Open Letter: The Safety Net Is Tearing — Funders Must Act Now
BC’s nonprofit sector is in crisis.
Open letter released on September 11, 2025
To our funders (governments, foundations, philanthropists, labour unions, and businesses),
We are nonprofit leaders from across British Columbia, writing with growing concern for the future of our sector and the communities we serve.
Nonprofits are the social infrastructure that holds communities together. We provide food, shelter, care, and connection. We support those facing poverty, violence, isolation, and injustice. We protect the environment, create cultural spaces, and advocate for equity.
Your past support has helped us do this work, and we are very grateful. But today, we’re facing challenges that existing funding systems can no longer meet. Demand is growing and funding is shrinking.
Many organizations are operating month to month, scaling back programs, and watching staff burn out or lose their jobs. Some are closing entirely.
We are not just struggling, we are at risk. The sector is burning out. Staff turnover is high. Leadership is fatigued. One in three nonprofit workers is food insecure.
The average salary in the community nonprofit sector is 31% lower than the national average. For women (most nonprofit workers) the gap is even worse. According to Imagine Canada, women in the sector earn 17% less than men.
The consequences are clear. When people leave, organizations lose institutional knowledge and service quality declines. Waitlists grow. Programs disappear. And the people who rely on the vital services nonprofits provide are the ones who suffer.
The core issue is systemic. Most funding is short-term, project-specific, and highly restricted. It rarely covers basic operating costs like salaries, rent, or administration. Meanwhile, application and reporting requirements are becoming more time-consuming and complex, especially for smaller, community-led groups.
We need your help to stabilize and sustain our sector:
Provide core, multi-year, unrestricted funding.
Invest in organizational stability, not just one-off pilot projects and guarantee that funding keeps up with the cost of living.Reduce administrative burdens while providing transparency to applicants.
Simplify applications and reporting, and ensure grantmaking is transparent, fair, and ethical, so we can focus on delivering programs rather than paperwork.Invest in the nonprofit workforce.
Ensure funding enables a living wage, benefits, and professional development.
The nonprofit sector is essential. Help us protect it.
Signed,
Rowan Burdge, Provincial Director, BC Poverty Reduction Coalition
Anastasia French, Managing Director, Living Wage BC
Iglika Ivanova, Senior Economist, BC Society for Policy Solutions
Halena Seiferling, Executive Director, Living in Community
Tessa Abetkoff, Director of operations, Kiwassa Neighbourhood House
Afuwa, Associate Director - 221A
Denis Agar, Executive Director, Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders
Tim Agg, Executive Director, Board Voice
Brenda Alexander, Acting Executive Director, Inclusion Chilliwack Society
Brie Altrogge, Executive Director, Hecate Strait Employment Development Society
Association of Neighbourhood Houses of BC
Gail Attara, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Gastrointestinal Society
Cenen Bagon, Vancouver Committee for Domestic Workers and Caregivers Rights (CDWCR)
Joy Barrett, Executive Director, Castlegar Sculpturewalk
Brenda Barrit, Executive Director, Storytellers' Society
Christopher Bate, Executive Director, Senior Support North Vancouver Island
Sheri Bishop, Executive Director, Nicola Valley Community Human Services Association
Djaka Blais, Executive Director, Hogans Alley Society
Alex Bodin, CleanStart Property Services - Operations Manager
Lance Boer, Chair, Literacy Alberni Society
