​The Community Foundation’s external audit services are open for renewal in 2026, and we are inviting proposals from qualified CPA firms with experience in the nonprofit and charitable sectors.

As the Foundation continues to grow, strong financial stewardship and independent audit oversight remain essential to our work. This Request for Proposals (RFP) outlines the audit scope, proposal requirements, evaluation process, and key submission dates.

About Us
The Comox Valley Community Foundation (CVCF) is an independent, community-led public foundation that pools and invests donor contributions into endowment funds and distributes the income annually to grant to charities and initiatives primarily in the Comox Valley.

Summary of Services Requested
We are seeking a licensed CPA firm to be appointed in 2026 for a five-year term, beginning with the audit of the 2026/27 fiscal year (April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027). The engagement typically includes conducting the annual audit of our financial statements, preparing a management letter with recommendations, and presenting the audit findings to the Board. Full details are provided in the RFP package.

Key Dates at a Glance
• RFP Issued: December 12, 2025
• Proposal Deadline: January 22, 2026
• Decision: March 2026

Download the Full RFP Package
All proposal requirements, submission instructions, and evaluation criteria are included in the full RFP package:
👉 Download the RFP – External Audit Services (pdf)

Submission Instructions
Proposals must be submitted electronically as a PDF to:
Jolean Finnerty, Executive Director
Email: executive-director@cvcfoundation.org

Confirmation of receipt will be provided. Late applications not accepted.

Questions?
Questions regarding the RFP may be emailed to the Executive Director until closing. Email or call 250-880-6584.

What if everything we thought we knew about charity was wrong?

The Comox Valley Community Foundation is inviting the public to explore that provocative question at a free screening of Uncharitable, an acclaimed documentary that boldly challenges conventional thinking about the nonprofit sector. The event takes place Thursday, November 13 at 7:00 p.m. at the Sid Williams Theatre in downtown Courtenay.

Based on Dan Pallotta’s groundbreaking book and TED Talk — one of the most-viewed in history — Uncharitable explores how outdated beliefs about overhead, frugality, and self-sacrifice have stifled innovation in the charitable sector and limited its potential to drive real change.

“This film honours the passion and commitment we already see in our community,” said Jolean Finnerty, Executive Director of the Comox Valley Community Foundation. “But it also asks us to imagine what might be possible if we truly empowered charities to do their best work — with the resources, trust, and freedom they need to lead.”

With stories from major U.S. charitable efforts that were constrained or dismantled by public scrutiny, Uncharitable pulls back the curtain on the hidden costs of a system that expects nonprofits to “do more with less.” It offers a compelling call to rethink how we invest in social change — and in the organizations delivering it.

Event Details
• What: Free public screening of Uncharitable
• When: Thursday, November 13, 2025
• Time: Doors open at 6:00 p.m.; screening begins at 7:00 p.m.
• Where: Sid Williams Theatre, 442 Cliffe Avenue, Courtenay
• Tickets: www.sidwilliamstheatre.com/events/uncharitable-film-screening/

Following the screening, guests are invited to stay for a brief panel with local nonprofit leaders to reflect on the film’s themes, share perspectives, and hear what they mean for the Comox Valley.

More Than a Movie — A Movement
In an age of growing complexity and interconnected challenges, Uncharitable argues that the charitable sector can — and must — play a central role in solving our biggest problems. But that will require a cultural shift in how we think about risk, scale, and investment in nonprofit work.

“This screening is a chance for community members, nonprofit leaders, donors, and changemakers to come together and reimagine what’s possible,” said Finnerty. “We hope people leave inspired and with a renewed sense of how we can all support a more empowered charitable sector in the Comox Valley.”

More than $450,000 in funding will be available for the non-profit sector this year through the Comox Valley Community Foundation’s next granting programs. The funding, which supports the programs, services, and initiatives of Comox Valley non-profit organizations, will be distributed between August 2025 and March 2026 through four grant streams to eligible organizations.

“The support we’re able to offer local organizations each year is a direct result of the kindness and commitment of so many in the Comox Valley who give through the Community Foundation,” says Jolean Finnerty, Executive Director. “We’re deeply grateful to play a role in channeling that generosity back into the community, where it helps fuel the important work happening every day.”

