New head of S.U.C.C.E.S.S. focuses on funding
Gordon Hamilton.
The Vancouver Sun. Vancouver, B.C.:
Aug 29, 2009. pg. E.2
Maggie Ip, co-founder of the community service organization S.U.C.C.E.S.S., has been named chair of the agency's fundraising foundation as it embarks on an ambitious new plan to build an endowment fund.
Ip, a former Vancouver city councillor and active community volunteer, co-founded S.U.C.C.E.S.S. 36 years ago. She serves on the boards of both S.U.C.C.E.S.S and its fundraising society, the S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Foundation.
She was named chair of the foundation Aug. 27.
In an interview, Ip said the foundation plans to wean S.U.C.C.E.S.S from government funding through a long-term plan to raise $388 million over a 30-year period. S.U.C.C.E.S.S. currently has a $30-million budget, and relies for 80 per cent of its funding on the federal, provincial and municipal governments.
The foundation raises the remaining 20 per cent through three high-profile fundraising events: a gala dinner, an annual golf tournament and its annual Walk with the Dragon fundraiser, which draws up to 12,000 people who walk the Stanley Park seawall with a traditional Chinese dragon.
The legacy endowment drive comes at a time when government funding cutbacks are a major concern for service agencies.
“As you know, government funding can end at any minute,” Ip said. “We have been planning to develop long-term financial stability within the organization, which is why we have a legacy endowment fund.”
It's a step-by-step plan that sets modest targets for the first of six five-year plans of increasing donations to the foundation's endowment fund by increments of $500,000 a year.
“I still have energy and I still have the time to step up and be somebody who can help to really get this going,” Ip said of her decision to lead the foundation board.
The foundation was formed in 2001 as the main fundraising organization for S.U.C.C.E.S.S.
Ip, 65, immigrated to Canada in 1966 and co-founded S.U.C.C.E.S.S. in 1973 to aid new Canadians in meeting the challenges of integrating into Canadian society.
S.U.C.C.E.S.S. now operates a wide range of services to aid new Canadians through 20 Metro Vancouver offices, one in Fort St. John and three overseas branches. In 2008, it delivered services to 168,000 people. A separate charity, the S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Multi-Level Care Society, delivers care for seniors.
ghamilton@vancouversun.com
