Vision for the Initiative

A stronger, more financially resilient non-profit sector with the capacity to deliver sustained impact for Canadians and their communities.

The Opportunity

To spark evidence-based collective action and transform how non-profit financial resilience is understood, measured and strengthened across Canada.

Canada’s non-profit sector is a cornerstone of our economy and communities. Yet, despite growing financial and organizational challenges, there is no standardized, evidence-based way to measure or track the financial resilience of non-profits and charities, or their capacity to sustain and deliver impact.

Financial resilience is defined as a non-profit or charity’s ability to ‘withstand financial challenges, stressors or shocks as a result of unplanned business events, while delivering impact’.

Without robust, outcomes-based measurement, funders, governments, policymakers, sector leaders and non-profits themselves lack the intelligence to identify emerging risks and vulnerabilities, target interventions, benchmark progress or determine whether investments are improving outcomes over time.

Led by the Financial Resilience Institute with leading foundations and financial institution partners, this planned Initiative would develop a world-leading Non-Profit Financial Resilience Index, annual reporting and a free individual financial resilience score tool linked to practical resources for Canadian non-profits and charities.

As community assets, these would help organizations and sector leaders understand, measure and strengthen financial resilience, individually and collectively. Combined with other programs and supports, they would enable evidence-based decision-making, stronger governance, outcomes-focused impact measurement, targeted advocacy and more proactive policy and program development.

The planned Initiative builds on the Institute’s financial resilience leadership, peer-reviewed Financial Health and Resilience Index, SME financial resilience research in Canada and globally and SME Business Financial Health and Resilience Index and work for small businesses.

The Non-Profit Financial Health and Resilience Framework

The framework will be refined expanded on and brought to life from a sector perspective based on input from sector leaders. If the planned Initiative progresses, it will be used to shape the design of the first Non-Profit Financial Resilience Study and the planned Index, with nuanced indicators added with the input of key stakeholders from the sector.

Impact Outcomes

The planned initiative will:

• Help build a stronger, more financially resilient non-profit and charity sector, better equipped to support individuals, families and communities, including equity-deserving groups and those who are vulnerable, building on innovation and impact to date.
• Establish a common, sector-informed definition and robust, outcomes-focused Index incorporating behavioural dimensions of non-profit financial resilience.
• Enable non-profits and charities to understand, measure and track their financial resilience.
• Identify practical actions, behaviours and levers to maintain or improve their financial resilience throughout their lifecycle; and connect to relevant tools, advice, programs and capacity building by plugging into existing and future programs and resources.
• Provide independent, annual evidence on sector strengths, vulnerabilities, disparities and emerging risks, informing evidence-based advocacy, policy, regulation and collective action by policymakers, social finance leaders, funders and the sector.
• Track whether organizational actions, community investments and other interventions improve financial resilience and impact outcomes.
• Equip non-profits, funders, policymakers and sector leaders to make more informed decisions, access resources and support the design of more targeted policies, programs and capacity-building for non-profits.
• Enable strengthened non-profit governance and decision-making.

Together, these outcomes can help strengthen the financial resilience of non-profits, charities and social enterprises, and, in turn, the resilience of Canada’s communities and broader economy.

The Initiative would complement the capacity-building leadership and impact innovation already being advanced by organizations across Canada, providing non-profits and key sector players with new ways to understand, measure and act to improve financial and overall resilience.

To learn more about the Initiative, please contact Katie Sutter at katie@finresilienceinstitute.org or Eloise Duncan at eloise@finresilienceinstitute.org.