Wealthy Canadians are becoming more generous: amounts do-nated to charities increased to $8.5 billion in 2006, up more than 8% from the previous year. As always, most donors chose to give to areas that have personal meaning to them. But what is changing is the degree of their involvement; more donors appear to be deeply engaged with the programs and organizations they are benefiting. And in the case of the business people profiled here, that also means applying the specialized knowledge and principles they have acquired over several decades in the world of work.



Ellen Remai,
Property Development

Philanthropist and Saskatoon resident Ellen Remai has long supported arts groups, educational institutions and social organizations in Saskatchewan. She brings the opera to Saskatoon once a year; an endowment provides scholarships to students in the construction trades; she is a benefactor of a home for women who were sexually abused as children. Most recently, Remai’s gift of $2.5 million, along with matching government grants and other individual donations, enabled the Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon to build a new 450-seat facility on the banks of the South Saskatchewan River.

Remai is a pro, with lots of experience. But even for her, philanthropy is not simple. “Giving away money is easy,” she says. “Giving it away wisely is very challenging.”

Remai, who was in attendance in January for the Persephone’s “just perfect” grand opening, says her charitable giving is driven by her personal interests. “I personally love the performing arts,” says the youthful Remai, who asks that her age not be revealed but who admits her friends are surprised when they learn her real age.

“Theatre has the capacity to move us,” she says. “It makes us emotionally richer, and it strengthens our social fabric.”

Along with her late husband Frank, Remai built and owned real estate development businesses. She is still president of Remai Ventures and owner of P.R. Developments Ltd., which own hotels, condominium towers, and commercial and rental properties. In 1992, the couple established a family foundation and, initially, gave money to causes that could demonstrate serious need. Today, she says, the foundation is much more strategic in its giving.

“We’ve moved from giving gifts to practising philanthropy,” she says. Donations now are larger and to fewer recipients, with the goal of having a greater impact, she explains: “This way, you can make a real difference in people’s lives.”

While Remai has her favourite charities, among them the Persephone Theatre and the women’s shelter, Tamara’s House, Remai is on the lookout for her next big project. “I’m always searching, because I want to do more,” she says, hinting that she may boost the roughly $1 million she gives away each year. But it takes a lot of research to ensure the money is well spent. And, for Remai, who continues to run the businesses she created with her husband, time is in short supply. Still, she feels it is necessary to make the effort.

“With success in business comes a personal responsibility to demonstrate a healthy relationship with money,” she says. On top of that, she adds, giving is rewarding: “Giving is like having more.”

Remai encourages everyone, not just the wealthy, to become involved in philanthropy. If you can’t give money, give time or share your knowledge or skills, she advises: “There’s a whole world out there that needs help, whether down the street or across the ocean. You can’t change the world; but if you can make it better, you should try.”



Rick And Justine Giuliani,
Insurance And Financial Advice

As practising Catholics, Rick and Justine Giuliani have long been aware of the obligation to tithe — and their early charitable giving was primarily to their church. But it was a tragic event, the death of their daughter, that led them to increase the amount of their donations and to donate more widely. The Giulianis, who live in Burlington, Ont., give to a long list of causes — among them, community groups, arts organizations and educational and health institutions.

The Giulianis’ daughter, Tara, suffered from juvenile diabetes. Although her health was deteriorating, especially her sight, by the time she finished high school, she began a BA in history and English at the University of Guelph. Despite six surgeries, Tara quickly became completely blind. With the help of voice-recognition software and a trusted guide dog, she continued with her studies.

@page_break@“We knew by the complications and the severity of her illness, that death was inevitable,” says Rick.

The family openly discussed the end of Tara’s life and, together, they designed a charitable fund in her name. Upon Tara’s death in 1994, the Tara Lynn Giuliani Memorial Fund was established with hundreds of memorial donations from family and friends. The fund helps two visually-impaired University of Guelph students annually with scholarships and provides grants to other groups that Tara cared about, such as the Juvenile Diabetes Association and guide-dog training through Canine Vision.

While there is no compensation for the loss of a child, the fund helps the Giulianis. “With this fund and its gifts to causes important to Tara,” says Justine, “we are celebrating her life.”

