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How the Hosted Organization program quietly powers impact through endowments
An inside look at how the program provides stable funding to help charities sustain their work and deepen community impact.
Thousands of locals interact with organizations like the YMCA-YWCA of Vancouver Island (the Y) every day, whether at fitness centres, in childcare programs or through housing and youth services.
What often goes unseen, however, is the financial backbone behind their work.
For many, that backbone is a long-term investment model supported by the Victoria Foundation that helps them sustain and grow their impact for generations.
Known as the Hosted Organization program, the Foundation permanently invests and manages endowment funds for their benefit. This helps diversify their revenue and investment strategies to reduce risk, optimize returns and support long-term growth.
Charitable organizations face many barriers to securing consistent, long-term funding. When they have access to stable revenue, they can focus on strengthening their services, advancing their missions and uplifting their communities.
“An endowment is about long-term sustainability. It ensures organizations can keep delivering on their mission 50 or 100 years from now,” says Mary-Lynn Hanson, Senior Manager of Philanthropic Partnerships at the Victoria Foundation.
There are 164 Hosted Organizations with 219 funds held with the Foundation. Pooled together, they are invested and stewarded with care to create reliable, long-term income for charities while also building financial resilience.
By pooling their funds into the Victoria Foundation’s investment portfolio, they contribute to this collective resource that supports granting, collaboration and community-wide initiatives.
One longstanding example of this model in action is the Y, where decades of endowment support helps sustain a wide range of community programs.
“It creates a model of giving where you contribute and it grows over time, benefiting everyone.”
Mary-Lynn Hanson
Senior Manager of Philanthropic Partnerships
164
Victoria Foundation has 164 Hosted Organizations in its portfolio.
219
These 164 organizations hold 219 funds with Victoria Foundation.
$66M
The combined value of Hosted Organization funds held with the Foundation is $66 million, which is 12.6 per cent of the common trust pool.
A community anchor supported for the long-term
As the first Hosted Organization with the Victoria Foundation, the Y has seen the fund grow over the past 47 years, with annual grants supporting key initiatives.
For more than 150 years, the Y has been woven into the fabric of the region. While many know it as a place to work out, its reach extends far beyond fitness.
Across the capital region, it provides childcare, youth housing, community health programming and outdoor education.
Programs like Pandora Youth Apartments provide shelter, life-skills training and support for young people ages 15 to 19 who are living independently, while Y Young Moms offers housing for young mothers and their children.
At Camp Thunderbird, youth reconnect with nature through outdoor education, including access to Indigenous land-based learning and cultural programming.
“It’s some of the most impactful work we do,” says YMCA-YWCA CEO Derek Gent. “But it’s not always what people immediately think of when they think of the Y.”
“Our mission is healthy people building strong communities. Everything we do should make people healthier, and everything we do should bring people together.”
Derek Gent
YMCA-YWCA CEO
Building stability through shared investment
Gent explained that in an environment where funding can shift year to year, having a stable, growing source of income provides certainty and some additional flexibility. “Any time an organization receives an endowment, it can be complex to manage. Partnering with the Victoria Foundation is natural, that’s what they’re good at and this lets us focus on what we’re good at.” For Gent, the partnership reflects something beyond financial management.
“When you share stories of how we build community together, new opportunities bubble up.”
Derek Gent
YMCA-YWCA CEO
The Y’s story is one example of how Hosted Organizations are investing in their future.
Charitable organizations are choosing to place their endowments in a shared pool, supporting their own missions while contributing to a broader system of care and connection. In 2025, Hosted Organization funds granted $3.5 million to support their organization’s work and impact in the community.
Together, this reflects the idea that even in a resource-constrained sector, collective investment can strengthen their impact while quietly powering the services communities rely on every day.