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Canadian charitiesAlso receives grants — funding profile →

Calgary, AB · Private foundation

Max Bell Foundation

We make gifts to qualfied donees including: 1.

C$3.4M
Granted FY2024still arriving
49
Grants FY2024still arriving
8
Regions reached
C$1.6M
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
01What you fund
01FY2024 · 49 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under C$10k20 grants · C$103k
  • C$10k–50k16 grants · C$392k
  • C$50k–250k12 grants · C$1.3M
  • C$250k+1 grant · C$1.6M
C$15,000
Median grant
8
Regions reached
C$104M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MCGILL UNIVERSITYC$1,555,000
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITYC$206,013
TORONTO METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITYC$158,396
PROSPER CANADAC$151,900
UNIVERSITY OF CALGARYC$151,000
UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIOC$120,000
NATIONAL MUSIC CENTREC$100,000
FARMERS FOR CLIMATE SOLUTIONSC$95,000
YORK UNIVERSITYC$90,000
CDN INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED RESEARCHC$86,500
WINDMILL MICROLENDINGC$70,000
UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWAC$56,800
MARTIN FAMILY INITIATIVEC$55,000
SAGE SENIORS ASSOCIATIONC$46,900
INSTITIUTE FOR RESEARCH ON PUBLIC POLICYC$45,000
02The need
02

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Where your grant dollars land — at home and around the world.

Which regions your grants reach

Quebec
C$5.4M
Ontario
C$4.2M
Alberta
C$1.9M
British Columbia
C$684k
Nova Scotia
C$211k
Manitoba
C$102k
Saskatchewan
C$65k
Newfoundland and Labrador
C$37k

Grants placed by each grantee’s location, read from the T3010 filings.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
C$17M · 64 repeat orgsC$1.4M to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +41% since the first grant, against +31% for the ones you funded once.

64 repeat relationships — 35 still active in FY2024, 29 since wound down; 13 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

64
42

Total granted

C$17M
C$850k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+41%
+31%

Still filing today

97%
81%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; C$565k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as “new.”

Backed again, and grew

  • MU
    MCGILL UNIVERSITY
    8× · 2017–2024 · C$7.6M · revenue +41%
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
    6× · 2017–2022 · C$753k · revenue +55%
  • CI
    CDN INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED RESEARCH
    8× · 2017–2024 · C$662k · revenue +152%

Funded once

  • PC
    PROSPER CANADA
    one grant, 2023 · C$150k
  • WW
    WCS WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY
    one grant, 2022 · C$95k
  • MF
    MARTIN FAMILY INITIATIVE
    one grant, 2023 · C$55k · revenue +4%

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent CRA filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matches that aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
University of Saskatchewan

The University of Saskatchewan's primary role is to provide post-secondary instruction and research in humanities sciences and other areas of human intellectual cultural social and physical development. The University offers instructional…

—
2
The University of Manitoba

The University of Manitoba provides post-secondary education to undergraduate graduate and professional students. The University also conducts research in a broad array of academic disciplines. There are numerous educational and research…

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3
Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development

The Pembina Institute promotes public education and information that increases understanding about environmental and global energy issues. We provide research analysis and recommendations to inform policies and practices related to energy…

—
4
The University of Lethbridge

The University of Lethbridge educates at a post-secondary level in both Lethbridge and Calgary at undergraduate and graduate levels. The University conducts research in the Faculty of Arts and Science Business Fine Arts Education Health…

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5
Mental Health Research Canada/Recherche En Sante Mentale Canada

Mental Health Research Canada (MHRC) is a national charitable organization that is dedicated to improving the lives of all Canadians by advancing mental health knowledge. Our vision is to create a Canada with better mental health for all…

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6
Brock University

Teaching and Research in broadly based undergraduate and graduate education programs including professional and interdisciplinary programs. The University provides education programs across seven faculties: Applied Health Sciences Business…

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7
Universities Canada Universités Canada

Universities canada is the national voice for canadian universities. universities canada represents 96 public and private not-for-profit universities and university degree-level colleges. we are a membership organization providing…

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8
International Development Research Centre

Created by Parliament in 1970 IDRC has been committed in supporting research in developing countries undertaken by the people of those countries for their own development. IDRC has five areas of focus: Climate-Resilient Food Systems Global…

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9
The Calgary Foundation

The Calgary Foundation carried out its charitable purpose through the ongoing administration of its granting programs. While the Foundation provides grants to support charitable activity across the entire sector it has a particular focus…

—
10
The Fraser Institute

Carry out research on the following topics; Fiscal and Economic Policy Environmental Policy Energy & Natural Resources Policy Health Studies Economic Freedom publish books monographs & digital monographs on each topics. Hold conferences…

—
11
Leap Pecaut Centre for Social Impact

LEAP Pecaut Centre for Social Impact initiates and leads multi-sector collaborations to tackle some of society’s biggest problems in education employment and health. Over five years taking their needs and stages of development into…

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12
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives / Centre Canadien De Politiques Alternatives

1. Social scientific research about economic social and environmental public policy issues of relevance to Canadian society. 2. Analysis of and commentary about public policy decisions and proposals. 3. Educational activities including…

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For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is United Way of Calgary and Area and the most unlike its peers is Farmers for Climate Solutions. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

03the grantee network

105 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2024.

