The Annual Foundation began as a way to ensure funds would go to where they were most needed and be put to good use, instead of sitting in a chest of holdings.

“I wanted those funds to get out into the community ASAP,” says Lisa Rogers, President and CEO of The Annual Foundation.

The Annual Foundation was named in recognition of Rogers’s parents (whose middle names are Anne and Samuel), and is also an acknowledgment of Rogers’s goal that the funds given to The Annual Foundation be distributed out within the same year. This is where the partnership between Rogers and Tim Cormode was born. Cormode is the Founder and Board Director of Power To Give and has been the successful Executive Director of the longstanding organization Power To Be, based in Victoria, BC.

“Tim’s knowledge of how NGOs work, what they need, his ability to evaluate which groups [are] poised to make the most of any funding, [is] everything. … I like to say he’s able to convert each dollar of donated funds in to $5 of actual benefit,” says Rogers.

Over the years, Cormode and Rogers have created a support network through Power To Give, which spans the country and various organizations, connecting donees with impact entrepreneurs to ensure that funds are distributed in the most effective way possible. Power To Give aims to facilitate better giving, for bigger impact.

“A key benefit to working with Power To Give, is the drive to foster collaborations amongst the groups that we support. By bringing the groups together, they benefit from the knowledge and experiences of their peers,” says Rogers. Collaboration between these patrons creates a mutually beneficial outcome for the individuals involved and is essential for learning valuable perspectives.

According to Rogers, the goal of The Annual Foundation has always been to change the trajectory from down to up, whether that is for an individual, family, community, or ecosystem. By changing the trajectory, it means that there will be positive impact for years to come. Power To Give aims to continue in the goal of doing just that, by partnering with like-minded social impact organizations.

“I never imagined when Tim and I started working together that this is where we’d be today. I never envisioned that he’d create this network of giving and supporting…that there would be all this collaboration between the groups that we support. Through Power To Give, Tim has managed to make all this happen. … He is an exceptionally capable, smart, and well-respected visionary in this field. I believe in him, and I can see the exceptional value in what it is he’s trying to do,” Rogers enthuses.

“At a time when so many programs are struggling for funding and struggling to find ways to meet the needs of their communities, I truly believe that Tim can do far more for them than simply see that they meet their fundraising objectives. Tim is a real difference maker.”