Dr. Teale Phelps Bondaroff Chair, AccessBC Campaign for free prescription contraception in BC
Nilda Borrino, Executive Director Marpole Neighbourhood House
Greta Borick-Cunningham, Executive Director, Alouette River Management Society
Jenine Bortolon, Senior Housing Navigator - PG Council of Seniors
Allison Bota, Transitional Housing Programs Coordinator (Dixon Transition Society)
Mariam Bouchoutrouch, Executive Director, Pacific Immigrant Resources Society
Helaine Boyd, Executive Director, Disability Alliance BC
Alison Brewin, Alison Brewin Consulting
Ruth Elizabeth Briggs, Food Security Coordinator, Grandview Woodland Food Connection
Enda Brophy, Professor, School of Communication, Simon Fraser University
Diane Brown, Artistic and Producing Director, Ruby Slippers Theatre
Charlene Burmeister, Operations manager Harm Reduction Sector BCCDC
Amanda Burrows, Executive Director, First United
Melissa Cailleaux, Director of Community Programs, YMCA BC
Lori Campbell, Executive Director, Bella Coola Valley Learning Society
Lea Caragata, Director, UBC Vancouver, School of Social Work
Paula Carlson, Editorial Director, Megaphone
Morag Carter, Executive Director, Skills Centre
Jonathan Cauri, Executive Director, UMOJA OPERATION COMPASSION SOCIETY
Andrzej Celinski, Board Member for WESUP/Consultant RECLAIM Collective
Lorne Chan, Community Outreach Ambassador, Latin Dance Association
Pamela Charron, Executive Director, Worker Solidarity Network
Sarah Chown, Executive Director, Ribbon Community
Alison Clancey, National Director, Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women Canada
Angela Clancy, Executive Director of the Family Support Institute of BC
Jessica Clement, Executive Director, The Ashcroft HUB Society
Randall Cohn, Executive Director, Pivot Legal Society
Shelley Cook, Executive Director, Community Social Planning Council of Greater Victoria
Kristina Corpin-Moser, Executive Director, Filipino BC
Cheney Creamer, Executive Director, Urban Bounty
Lisa Curry, Executive Director, Megaphone
Stephen D'Souza, Executive Director, Homelessness Services Association of BC
Mitte Benon Daniel, Cultural and housing suport worker (Hogan's Alley Society)
Shannon Daub, Director, BC Society for Policy Solutions
Guy Dauncey, Co-Chair, West Coast Climate Action Network
Kelly Davison, Pacific Representative - HRNA
Lia Dicicco, Director of Finance & Administration, Blind Beginnings
Julie Diesta, Vancouver Committee for Domestic Workers and Caregivers Rights (CDWCR)
Jill Doctoroff, Interim Executive Director, FarmFolk CityFolk
Viveca Ellis, Executive Director, Centre for Family Equity
Zahra Esmail, CEO, Vantage Point
Tanya Fader, Director of Housing, PHS Community Services Society
Stephanie Fischer, Executive Director, Capitol Theatre Nelson
Angela Fletcher, Executive Director, Dawn to Dawn Action on Homelessness Society
Lynda Fletcher-Gordon, Acting Executive Director, The Purpose Society
Lynn Florey, Kerry Pateman, and Dawn Hemingway, Leadership Team, Prince George Community Partners Addressing Homelessness
Anna Forst, Managing Director, The Writers' Exchange
Karyn French Executive Director, Greater Victoria Police Victim Services Society
Danna Garcia, Executive Director, South Granville Seniors Centre
Anoop Gill, Executive Director, Qmunity
Kara Gillies, Executive Director, WISH Drop-In Centre Society
Chris Girodat, Executive Director, Capilano Students' Union
Heather Glenn-Dergousoff, ED Kootenay Boundary Community Co-op and Family Action Network
Candida Gorse, Workers for Ethical Substance Use Policy Board Member
Jacquelin Green, Executive Director- Saanich Neighbourhood Place
Genesa Greening, CEO, Vancity Community Foundation
Sharon Gregson, Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC
Parm Grewal, Executive Director, Richmond Multicultural Community Services
Evelyn Encalada Grez, Assistant Professor, Simon Fraser University