Each one resolved to its own CRA returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 2017–2024, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 105 of the 119 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
17
Early backer (in before they grew)
104/105
Grantees still filing
78/105
Grew since you first funded

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%C$100kC$1.0MC$10MC$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetMCGILL UNIVERSITY — C$7,596,957 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA — C$753,149 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCDN INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED RESEARCH — C$661,500 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetSAGESSE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PREV. — C$566,940 over 4y, 8.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF CALGARY — C$564,963 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE STEP(CANADA) INC. — C$525,200 over 4y, 8.4% of budgetTORONTO METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY — C$385,396 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCIVIX — C$324,800 over 5y, 2.7% of budgetCanada West Foundation — C$311,805 over 7y, 4.1% of budgetSIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY — C$306,013 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetST. MICHAEL'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION — C$302,500 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTeach for Canada — C$300,250 over 2y, 7.3% of budgetCENTRE FOR ADDICTIONS & MENTAL HEALTH FOUNDATION — C$270,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetDalhousie University — C$260,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHILD WELFARE LEAGUE — C$223,257 over 5y, 17% of budgetMcMaster University — C$211,186 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetC.D. HOWE INSTITUTE — C$206,092 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetNATIONAL MUSIC CENTRE — C$200,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetSAGE SENIORS ASSOCIATION — C$196,900 over 2y, 4.5% of budgetOPHEA — C$192,532 over 4y, 3.7% of budgetWINDMILL MICROLENDING — C$185,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetNature Conservancy of Canada — C$160,520 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetCENTRE OF SUICIDE PREVENTION — C$160,200 over 4y, 4.0% of budgetCANADIAN CHILDREN'S LITERACY FOUNDATION — C$158,033 over 4y, 5.3% of budgetMOMENTUM — C$153,840 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetMiistakis Institute for the Rockies — C$152,000 over 3y, 9.0% of budgetPROSPER CANADA — C$151,900 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetHEADWATER LEARNING FOUNDATION — C$150,000 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA — C$141,800 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO — C$134,825 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCanadian Mental Health Association - NS — C$130,721 over 3y, 6.5% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH ON PUBLIC POLICY — C$127,000 over 3y, 2.4% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO — C$125,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPHILANTHROPIC FOUNDATIONS CANADA — C$110,225 over 8y, 2.9% of budgetTHE GOVERNORS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA — C$107,480 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetPollution Probe Foundation — C$100,000 over 4y, 2.4% of budgetImagine Canada — C$100,000 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetFARMERS FOR CLIMATE SOLUTIONS — C$95,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetYORK UNIVERSITY — C$90,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY HALIFAX — C$80,000 over 3y, 3.2% of budgetMacDonald-Laurier Institute — C$65,000 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetMUTTART FOUNDATION — C$64,500 over 3y, 2.4% of budgetUNITED WAY OF WINNIPEG — C$60,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetBARTH SYNDROME FOUNDATION OF CANADA — C$57,150 over 8y, 21% of budgetMARTIN FAMILY INITIATIVE — C$55,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetONTARIO NATURE — C$51,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetWCS WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY — C$45,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetInstitute for Work and Health — C$41,250 over 1y, 0.2% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Carthy FoundationThe Muttart FoundationThe J W McConnell Fam…The Lawson FoundationSaskatchewan Communit…Viewpoint FoundationDonner Canadian Found…The Calgary FoundationThe Arthur J E Child …Ivey FoundationHunter Family Foundat…The Kpmg Foundation/L…
Carthy FoundationAB23.4× affinity24 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Carthy Foundation · The Muttart Foundation · The J W McConnell Family Foundation/La Fondation de la Famille J W McConnell · The Lawson Foundation · Saskatchewan Community Foundation Corp. · Viewpoint Foundation · Donner Canadian Foundation · The Calgary Foundation · The Arthur J E Child Foundation · Ivey Foundation · Hunter Family Foundation · The Kpmg Foundation/La Fondation Kpmg

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from the Canada Revenue Agency’s published T3010 data — your own annual information return and the multi-year returns of the 119 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year) — each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program description on its T3010; we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without a BN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears. How we build these →

Generated from your T3010 annual information return for the fiscal period ending 2024-12-31, as published by the Canada Revenue Agency in 2024. Amounts are Canadian dollars, as filed and never converted. Registered as a private foundation under foundations.

Source object 119034924:2024-12-31 · View the T3010 on the CRA register

Play a game based on Max Bell’s filings →