Distribution of funding will continue to follow a trust-based and community-informed approach through four granting streams:

• $300,000 Community Enrichment Grants
  The Community Enrichment Grants stream is an open application that annually prioritizes funding and impact toward three focus areas. The current year focus areas are:
  1) Mental health and connection
  2) Food insecurity and food systems
  3) Equity, diversity and inclusion
• $50,000 Housing Insecurity & Homelessness
  Housing insecurity, housing affordability and homelessness continue to be among the most critical issues facing vulnerable community members in the Comox Valley. Funding will be available under the direction of the Comox Valley Coalition to End Homelessness.
• $50,000 Environment and Conservation
  Support for environmental initiatives that conserve and protect the Comox Valley’s natural environment and build climate resilience will take place via a community table, comprised of environment- and conservation-focused non-profit community organizations.
• $50,000 Adults with Diverse Abilities
  This bi-annual funding supports recreation and social programming for adults within the diverse abilities’ community thanks primarily to the Developmental Disabilities Fund established to promote well-being of adults with diverse abilities living in the Comox Valley. Grant amounts are determined every other year by the organizations who deliver the programming in community.

Focus areas for all community granting streams are informed through a variety of community listening initiatives, including the Foundation’s Non-Profit Sector Survey, which recently identified mental health, food insecurity, housing insecurity and homelessness, (EDI) equity, diversity and inclusion, and environment/conservation among its top categories for community need.

How to Apply
Community Grants are intended to fund programs, services, and operating activities offered by registered charities and other qualified donees whose work benefits community wellbeing within the Comox Valley. The Community Enrichment Grants online application portal opens Monday, August 18, 2025. To learn more about eligibility and how to apply, click here.

There’s Still Time to Give
The Foundation is asking individuals and local businesses who are able to give to consider a charitable gift to the Community Fund before December 31 to help bridge the anticipated shortfall of funding for this year’s granting programs.

There’s a significant and painful gap between the funding available and the needs expressed by dedicated local non-profits — every year, we see requests that exceed our resources by over $200,000,” says Finnerty. “Every donation to this year’s granting programs has the power to create real, lasting change by reaching the community organizations that need it most, right now.

CVCF is proud to announce this year’s Community Enrichment Grant recipients and the impactful work this granting program supports.

As part of our 2024-2025 granting program, the Comox Valley Community Foundation proudly distributed $543,557 in grants to 45 organizations who build and protect our community by providing programming and services in support of food security, children and youth, seniors, the environment, DEI initiatives, adults with diverse-abilities, and housing security.

For more information please click here.

More than $450,000 in funding will be available for the non-profit sector this year through the Comox Valley Community Foundation’s next granting programs.

The funding, which supports the programs, services, and initiatives of Comox Valley non-profit organizations, will be distributed between August 2024 and March 2025 through four grant streams to eligible organizations.

“This annual funding exists in the Comox Valley thanks to the generosity of so many individuals, families and businesses who give through the Community Foundation,” says Jolean Finnerty, Executive Director of the Foundation. “It’s an honour to steward these gifts back into the community where they can immediately support organizations who are working to make a difference every single day.”

Distribution of funding will continue to follow a trust-based and community-informed approach through four granting streams:

• $300,000 Community Enrichment Grants
The Community Enrichment Grants program is an open application that prioritizes funding and impact toward three focus areas:
1) Mental health and connection
2) Food insecurity and food systems
3) Equity, diversity and inclusion

• $50,000 Housing Insecurity & Homelessness
Housing insecurity, housing affordability and homelessness continue to be among the most critical issues facing vulnerable community members in the Comox Valley. Funding will be distributed in partnership with the Comox Valley Coalition to End Homelessness.

• $50,000 Environment and Conservation
Support for environmental initiatives that conserve and protect the Comox Valley’s natural environment will take place in early 2025 via a community table, comprised of environment- and conservation-focused organizations.

• $50,000 Adults with Diverse Abilities
This annual funding supports recreation and social programming for adults within the diverse abilities’ community thanks to dedicated funds like the Developmental Disabilities Fund established to promote well-being of adults with diverse abilities living in the Comox Valley. Grant amounts will be determined in Fall 2024 by the organizations who deliver the programming in community.

Focus areas for all community granting programs are informed through a variety of community listening initiatives, including the Foundation’s 2024 Non-Profit Sector Survey, which identified mental health, food insecurity, housing insecurity and homelessness, (EDI) equity, diversity and inclusion, and environment/conservation among its top categories for community need.

How to Apply
Community Grants are intended to fund programs, services, and operating activities offered by registered charities and other qualified donees whose work benefits community wellbeing within the Comox Valley. The Community Enrichment Grants online application portal opens on Monday, August 19, 2024. To learn more about eligibility and how to apply, visit: https://cvcfoundation.org.

