WORKING WITH RUGBY CANADA
The Canadian Rugby Foundation and Rugby Canada are two independent and arms-length organizations with highly overlapping purposes, objectives, and goals.
Rugby Canada is the national governing body of the sport of Rugby Union in Canada. They administer and operate Men’s and Women’s Senior and Junior National programs in both rugby 15s and 7s, as well as govern the Club and community game for more than 30,000 registered participants from coast to coast in conjunction with ten Provincial Union members. Its mission is to deliver life-long, inclusive rugby experiences that cultivate participation and inspire excellence from community to club to country. Among its stated objectives are to cultivate the community game by providing leadership and expanding the capacity for provinces to grow rugby for all, to build strong national teams and enhance performance development and pathways, and to inspire engagement in the game by attracting supporters and partners through innovative experiences and events.” Rugby Canada’s 2023 Strategic Plan
The Canadian Rugby Foundation has within its mandate the ability to create endowed funds and student award funds to promote and support rugby activities, including but not limited to players, clubs, coaches, officials, and National teams. Among its purposes are to foster, encourage and promote the game of rugby within Canada; to educate individuals in all aspects of the game of rugby; to advance the public’s awareness, understanding, and appreciation of the sport; and to raise funds or cause the raising of funds through its Fund sponsors for the promotion of the objects and purposes of the Foundation.
2022 MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT
Rugby Canada and the Foundation wish to work together to facilitate the growth and development of rugby in Canada across all ages, genders, cultures, racial and ethnic groups, and socio-economic circumstances.
In April 2022, a new Memorandum of Agreement between Rugby Canada and the Canadian Rugby Foundation was developed to usher in a new era of collaboration, cooperation, and communication between the organizations. The media release announcing the new MOA follows here: May2022_CRF MOA_FINAL_en
The key elements of the MOA follow:
COLLABORATION AND COOPERATION
The Foundation and Rugby Canada will work together in a collaborative and mutually respectful manner so that:
- The program funding needs of Rugby Canada that cannot reasonably be met from other sources, such as World Rugby, the Government of Canada, corporate sponsors, events, or registration fees, are known to the Foundation and are a focus of the Foundation’s fundraising activities including facilitation of fundraising activities by clubs and other groups in the rugby-community;
- The Foundation will raise funds and Rugby Canada will apply those funds to support initiatives and activities that are approved by, and generally acceptable to both parties;
- The parties’ communications with the public and with donors are generally aligned and consistent with a view to promoting rugby across Canada;
- The parties are mutually supportive and will share resources for communications, events, data collection, and donor stewardship to the extent legally permitted; and
- Each party functions within its constitutional purposes, the rules and regulations that apply to its registration status with the Minister of National Revenue, and all applicable laws.
COMMUNICATIONS
Both parties will work together to facilitate communication and cooperation between them. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing:
- Each party will designate a single person as the contact person through whom all communications relating to the subject matter of this memorandum of agreement are channeled.
- The person so designated will be required to attend and provide a report on relevant activities at the other organisation’s AGM and at least one directors’ meeting a year.
- The role of the Rugby Canada appointee on the board of the Foundation will be clarified to confirm that it includes serving as the conduit for relevant information between the two organisations on an ongoing basis.
- Each party will provide advance notice to the other of the launch of all fundraising or community grant programs, or new initiatives or matters potentially affecting the other and will be given the opportunity to collaborate on each such initiative.
- Each party will be engaged in the other’s annual planning and budget processes relating to fundraising, including the identification of potential initiatives and priorities that would affect each other.
- Each party will provide and make available communication channels and tools to facilitate fundraising efforts, to the extent reasonably available as well as databases to the extent permitted by privacy and other laws.
- The Foundation will specifically identify initiatives and funds that are solely Foundation projects as such in Foundation communications, versus those that are ‘joint’ projects. Similarly, Rugby Canada will specifically identify such fundraising projects that are solely Rugby Canada projects.
FUND-RAISING
The parties will work together to facilitate cooperation and efficiency in soliciting donations from philanthropic individual and corporate donors for the purposes outlined above. This effort will be ongoing and may result in further understandings and agreements. In particular, the Foundation will engage in discussions with Rugby Canada on the establishment, structure and administration by the Foundation of new funds to support specific national teams or development programs, to the extent that needs exceed the funding available from other sources on an ongoing basis. It is intended that these funds will operate so that, when the budget for the relevant team or program has been developed and specific shortfalls have been identified by Rugby Canada, the Foundation will provide funding from the applicable fund. It is anticipated that one or more funds may be endowments but that non-endowed funds will be established to meet short-term needs, and the parties will discuss in good faith accordingly. The current Funds dedicated to Rugby Canada senior and age-grade teams and programs are described here.
GRANTS
To facilitate the distribution of funds by the Foundation for purposes consistent with the Foundation’s and Rugby Canada’s objects and purposes:
- Rugby Canada and the Foundation will encourage grant applications from a list of mutually approved rugby-related organizations including rugby clubs and provincial rugby unions from time to time and on an annual basis. Rugby Canada will promptly notify the Foundation of the applications it receives, review all such applications and request donations from the Foundation to fund such of these applications as Rugby Canada will have approved. These activities may be delegated to the Grant Committee to be struck by Rugby Canada, the composition and mandate of which will be formalized, which will assist in the review of grant applications, follow-up reporting from grant recipients, and communications with the Foundation.
- The Foundation will have the discretion to approve grant requests received from Rugby Canada in whole or in part in its discretion and will donate funds to Rugby Canada accordingly. While not obligated to do so, Rugby Canada will take into account the preferences expressed by the Foundation with respect to the specific use or recipient of the grant. With respect to each donation to Rugby Canada, the Foundation will represent and warrant that it is voluntarily and unconditionally making the gift to Rugby Canada to benefit the development of amateur rugby in Canada and will acknowledge that Rugby Canada can direct the donation how it wishes.
- The Foundation and Rugby Canada will jointly develop a Grant Manual to guide and assist organizations and individuals with their applications for funds for specific rugby-related projects and activities. The Manual will detail the processes for requesting grants, reviewing and approving grant requests, and verifying how the grant funds were used for the purposes described in the grant application. The parties will use best efforts to finalize the manual within one month of the signing of this agreement. The draft May 2022 Grants Manual is here.
SCOPE OF AGREEMENT
Nothing in the agreement is intended to prevent or interfere with either party carrying out its other rugby-related functions and activities. For example, the Foundation’s student awards, and sponsorship of the university men’s rugby championship, and men’s and women’s rugby club championships; the Foundation’s investment policy and management; or Rugby Canada’s budget for and strategy with respect to the funding and staffing of its high performance and community activities. The parties understand that each may continue with fundraising activities that exist outside the scope of the agreement.