Richard Han, Senior Director of Public and Planetary Health, Public Health Association BC
Harm Reduction Nurses Association
David Harvey, President, Board of Directors, West End Seniors' Network
Sharon Hazelwood, Citizen
Dawn Hemingway, Leadership Team, Northern Feminist Institute for Research & Evaluation
Candice Henriques, CEO, arc programs
Asia Hollingsworth, Executive Director, Mid-Main Community Health Centre
Nina Horvath Executive Director, Coastal Jazz & Blues Society
Winnie Hsu, CEO - Vision2Reality Foundation
Alexandra Huang, Development & Communications Manager, Kiwassa Neighbourhood House
kevin huang 黃儀軒 Executive Director, hua foundation
Dan Huang-Taylor, Executive Director, Food Banks BC
Liza Hughes, Executive Director, BCCLA
Hajira Hussain, Executive Director, Richmond Food Bank Society
Kristen Hyodo, Executive Director, Sasamat Outdoor Centre
Dalya Israel, Executive Director, Salal Sexual Violence Support Centre
Thelma Jack, Treasurer, Carnegie Centre
Maxence Jaillet, General Manager, Kootenay Carshare Coop
Mohsen Javdani, Associate Professor, SFU
Isabella Johnson, Senior Program Officer, Centre for Civic Governance
Amy Juschka, VP Communications and Advocacy, YWCA Metro Vancouver
Ninu Kang, Executive Director, Ending Violence BC
Jean Kavanagh, Board member, REACH Community Healthcare Clinic
Maureen Kehler, Decoda Literacy Solutions
Alice Kendall, Executive Director, Downtown Eastside Women's Centre
Rhiannon King, YMCA-YWCA
C. michael kinsella, Executive director new ppe
Leah Kleisinger, HRNA board member
Matea Kulic, Executive Director, Books BC
Dr. Elaine Laberge, Executive Director, CMHA of Northern BC
Kimberley Laing, Board Director, REACH Community Health Centre
Nhan Lam, Director of Family Programs, Kiwassa Neighbourhood House
Thanh Lam, Executive Director, Gordon Neighbourhood House
Theodora Lamb, Executive Director, Quest Non-Profit Grocery Markets
Alicia Larocque, President board of directors Victoria Latin dance Association
David Lee, Board Member, BC Poverty Reduction Coalition
Sandra Lee, Executive Director, Decoda Literacy Solutions
Wayne Lewchuk, Professor Emeritus, McMaster University
Nansi Long, Executive Director BC Schizophrenia Society Prince George Branch
Samantha Loppie, Executive Director, Victoria Sexual Assault Centre
Brenda Lohrenz, Executive Director, Eastside Family Place
Maggie Lord, President, Carnegie Community Centre Association
Sarah Lovegrove, Register Nurse & Vice President, Harm Reduction Nurses Association
Vi Ly, Executive Director, RainbowVI Educational Association
Jaymee Maaghop, Health Policy & Outreach Manager, Canadian Society of Intestinal Research
Bobby MacDonald, Director, Public Engagement, Union Gospel Mission
Jay Manuel, PhD, Curriculum Developer MOSAIC
Brittany Maple, Executive Director -Matsqui Abbotsford Impact Society
Ian Marcuse, Vancouver Food Justice Coalition and Vancouver Neighbourhood Food Networks
Melinda Markey, Executive Director, Reach Centre
Alex McArdle, Executive Director, LifeCycles Project Society
Heather McCain, Founder & Executive Director of Live Educate Transform Society
Sarah McCrea, Executive Director, Prince George Brain Injured Group
Stephanie McGowan, Executive Director, Comox Valley Head Injury Society
TIffany Melius, Executive Director, Options for Sexual Health
Cailey Meuse, Executive Director, Elements Society
Jennifer Milley, Managing Director, Vancouver Writers Fest
Sean Miles, Director, Binners’ Project
Kevin Millsip, Executive Director, BC Policy Solutions
Barbara Mitchell-Pollock, BC Health Coalition In Victoria - Council of Canadians
Sue Moen, Coordinator, Campbell River Community Action Team
Stephanie Andrea Moothu, Operations & Strategy Lead, Welcome Squamish
Janet Morris-Reade, CEO, Association of Service Providers for Employability & Career Training
