The Centre on Philanthropy collaborated with HSBC Bermuda this month to deliver its first Donors’ Forum.

Both entities came up with the idea to identify a knowledge gap around charitable giving and community investment between local third, public and private sectors.

The event gave stakeholders the opportunity to gain an understanding of increased individual sector pressures in 2017, identify best practices and strategies and work towards achieving a significant and collaborative societal impact for our community.

More than 30 core stakeholders attended the all-day thought leadership session on July 12 made up of Community Investment Managers of various corporate companies, and Government representatives from the Registrar General and Charity Commissioner offices.

A final panel discussion on the future of charitable giving, featuring donor and non-profit representatives was moderated by internationally recognised and non-profit management subject-matter expert Cristina Wineinger.

Other topics of discussions included understanding the third sector landscape; the 2014 Charities Act; and measuring community investment impact.

“How we invest and support our community is just as important as the actual dollar amount given,” said Clesia Pachai, community investment manager for HSBC Bermuda during the discussion.

“We have noticed a shift in the giving strategies and respective governance across the key donor sectors and stakeholders over the recent years. It is therefore imperative as individual stakeholders that we collaborate to better understand these changes and their overall impacts, while strategically moving forward as a stakeholder group, to address specific needs within our community. The hope is that this event will serve as a catalyst for encouraging further open discussions between third sector stakeholders, strengthening our partnerships, our community ties and ultimately the impact.”

Elaine Butterfield, executive director for the Centre on Philanthropy, said: “Bermuda’s charities, donors, and boards alike, want more shared direction, support and coordination in doing the work. Charities in particular, express real passion about their work and are keenly aware of the need for more collaborative resources to do a better job. There is also agreement that there are far too few mechanisms to facilitate this.

“By the end of the very successful day the attendees had learnt a lot, were energised and there was general consensus that this was not the end of the conversation, but in fact, the beginning.

“The very successful Donor Roundtable Discussion was the first of a series of key stakeholder discussions that we hope will galvanise an open-ended conversation that can help everyone do a better job of working together for more impactful outcomes.”

The next Centre on Philanthropy Donors’ Forum is scheduled to take place in October. Quarterly scheduled forums are part of the intended plan with HSBC Bermuda facilitating these thought-leadership sessions.