Lynn Eakin

There is emerging, both in anecdotal evidence and in the research literature, a growing recognition that a significant number of voluntary sector organizations in Canada are experiencing problems funding their operations and programs. A previous paper by this author, “An Overview of the Funding of Canada’s Voluntary Sector”, Voluntary Sector Initiative, September 20011 reviews the history and circumstances contributing to the current trend in voluntary sector financing. The paper identifies the cumulative effect of shifts in funding patterns and identifies some of the implications for voluntary organizations. The following stressors were identified as contributing to the current malaise in the voluntary sector:

• Service contracts typically do not cover the actual costs of program delivery.
• Voluntary sector organizations report increasing difficulty meeting legal and legislative obligations to staff, such as pay equity obligations and obligations to employees on contract over successive years.
• Voluntary sector organizations are having increasing difficulty covering growing shortfalls in government funding with other stable sources of funds.
• Voluntary sector organizations have increased difficulty providing the infrastructure needed for effective program delivery.
• Securing funding to mount innovative and creative programs is becoming increasingly difficult.

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