Amy Mullis, Executive Director, Federation of Community Social Services of BC
Paola Murillo, Executive Director, Latincouver
Alistair Nagle, Interim Executive Director, ONE TO ONE Literacy Society
Linda Nagle, President, Greenways Land Trust
Kombii Nanjalah, CEO/Founder of the Great Lakes Networking Society of BC
Joanne Neilson, Executive Director, Fraser Valley Conservancy
Kaitlyn Nohr, Executive Director, WILD collaborative harm reduction association
Erin O'Brien, Ecology and Development Director, Pender Islands Conservancy
Anthonia Ogundele, Executive Director, Ethọ́s Lab
Sandy Oldenburg, Community Connector
Tanis Oldenburger, Founder and Executive DIrector, Mountainside Harm Reduction Society
Paula Parker, Executive Director, Vancouver Friends for Life Society
Louise Pedersen, Executive Director, Outdoor Recreation Council of British Columbia
Ash Peplow Ball, Executive Director, Women Transforming Cities
Christine Petkau, Executive Director, The Centre for Epilepsy & Seizure Education in BC
Kathy Powelson, Executive Director, Paws for Hope Animal Foundation
Vincent Prince, Executive Director, Aboriginal Business Development Centre
Julia Prudhomme, Executive Director, Oxygen Art Centre (Nelson Fine Arts Centre Society)
Kenn Quayle, Co-Coordinator, i2i Peer Support
Corey Ranger RN BN, President, Harm Reduction Nurses Association
Michelle Reining, Executive Director, Vancouver Food Runners
Cole Reinbold, Secretary-Treasurer, BC Federation of Students
Claire Remington, Executive Director - Compost Education Centre
Alex Sangha, Founder, Sher Vancouver
Karen Sawatzky, Chief Administrative Officer Hecate Strait Employment Development Society
Arianna Scott, Executive, Director, BGC South Vancouver Island
Elizabeth Semowo, RebirtHer Women Foundation - Founder
Caitlin Shane, Lawyer
Tara Shushtarian, Director WE-CAN (West Coast Climate Action Network)
Ben Simoni, Youth Climate Corps BC, Executive Director
Matthew Smedley, Executive Director & CEO, Mission Possible
Teyo Soler, ED, Xwéwenaqw Xwexwilmexw (Whonnock People) Cultural Reclamation Society
Eloïse Speleers, Executive director, West Kootenay Francophone Association AFKO
Marisa Stableford, Vancouver Urban Food Forest Foundation, Operations Coordinator
Olga Stachova, CEO, MOSAIC
Carla Stephenson, Executive Director -Renascence Arts and Sustainability Society
Katrina Stephenson, Founder & CEO of Nurse 2 Nurse Peer Support
Sherry Stevenson, Executive Director, Fresh Roots Urban Farm Society
Dr. Kendra Strauss, The Labour Studies Program, Simon Fraser University
Tina Strehlke, CEO, Minerva Foundation for BC Women
Amber Streukens , Program Coordinator, Rural Empowered Drug Users Network
Sonam Swarup, Operations Manager, 312 Main
Alexa Tarrayo, Communications and Design Lead, PeerNet BC
Sarah Thomas, Executive Director Our Community Bikes
Christine Thuring, Executive Director, Green Roof Infrastructure Network of BC
Candy Tladi, Interim Executive Director, Food Stash Foundation
Shannon Turner, Director, Public Health of Association of BC
Dan Turvill, Executive Director, Strathcona Community Safety Association
Karla Verschoor, ED, Inclusion BC
Kelly Walker, Executive Director, Sooke Family Resource Society
Duncan Watts-Grant Executive Director, Vancouver Fringe Festival
Deirdre Whalen, Past President, Richmond Povery Reduction Coalition
Kristina Wilcox, Co-Executive Director, Fairfield Gonzales Community Association
Andrea Wilkey, Executive Director, Community Futures Central Kootenay
Annette Williams, Literacy Outreach Coordinator, Chilliwack Learning Society
Leslie Williams, Executive Director, Sharing Farm Society
Jan Wilson, ED. Prince George New Hope Society
Mark Willson, Director, SOLID Outreach
Byron Wood, Board Member, Workers for Ethical Substance Use Policy (WESUP)
Angela Wu, Executive Director, SWAN Vancouver
Rose Xueqing Zhang, PhD Candidate Department of Sociology UBC
