MISSION

The Olive Tree Foundation is dedicated to promoting and perpetuating philanthropy and enhancing community life through responsible grant making in Canada.

The Olive Tree Foundation encourages and facilitates the creation and growth of endowment funds to enable the community to realize its potential. The Foundation maintains effective stewardship over all assets entrusted to it; distributes grants that reflect donors’ wishes and community priorities; and provides leadership in the Muslim and general communities.

VALUES AND PURPOSE

The Olive Tree Foundation was founded in 2004 by civic leaders and philanthropists within the Canadian Muslim community.

The Foundation is a charitable organization formed to attract and manage permanent endowment funds and to distribute income from those funds back to the community. We provide grants to registered charitable organizations for projects that maintain or improve quality of life in the community.

Unlike other charities, which are usually dedicated to a single cause, the Olive Tree Foundation supports a range of charitable activities in our community: social, community and health services; education and library services; policy institutes and think tanks; and arts, culture & heritage. Because of this unique mandate, we can provide seed funding for new projects or other initiatives that might otherwise fall between the cracks.

Our Foundation also has a mandate to act as a catalyst for community initiatives that support and sustain our community. An endowment foundation (Waqf) is an institution that has been part of the Islamic historical experience and has, in the past, provided for the flourishing of the Muslim contribution to societies. The establishment of such an institution in Canada will provide a vehicle for leaving an ongoing legacy and contribution to the Muslim community and to Canada.

The guiding principles of the Olive Tree Foundation are to provide support where there is genuine need, build on the strengths of the community and encourage innovation and community development.

• Promote the growth, development and success of community endeavors within the Foundations areas of interest
• Provide philanthropic leadership
• Manage funds responsibly while respecting Islamic financial principles
• Operate in an open, accessible and ethical manner
• Encourage and nurture innovation
• Strengthen community capacity and volunteerism
• Enable and encourage human growth, dignity, inclusiveness, fairness and the equality of all people
• Work as a catalyst within the charitable sector
• Develop partnerships
• Promote sustainability