and social yields can be achieved in tandem. We’re committed to using all of our assets for good. Check out our financial returns and related impact here. 

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More Questions?

Connect with Aneil Gokhale: 
Director, Philanthropy
agokhale@torontofoundation.ca
416-921-2035 ext. 212