The Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough is pleased to announce $492,000 in funding to support 17 projects in the City and County of Peterborough, as well as Haliburton County through the Government of Canada’s Community Services Recovery Fund.
The Community Services Recovery Fund is a one-time investment of $400 million to help community service organizations (charities, non-profits, Indigenous governing bodies) adapt, modernize and be better equipped to improve the efficacy, accessibility and sustainability of the community services that they provide through the pandemic recovery and beyond.
The Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough distributed funding to organizations like, Peterborough Folk Festival, Buckhorn Community Centre, Abby Retreat Centre, Big Brothers Big Sisters Peterborough, One City Community Development Services, and many others.
“We received very strong applications from across Peterborough and Haliburton,” says Jennifer DeBues, Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough. “We were able to fund programs that will help these organizations modernize their communications plans, fundraising goals, volunteer management systems, and more, which will facilitate long-term organizational resiliency in a fast-changing world.”
Individual projects include:
The modernization of the Alzheimer Society of Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton’s financial systems. Upgrading these out-of-date systems is a critical step in modernizing the organization’s administrative processes to accommodate the 51% growth in dementia rates that are expected by 2030.
A complete redesign of the Buckhorn Community Centre’s out-of-date website which is an essential source of information for community members, tourists, and Community Centre participants to learn about local events, programs and volunteer opportunities. A modernized website will provide enhanced customer experiences with e-commerce, self-service options, and accessible content, and will streamline business operations with links to the Community Centre’s customer relationship management software.
The Kawartha Youth Orchestra will invest in operational restructuring (revenue generation, governance, and strategic growth) aimed at generating scalable action plans for sustaining operations which match community needs. Right-modelling the organization will move KYO beyond crisis mode and enable it to be more responsive and meaningful to the community.
The One City Infrastructure Development Project will focus on developing an organizational infrastructure that will improve financial policies, procedures and systems, increase digital security and purchase technology. This will enable a more secure, efficient and effective infrastructure, allowing One City to better support the growth that has taken place over the last three years.
Peterborough Folk Festival will invest in its community outreach & partnership committee, which will strengthen its longstanding partnerships as well as build stronger relationships with local Indigenous communities. Stronger partnerships will create a more resilient organization because the Festival will engender support and collaboration from organizations within the community so all partners can grow stronger together.
The Abbey Retreat Centre in Haliburton will invest in a facilitated strategic planning process and engage the Board of Directors and Senior Staff in a facilitated governance dialogue. This will help the Centre to strategize its response to significantly increased demand for services, as well as clarify its governance model and equip its leadership team with best practices moving forward.
The Canadian Canoe Museum will use its funding to implement new technology aimed at building staff and volunteer capacity, training, coordinating volunteers, and improving the Museum’s ability to deliver on its mission. Digital innovation is essential for the Museum to recover from the widespread effects of COVID-19, update outdated and insufficient systems to meet demand, create organizational efficiencies, as well as engage volunteers effectively to drive positive change in the community.