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Funder Focus: Barbara Hejduk and the Imperial Oil Charitable Foundation
March 4, 2002
by Nicole Zummach
CharityVillage continues its series of interviews with some of Canada's leading funders. This month we feature the Imperial Oil Charitable Foundation, a relatively new addition to Imperial Oil's long history of charitable giving. CharityVillage spoke with president Barbara Hejduk about some of the foundation's major funding initiatives and the evolving role of corporate philanthropy in Canada.
CharityVillage: According to your web site you want to contribute to the education system in Canada, particularly in the areas of math, science and technology. What are some of the more innovative programs and initiatives you have to support that?
Barbara Hejduk: We started that focus in a major way in 1998. For example we have been funding a number of universities, which we have always funded, but since 1998 we have been directing that funding to their faculties of education. The University of Toronto, York, the University of Alberta, the University of Calgary, and a number of others, all have programs that Imperial is funding to develop new curriculums in math, science and technology. There are new programs to teach incoming students and also programs for in-service teachers who come back for professional development. And that is just the university sector.
We've also been funding programs such as "Let's Talk Science" in a fairly major way since 1996. It has a number of different programs across Canada at 14 or 15 universities. For example, they will have people go into elementary schools and work with the teachers on science workshops, real hands-on science workshops. Another of the programs involves professional development for teachers, so it hits both teachers and students. The third program teams up university level science students with teachers, online or in person, in a mentoring and an assisting way, so that teachers can get some science background from the students and the students can learn what the teachers are going through.
CV: What was your focus before you started looking at youth and education?
BH: It was always somewhat youth and education, just a little diffused, not the strong emphasis that we have now. I won't say everything is youth and education but a good 75-80% of our grants are in that area, whereas previously they weren't that much. For example in education I think we had about 30%. Now we are over 50%.
CV: Why were youth and education chosen as your major focus areas?
BH: We went through this process of reevaluation and we wanted to make sure we had a clear strategy. We did interviews with members of our board and senior management and looked at best practices. In talking with that group it really came out that the capability of our education system to equip young people with the skills they need was going to be really key.
Obviously given the nature of our business we had a leaning toward math, science and technology. We also thought those areas were very critical to Canada's future with the world getting increasingly technological. It didn't mean the other areas weren't important either, even in the arts area we do focus on kids. We do about 15% arts funding and we focus on children's programs, raising their awareness about the arts. But in education we thought math, science and technology were the skills that are probably most critical. We thought if we put significant funding toward that, then maybe we really can make a difference.
CV: Do you do any evaluation of your programs to see whether or not you are meeting your philanthropic objectives and if so, what have you been finding? What results have you been getting from these initiatives?
BH: Certainly, on the major grants we do evaluate the outcomes. We think they are starting to show that there is an impact. Certainly, taking "Let's Talk Science" as a continuing example, they have had some quantitative studies done which do show science improvement in the children that have done these workshops. As you know, it's often hard to get quantitative data on how funding is helping to make a difference, so we do look for it where we can find it.
CV: Your Volunteer Involvement Program (VIP) provides cash grants to eligible organizations in which employees and their spouses are involved. What are participation rates like?
BH: It's hugely popular. Last year we ran out of the budget funds that were allocated towards it in about September or October. We held over the requests that came in after that and we got a whole flood again this year, so we are going to run out again before the year is over.
CV: What do you think the draw is for people and what types of organizations and programs are being supported?
BH: These people, employees, retired employees or their spouses, are already involved in their communities. They are already doing things in the community so when they find out that the company will support that with a cash grant it really leverages their involvement. They choose their own areas of interest and we support it with the VIP program. There are a lot of sports teams, little league, baseball, hockey, soccer, ringette. People get involved in everything from soup kitchens to helping out with after-school programs at their local schools, to doing Books for the Blind. It's an amazing range really.
CV: Does all charitable funding flow from the corporation through the foundation?
