Whistler Community Foundation
Meet the Members
05 Mar 2025
Meet the Member: Whistler Community Foundation
We’re excited to spotlight the Whistler Community Foundation, a local non-profit organization that supports other local non-profits through grants, in this month’s Meet the Member feature!
Tell us a little about your organization! What does your organization do, and who does it serve?
At Whistler Community Foundation (WCF), we take the long view. We manage donations from the community as investments. And, the proceeds from those investments are used to support charities through granting.
What inspired the founding of your organization? How did it transition from an idea to a fully established entity?
Community Foundations exist in over 200 communities across Canada and are designed to support local charities. Our board was established in 1999 and our first fund, the Environmental Legacy Fund (ELF) began the next year. You could say that the fund is one of our major founding stories. Whistler's council of the day wanted to create a legacy by endowing the dump's tipping fees. Over the next few years, there was significant investment in the fund. Enough so that it's our largest fund to date - and it's distributed over $2.2 million while continuing to grow the investment to over $3.5 million. The ELF has supported environmental focused initiatives in Pemberton, including Feasting for Change programming, bat conservation, and sustainable trail building education, to name a few.
How does your organization contribute to our local Sea to Sky Community?
WCF contributes locally in many ways. First and foremost, we grant money to charities doing the important work across a spectrum of environmental, societal, and personal challenges. As of December 31, 2025, we had more than $8.39 million invested, which means we will be granting in perpetuity. We are always looking to build on that investment through donations and add to the number of funds we hold. And a growing investment means we can continue to meet the needs of our growing communities.
What is the biggest challenge your organization faces?
Our greatest challenge is turning away grant requests. Every year, we receive more grant applications than we can fund. This is why it's critical to continue to build the Pemberton Community Fund that was initiated by the Pemberton Chamber of Commerce. Founding donations came from businesses who care about creating impact in Pemberton - and we invite businesses and community members to help us grow this fund. It's important to recognize Community Funds provide lower barriers to funding. That means that organizations are not limited by specific parameters on what the money can be used for. In fact, they can put the money into operations, if that's where it's needed to best serve their constituents.
How has your organization evolved since its founding?
When we look back at guiding documents from our founding team, the sentiment is the same. We care about building trust with donors, staff, volunteers, and grantees. And we seek to build a sense of community - a sense of belonging. You could say that we've scaled up over time, and really expanded our granting capacity such that we are consistently granting out more than $375,000 a year. And over the last two years, we've been invited by the federal and provincial governments to participate in the Community Services Recovery Fund and the Prosperity Fund. It's an honour to be a part of a national movement to place trust in our community-based charities to provide community-led solutions.
Any last words or key messages you'd like to share about your organization?
We invite you and the folks you serve to learn more about Whistler Community Foundation at our website and to reach out if you have any questions about how we can better serve the community of Pemberton.