A donor-advised fund created in conjunction with the Hamilton Community Foundation, the Giuliani fund is today worth “well over $100,000,” partly as a result of ongoing donations and partly because of a unique formula that capitalizes a portion of the earnings to keep growing its base, says Rick, a chartered financial consultant and regional director for Great-West Life Assurance Co. who is the mastermind behind the fund’s investment formula. The fund, which is expected to grow in size, will continue in Tara’s name in perpetuity.

From the memorial fund, the Giulianis’ giving has continued to branch out and, like many philanthropists, they support causes that are aligned with their personal interests. Justine, a professional artist, believes firmly in the power of the arts. “Culture adds vibrancy to a community and reflects an image of its soul,” she says.

Both Rick and Justine have just established their own memorial funds, again, in collaboration with the Hamilton Community Foundation. Like Tara’s fund, they will exist in perpetuity.

The R.K. (Rick) Giuliani Fund will be built up over time through a combination of donations and the capitalization of a portion of the fund’s income. His wide-ranging charitable interests include the church, the university and hospice care. Justine’s personal fund will include cultural organizations, reflecting her passion for the arts.

“We’re very conscious that as our income goes up, so should the portion of it that goes to donations,” says Rick, who declined to reveal the total amount of the couple’s giving. “We’re conscious of the tithing principle of 10%. We haven’t always been at that level. So, let’s just say that with our funds, we’re playing catch-up.”



David Butterfield,
Investment Dealer

David Butterfield, now retired, enjoyed a varied career in the investment industry in Toronto. He worked in boutiques and large investment dealers and served in a variety of capacities, from research to institutional sales to investment banking. Twice, Butterfield had the good fortune to be a part-owner of a boutique firm that was bought up by a larger rival.

Throughout his time on Bay Street, Butter-field worked hard — and was very successful. Still, he’s the first to point out he was at the right place at the right time. “I was very lucky,” he says.

But like a widening swath of the Canadian population, Butter-field’s life has been touched by cancer. And like many who have lived with its threat, he has become active in the campaign to improve the odds. He has also expanded his donations to other medical facilities.

After his wife, Paula, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001 and successfully treated at Toronto’s Princess Margaret Hospital, ranked as one of the top five cancer centres in the world, Butter-field became chairman of the PMH foundation’s development committee; in that role, he was able to use his financial skills to help monitor the allocation of funds raised in Princess Margaret’s Walk to End Breast Cancer.

In short order, Butterfield, 68, found himself immersed in the world of medicine and philanthropy — and he was enthralled. “This is fascinating stuff,” he says.

He has given money for ovarian cancer research at the hospital and for a palliative-care program at the Dorothy Ley Hospice, part of the Trillium Health Centre in Etobicoke, Ont. The hospice is now in the midst of building a residential facility adjacent to the Trillium Health Centre that will accommodate 220 patients a year: it’s expected to open its doors at the end of 2008. In all, Butterfield has given $3 million to medical research and care, and has helped to raise many millions more.

His reason? He’s “blown away” by the devotion of doctors and the potential of their research. He points to the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto, which houses the largest concentration of scientific research in Canada. “The amount of research going on in this building is fascinating for an investment executive with a curious mind,” he says. “There’s going to be truckloads of money made here — and there are tremendous philanthropic opportunities.”

Butterfield has half an eye, too, to his legacy. “What do I want on my obit?” he asks. “It’s not to be the best stockbroker or the best investment manager in the world. Who cares? I’m helping out in a small way, giving back in areas that can help humanity around the world. That’s what matters to me.”



Kevin Sullivan,
Investment Banking

In the early years of his career in the investment business, Kevin Sullivan was stationed in Amsterdam and loved living there. Yet, as much as he admires European countries, the experience reinforced his feeling that Canada is a great nation. “I really believe in Canada,” says Sullivan, now 48 and CEO of Toronto-based GMP Securities LP. “It’s given a lot to me.”

Since Sullivan returned home in 1989, his strong sense of patriotism has been a driver of how he spends his philanthropic dollars. Not only does he support Canadian charities, he has narrowed in on institutions that resonate with what it means to be Canadian. “We have fantastic institutions here,” he says, “and we need to support them.”