BH: Yes, that's right, but when I say that all funding flows through the foundation, I should perhaps clarify that. Our local plants and refineries do activities within their communities too. For example, in Sarnia they do a bridge run across the river to raise funds for the community. In Halifax-Dartmouth they do a local breakfast program at a school that is right around the corner from the refinery. So there is a lot of local stuff going on too, smaller things, but very important things in the community. We have an integrated approach, it's not just handing out money from the foundation.
CV: What are some of the challenges associated with running the nonprofit arm of a large corporation, and how do you balance your philanthropic mission with the desires or expectations of the corporation and its stakeholders?
BH: Well, there is never enough money to start with. We spend all of our budget each year. In 2001, we gave $6,650,000 and that is the budget for this year as well. Still, we probably turn down about 90% of the requests we get and the vast majority of them are very, very worthy but you do have to have some criteria to make decisions. We also have a lot of money that is tied up in ongoing things like the United Way or multi-year pledges and ongoing annual funding.What our program tries to emphasize is activities that will impact communities where we have a significant presence, and support our business objectives as well. So it's a two-pronged approach.
CV: Do funds for the United Way come from a payroll giving program that employees contribute to, or do they come from the foundation?
BH: It's from both. The foundation will make a corporate gift on behalf of the company to the United Ways in communities where we have employees and our employees can also take advantage of payroll deduction for their own contributions, and they do so very generously.
CV: You are a nonprofit but because you are associated with a corporation do you feel that ever gets in the way of the work you are doing?
BH: We are more like a corporate funder rather than a nonprofit. We became a private foundation in 1994, but for decades prior to that we had a corporate contributions program in a similar manner. It's really just a mechanism for delivering the contributions on behalf of the company.
Private family foundations, such as the McConnell Foundation or community foundations, like the Vancouver Foundation, are probably more proactive in some ways than corporations are. We are not as proactive just because of the lack of resources and a lack of people willing to staff. An organization like the Vancouver Foundation, for example, will have program staff in different areas who can really work directly with the organizations, which is not something we are able to do.
CV: What do you see as some of the trends in corporate philanthropy today? Are they positive?
BH: I guess some are positive, some are a little less positive. I think from the corporate side, corporations are looking for higher profile quite frankly. They want to be recognized for what they are doing in the community. I think there is a growing recognition that contributions play a key role in the whole reputation management area. Certainly, corporations are becoming increasingly conscious, if they are not already, of the importance of being, and being seen as, a good corporate citizen. Hence, there is the desire for more recognition. I think companies are moving much more toward what I will call strategic philanthropy, where a company will tie its philanthropy to its business interests and they will have more targeted giving programs rather than broad support. I know a number of companies look at larger contributions, fewer of them in some cases, but larger ones and more longer term relationships.
I also think there is more of a focus on measuring the results of specific programs and I guess from the charity's side it makes it more difficult. They are being asked to be more rigorous in measuring their outcomes and providing evidence that they are well managed and that their services are required and that programs are delivering what they promise. It becomes more difficult for them to fulfill the needs of companies.
CV: Are there any plans for the future of your foundation right now, any changes or expansion?
BH: I think for the time being it will move in the same direction. We have had our current focus since about 1998 and I think it has served us well. You always evaluate where you are and you are always evolving. I think it is always good to assess whether you are doing the right thing or whether you should be changing directions. So we are always going through that exercise but there are no plans in the foreseeable future to make any great changes. You have to be in an area for a while if you are going to see a difference; you can't jump in and out and expect to see change overnight.Barbara Hejduk has been president of the Imperial Oil Charitable Foundation since 1998, and has worked with the company for more than twenty years. For more information about the Imperial Oil Charitable Foundation, visit: www.imperialoil.ca.
Is there a Canadian funder that you would like to hear more about? If you have a suggestion for a future Funder Focus interview, please e-mail help@charityvillage.com
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