There’s Still Time to Give
The Foundation is asking individuals and local businesses who are able to give to consider a charitable gift to the Community Fund before December 31 to help bridge the anticipated shortfall of funding for this year’s granting programs.

“A heart-breaking shortfall exists every year, where the funding requests we receive from highly deserving non-profit organizations are $200,000 or more than the current funding available,” says Finnerty. “Any contribution toward this year’s granting programs would truly make a lasting impact in the community by providing immediate support where it is needed now.”

To learn more or donate online, visit cvcfoundation.org or call 250-338-8444.

Fighting the toxic drug crisis – Comox Valley Record

Patti Alvarado leads a group of staff and volunteers committed to saving live in the Comox Valley.

Unbroken Chain, an Indigenous-led harm reduction program at the Indigenous Women’s Sharing Society, supports a growing list of individuals and family members affected by the toxic drug overdose crisis.

Supports include Indigenous harm reduction education and support, naloxone training, peer support, community education, and more.

Most weeks, staff and volunteers support multiple people, having conversations through difficult days and nights, safety planning, providing support to families who have lost loved ones, advocacy in community meetings, or connecting people to healthcare and support services.

“We are trying to help people stay alive, as well as mitigate the impacts and harm of the toxic drug poisoning epidemic,” Alvarado said. “The feedback we get from participants is that we have helped save their lives. So, for us, this funding from the Comox Valley Community Foundation has been a lifesaver.”

Unbroken Chain ensures people with lived or living experience and their families and friends, have a listening ear when they need it most and receive trauma-informed and culturally safe support. The practice reduces harm and creates a judgment-free environment that facilitates and promotes empowerment, self-autonomy, and healing.

Unbroken Chain hosts awareness events and participates in community action meetings to ensure Indigenous voices and those with lived experience are a part of local solutions, a key factor to reducing stigma and harm.

The toxic drug epidemic affects the entire community.

In February, the First Nations Health Authority released information showing COVID-19 pandemic and the toxic drug public health emergency shortened the life expectancy of Indigenous people in B.C. by 7.1 years, between 2015 to 2021.

“We’re seeing illicit substance use more visibly now due to the supply of illicit substances becoming increasingly more and more toxic since the pandemic, but it’s always been there and often behind closed doors,” she said. “Dozens and dozens of people have died in our community. You are fortunate if you haven’t had a family member or loved one affected by it.”

In the last year, the Society’s events have seen an increase of families wanting to ensure they — and their children — know how to use naloxone.

Alvarado encourages the community to attend awareness events, “Being a part of the Indigenous Women’s Sharing Society has been a very welcoming experience. We have a lot of circles and activities where we welcome anyone to join us.”

With additional funding, volunteers and capacity building, Alvarado hopes to expand toxic drug crisis support services locally and on the North Island.

“Unbroken Chain does have a waiting list,” she said. “Unfortunately, we’re not able to help everyone due to the limited resources and the need is great.”

To learn more about the Indigenous Women’s Sharing Society, follow them on social media, or call 250-338-3455.

What you can do

• Fight the stigma. Read reliable sources to understand the causes of the toxic drug poisoning epidemic.
• Talk to people. Attend events, listen to people with lived experience.
• Volunteer. Take part in training and volunteer to help people in your community.

Focus on Community: Non-Profit Sector Survey Open Now

Comox Valley Community Foundation is inviting non-profit organizations located in the Comox Valley to share their views on community funding needs through a Focus on Community: Non-Profit Sector Survey that will be open online from May 6 to 24, 2024.

This survey is one component of an integrated initiative that will help guide priorities for the Community Foundation’s next two-year funding plan starting this August.

“Through community listening initiatives like the Focus on Community survey, we are working to listen and learn about best ways to serve our non-profit organizations in the Comox Valley and to enrich life for all,” says Jolean Finnerty, executive director of the Community Foundation.

All charities, societies, and other non-profit organizations located in the Comox Valley are invited to participate no later than Friday, May 24.

Click Here to Start the Survey (5 to 10 minutes)

“We are deeply grateful for all the work that non-profit organizations continue to do in our community, and we appreciate those who are able to make time to share their thoughts with us through this survey.”

The Community Foundation will announce its next Community Granting Programs and application intake in August.

