As a public foundation focused on child and youth mental health, the Kinark Foundation matches donors with projects that are meeting critical community needs. Studies show that donors are becoming much more discriminating when deciding on where to invest their charitable dollars. In addition to supporting 'worthy' causes, they look for opportunities where their gift can make a difference, where they can feel the benefit of knowing that, whatever the size of the gift, they have had a real impact on their community. This evolution in the philosophy of giving presents special challenges to foundations and charities. In addition to presenting their needs clearly, they also need to look for innovative methods for providing feedback to their donors, to show the impact of individual gifts, and to work with their supporters to make sure that their needs are met.
 
The Kinark Foundation is working hard to meet these challenges. Our mandate is to support innovation in the treatment of mental health issues for children and youth. In doing so, we often find opportunities where even modest gifts can play a key role in the development of new approaches. Because we are concentrating on young people, significant impact can be seen even in relatively short time periods; indeed, given that suicide is the number one cause of non-accidental death for young people, it is not any exaggeration to say that we work in an area where dollars literally do save lives. And we hear from the clients and their families just how important our gifts have been.
 
As the field of children's mental health moves into the era of evidence-based practice, new programs are designed from the outset to provide objective markers of success. There is a growing body of experience against which innovation can be measured. We learn continuously what works and how well, what doesn't work and needs to be improved or discarded. The Kinark Foundation works with our grantees to ensure accountability both for dollars spent and results achieved. We can then report to an informed donor base.
 
For more information on the areas we are currently supporting and to read some of the feedback from our clients, please visit the Foundation web site at http://www.kinarkfoundation.org/   and click on 'Featured Projects', or follow the link to 'Reasons to Give' and 'In Their Own Words'
 
Over the next few months, Shanan Spencer-Brown, Executive Director of the Kinark Foundation, and I will be writing about some of the projects we have supported and new areas where we think the Foundation can have an impact. We hope you will find this information helpful in assessing your personal giving priorities, and we look forward to hearing from you with any comments or suggestions you care to pass along. You can post comments here or send an email to billclarke@speakingofkidsmentalhealth.ca