Sullivan makes a distinction between philanthropy and giving. “Giving,” he says, “is writing a cheque. Philanthropy means writing a cheque and getting involved.” By his own definition, Sullivan is a philanthropist.

The institution primarily on the receiving end of Sullivan’s generosity, in both time and money, is Princess Margaret Hospital. A few years after Sullivan landed back in Canada, his father-in-law, Robert Wharton, became ill with malignant melanoma. Wharton, who has since passed away, was a wealthy man, and he visited health institutions in the U.S. and Europe, as well as Canada, in search of the one that could best help him.

“In a typical Canadian way, we had to go outside the country to get the validation that the best place was in our own backyard,” Sullivan recalls. “The doctors at Princess Margaret Hospital extended my father-in-law’s life by five years.”

Sullivan has served as a member of the PMH foundation’s board for two terms, a total of six years. In addition to fundraising from other sources, Sullivan gave the hospital $1 million toward a chair in guided therapeutics, to support the use of real-time imaging technology in surgical procedures.

As Sullivan points out, American philanthropists give massive donations to educational and health-care institutions. “In the U.S., people feel a moral obligation to give to those institutions,” says Sullivan, who has also given money to his alma mater, the University of Western Ontario, and who sits on the board of Sterling Hall School, which his three sons attend. “Whereas the feeling in Canada is that government looks after that — and we’re paying for it through our taxes.

“But government can’t do it alone — the private sector has to step up to help,” Sullivan adds with passion. “If Canada wants to be a world-class country, we need to help build and maintain great health-care and educational institutions. And this is the mindset that needs to become entrenched in the Canadian psyche.”



Bill Young,
Investor

Bill Young of Toronto didn’t set out to change the world. But in the late 1990s, at the height of the tech boom, a couple of things conspired to change that. First, he was bored in his job as chairman of a telecommunications company. He’d been in business for 20 years and wasn’t feeling particularly fulfilled. Then, the value of a $25,000 investment he’d made in a cousin’s tech start-up skyrocketed and Young found himself with a $10-million windfall.

Young had always been a charitable sort — he’d been a big brother with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada and gave a portion of his income to such charities as the United Way. But as he describes it, his philanthropic thinking “wasn’t particularly imaginative.” Now, with the windfall and a yearning to do something different, Young thought about philanthropy as a potential career. “The wheel of fortune spun well for me,” he says, “and I wanted to take my experience in business and make the wheel of fortune spin well for others.”

In 2001, Young formed Toronto-based Social Capital Partners, a non-profit organization that invests in viable businesses that offer jobs to marginal, underemployed people.

Not only did Young succeed in creating a new career for himself, he is also forging new ground in Canadian philanthropy. While traditional charities rely on donations from generous donors and, in exchange, provide tax-deductible charitable receipts, Young is at the forefront of a new trend in the charitable sector — the social enterprise movement. In fact, his organization, while charitable in notion, is so outside the box, it doesn’t qualify for official charitable status.

That’s because SCP doesn’t give money away. Instead, it provides loans and equity at below-market rates to enterprises that meet its criteria, which include hiring employees from disadvantaged groups as well as having a sound business plan. SCP’s first investment was in Winnipeg-based Inner City Renovation Inc., which renovates inner-city real estate and hires inner-city residents, many of them Native people who have struggled to find work. ICR is a resounding success: it has renovated dozens of properties; maintains a stable workforce; and has reached a stage at which more traditional forms of funding are now appropriate. While Young remains a member of ICR’s board, SCP no longer invests in the firm.

Still, despite the successes, Young isn’t satisfied; his philanthropic thinking has continued to evolve. “What we are doing is something that remains an anomaly,” he says. But, he believes, social enterprise needs to become mainstream.

To help achieve that goal, Young is offering financing to entrepreneurs who want to buy a franchise, as long as half their employees come from disadvantaged groups. So far, Active Green + Ross, the tire and auto-care company, has jumped on board. All 15 company-owned shops, plus nine AG+R franchisees, have opted for SCP financing — all on the condition that they hire half their employees through programs offered by community employment agencies.

Young is optimistic about the new venture. “These hybrid models make sense,” he says. “And this gives us a proven model.” IE