Comox Valley Community Foundation is one of over 200 community foundations across Canada that exist to build and invest funds to benefit non-profit organizations in their communities and beyond. They prioritize trust-based principles in their granting programs, inviting community input as well as participation in the direction and decision-making of how best to meet community needs.

Growing arts and artists in the Comox Valley – Comox Valley Record

The Comox Valley Community Arts Council is listening, engaging the public, and growing the arts in the Comox Valley.

The 55-year-old organization is one of the Comox Valley’s oldest non-profit groups. It is best known for promoting arts and artists across the Valley, in partnership with businesses, government, and non-profit organizations.

With a mission to champion the artistic vitality of the Comox Valley, the Council creates the Central Island Arts Guide and an annual regional studio tour, produces a directory of Comox Valley artist studios, maintains an event calendar, and provides art experiences and community engagement at events around town.

In recent years, it has also been an incubator, innovator, and community builder, thanks in part to the Comox Valley Community Foundation.

Take, for example, the A School, a professional development program exclusively for artists, made possible through vital operating grants from the Community Foundation. The program provides a community of practice for early career artists to connect, learn, and develop their skill sets, outside of the art school setting. Emerging artists can access tools and structures that allow them to grow their practice and learn how to operate as a small business, said Jennifer Casey, the Council’s executive director.

“Initial surveys say it’s making a huge difference,” Casey said. “Artists are building skills to be able to be able to market their work in new ways, that’s a huge benefit to the community.”

Likewise, its low-cost Digital Creation Hub offers a space for artists to access the digital tools for artmaking. The equipment, software and studio reduce financial and technical barriers and gives artists a head start in marketing and promoting their work.

“You come in and somebody’s there to hold your hand and walk you through it, and you end up with a product that you can then use as an artist to elevate your practice.”

In addition, CV/Arts runs an adjudicated art show at the Comox Valley Airport that highlights regional artists, turning the terminal into a cultural space. It also runs festivals that bring art to the public streets, 30-day drawing challenges and partnerships with community organizers that bring arts programming to existing events.

New this year is the Art Wagon, a colourful trailer that CV/Arts is transforming into a mobile art centre. The aim is to provide programming that travels to schools and areas of the Valley that don’t necessarily have access to traditional art galleries. The Council launched a fundraising campaign in April to fulfill this vision and provide programming dollars to support the Art Wagon in its debut season.

While the Council has previously focused on broad services, CV/Arts is working to ensure programs “go deep” and speak to community-relevant values and conversations.

Last summer, in partnership with community groups, they presented the video installation, Go Fish, by artists Scott Smith and Nettie Wild on Hornby and Denman Island, which 2,400 people attended.

“We’re building from this momentum and applying for funds to offer an annual Arts and Land Festival that works with artists and brings those two connections together,” Casey said.

The activity is designed to be community facing, discussion provoking and engaging.

“The Arts Council is all about community. We do community engaged projects” said Casey. Our work is for the public. We think about providing access to arts and culture to everybody.”

For more information, visit Comox Valley Arts Council.

Connections program supports local families  – Comox Valley Record

Sometimes, having a place to connect and play in the neighbourhood can be a game changer for young families.

Building Connections for Valley Families (Connections) is an initiative of the Comox Valley Early Years Collaborative, a network of more than 50 individuals and groups who focus on ways to help early years families in the Valley thrive.

When early development indicators showed that much could be done to improve the early childhood developmental outcomes of children in Comox Valley, the Collaborative created Connections.

The project tackles childhood vulnerability across the Valley in a neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood approach, designed to address parents’ needs to be connected and supported socially.

It currently offers organized drop-in play groups in Dove Creek and Black Creek, and a pilot group in Fanny Bay, with additional supports under development in other areas of the Valley.

“We wanted a welcoming space for families to gather, play and connect,” said Darcie Emerson, the family connector for the North Comox Valley area. “Creating a place for neighbours to meet who may never have crossed paths before is especially important for families living in rural areas. Parenting can be isolating enough and we know how valuable social connections can be for adults and children alike.”

The initiative’s first years have shown how instrumental connection points have been for creating friendships, reducing isolation, and localizing supports for rural Comox Valley families.

“I wouldn’t have met all these amazing families without having this in the area and I probably wouldn’t have developed friendships here, as it is hard to put myself out there like that, especially as a busy mom,” said one mother.

Tailored to caregiver and child interests, Connections brings in information and resources, music, art and activities, mobile library services, and guest speakers to answer questions about early years development.

