A note for PFC National Conference attendees
Welcome, and thanks for scanning the code. I’m Tamara Burman, Executive Director of the Graham C. Lount Family Foundation here in Winnipeg.
This page holds the material I mentioned during my session at the 2026 PFC National Conference. It’s here for you to read at your own pace and to share with colleagues. Nothing on it is gated.
The conference theme this year is Reciprocity. Trust-based philanthropy is how our foundation tries to practise it: multi-year unrestricted funding, less paperwork and the working assumption that our partners understand their communities better than we do. The material below explains how we got here and what we’ve learned over 25 years.
From Transaction to Trust
How a Winnipeg family foundation left one-year grants and written reports behind for multi-year unrestricted funding and honest conversations, and what it has learned over twenty-five years alongside its partners and the communities they serve.
PDF, 5 pages · Open in a new tab · Download
An Invitation
Here is what I hope comes next. I am working to help build a Canadian community of funders and social profit organizations. Together we would learn from one another and co-lead the work of closing the gap between what funders say and what partners actually experience. There is a great deal of conversation among funders in the philanthropy sector about trust-based philanthropy. Yet the organizations they fund often do not see much change on the ground. This group would be different. It would bring both voices into one room and co-design the work together.
If you would like to be part of that conversation to build this group, please share your details. I would love to hear from you. Please email me at lountfamilyfdn@icloud.com.
Tamara Burman
Executive Director, Graham C. Lount Family Foundation