Fundraising Spotlight

Filling the Gap

By Ly Berry

The Barbara Schlifer Commemorative Clinic is honoured to receive funding as a United Way anchor agency, and other funding through foundations, corporations, and the Canadian government. Despite the great generosity of our current sponsors, a gap in our funding remains and we have to rely on additional fundraising activities to fill it.

You may be aware of the major fundraising events put on by the Clinic like the Annual Tribute and SHE MATTERS, but you may not be aware of our third-party events taking place throughout the year. Third-party events are fundraisers organized and hosted by community members to benefit the Clinic. These events are as important to the Clinic’s growth and sustainability as our major events because, in addition to raising funds, they raise awareness of the work we do. The further the word spreads, the more women can learn about our services and reach out to us.

To support the initiative of third party events, in 2016 the Clinic introduced the Ambassador Circle program. The Ambassador Circle is a committee comprised of groups or individuals who make a commitment to raising awareness and funds for the Clinic through third-party events.

Filling the Gap joined the Ambassador Circle in 2016 as the Clinic’s founding group of dedicated young professionals committed to raising awareness and funds in support of the Clinic and the elimination of violence against women. FTG consists of three young tech professionals, Katherine Andrikopoulos, Janice Liu, Sadie Simon, and Elaine Sanders. They started as a small initiative but quickly grew due to the dedication of its members. During their first year with the Ambassador’s Circle, FTG held two small conferences focused on women’s empowerment in their daily, personal, and professional lives. The conferences included both a keynote speaker and workshops – three workshops at the inaugural event and four at the second. Their goal was to raise $2000 and donate all the proceeds to the Clinic. Not only did FTG receive very positive feedback from attendees of these events, but they also exceeded their 2016 fundraising goal by more than 50 percent and raised $5000!

Since then, FTG has held five more events, each exceeding its goals and raising more funds than the last. The most recent event they hosted this past June focused on resiliency in the face of failure and featured a keynote address from the Executive Director of Pride Toronto. With this event alone, FTG raised $8500 for the Clinic.  

We will keep you posted regarding FTG’s next event, but in the meantime, if you’re inspired by the incredible contributions Janice, Kat and Sadie have made through FTG and are itching to get more involved with the Clinic we would love to hear from you! Whether you’ve got a great idea up your sleeve for a third party event or you’re ready to commit to joining the Ambassador Circle, community involvement is and has always been vital to the Clinic’s past, present and future.

If you would like to learn more about hosting third party events or the Ambassador Circle, please contact Stefania Sdao at [email protected]