Connections also hosted a Teddy Bear Picnic for the whole community last year. The upbeat event drew more than 200 parents and children who came out to enjoy the day with other families, and hopefully, spark a few friendships.

“We know how important the early years are and how important it is to provide support for families,” said Betty Tate, the leadership liaison with the Early Years Collaborative. “The more support we can provide for families now, the more we strengthen their future.”

NEXT STEPS

In 2018, the Comox Valley Early Years Collaborative found 40 per cent of Comox Valley children were considered vulnerable on the early development instrument scale, which measures the developmental health of kindergarten age children. Since the Connections project began, the Collaborative has already seen a slight reduction in childhood vulnerability.

“We know, however, that moving this population level measure is complex and we are developing other indicators to evaluate the impact of our programs more fully,” said Tate.

With ongoing support from Comox Valley Community Foundation donors, the Collaborative’s work continues with the hiring of a part-time coordinator, who will engage professionals on ways to help early years children and their families thrive in the Comox Valley.

For more information, visit the Comox Valley Early Years Collaborative.

Comox Valley Project Watershed and the Cumberland Community Forest Society received grants this year from the Comox Valley Community Foundation as part of an Environment, Conservation and Climate Community Table. Together, the participants consensus-directed $80,000 to elevate the efforts of nine different environment-focused community service organizations in the Comox Valley.

Both organizations operate with knowledge, passion, and hope that connects their work.

CUMBERLAND COMMUNITY FOREST SOCIETY

The Forest in the Village is part of the Cumberland Community Forest Society’s efforts to build community climate resilience with a focus on urban forests and biodiversity. The approach is about learning, direct action, collaboration, and celebration.

In the past year, they have facilitated workshops and walks with a focus on urban biodiversity, organized after school programs, and planted 125 ecologically important trees in partnership with the Village of Cumberland, whose Urban Tree Strategy aims to increase the forest canopy by 30 percent in the Village by 2030.

The fall tree planting, along with B.C.’s intense wildfire season last summer, created new opportunities for community conversations around urban wildland interface zones, Fire Smart landscaping and the importance of the urban forest canopy to biodiversity and resilience in the face of climate change.

The programs represent an evolution of the Forest Society’s efforts, in the past several years, from solely purchasing and saving forest land, to stewardship, and community climate resilience. This is particularly true at the Perseverance Creek Watershed, which flows into the Comox Valley drinking water supply at Comox Lake.

“It’s not only about setting aside forest land anymore,” said Cursons. “It’s caretaking, restoring, and healing the landscape that has been damaged by industrial logging and mining over time. When we’re restoring creeks or wetlands or protecting species at risk, it’s to ensure those entities are more resilient in the face of climate change, the Forest in the Village project is a part of that. It’s about building community climate resilience, this time, inside the Village.”

And just as the trees in Cursons’ backyard are connected biologically and ecologically to our adjacent forests, every creek and stream is a part of the larger watershed that support species across the Valley.

COMOX VALLEY PROJECT WATERSHED

That’s where the Project Watershed’s Community Water Monitoring Initiative comes in.

Starting this summer, Project Watershed will connect streamkeeper groups to better understand the health of the region’s streams and watersheds.

“It will also inform any measures we do to help support improvements in health. If we’re seeing really warm creek temperatures, really low dissolved oxygen, or really high turbidity, there are measures we can take from a restoration perspective to potentially slow down or improve some of those changes in the long term,” said Caitlin Pierzchalski, Project Watershed’s executive director.

The Community Water Monitoring Initiative kicks off this year with potential volunteers from the Millard Piercy Watershed Stewards, the Beaufort Watershed Stewards, the Brooklyn Creek Watershed Society, and the Cumberland Community Forest Society as well as the Little River and Glen Urquhart Creek neighbourhoods.

With enough equipment and volunteers, a cohesive picture of the health of the region’s watersheds will be uploaded to a public database, available to industry, government, volunteers, and the community.

The idea, said Pierzchalski, is a long-standing goal of the Comox Valley Conservation Partnership, co-ordinated through the Comox Valley Land Trust, with participation from the K’ómoks Guardian Watchmen.

But it wasn’t until funding came available, through the Comox Valley Community Foundation, that the idea began to feel like a reality.

“The fact that we’re going to be able to have access to funding and actually start moving forward, is really exciting,” said Pierzchalski. “When I see these projects move forward, it helps stave off the apathy and makes me see the real possibilities here.”