BY: Caroline Phillips, Ottawa Business Journal.
While most people are philanthropic for altruistic reasons, such as their love for all mankind, there’s also a very practical reason for why people give back: to give their hard-earned dollars to charity rather than the Tax Man.
For the past three decades, Ottawa-based boutique financial services firm The Foundation WCPD (Wealth Creation Preservation & Donation) has been helping its clients to think bigger when its comes to creating and preserving their wealth, increasing their charitable donations and lowering their taxes by accessing available tax benefits.
On Wednesday, The Foundation WCPD president and founder Peter Nicholson marked his firm’s 30 years in business with a reception, held at his home in Rockcliffe Park.
Photo by Caroline Phillips
He invited nearly 100 guests, many of them supporters of the upcoming Ottawa Philanthropy Awards gala organized by the Ottawa chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). WCPD is returning as the evening’s title sponsor.
“It’s so wonderful of Peter to host this,” Margot Lefebvre, chair of the upcoming gala and senior development officer with The Ottawa Hospital Foundation, told OBJ.social. “Peter is always so focused on giving back to the community and engaging the community.”
Available at the reception were advance copies of the new 84-page Giving Guide, published in partnership with the Ottawa Business Journal, the AFP’s Ottawa chapter and Foundation WCPD.
While it’s considered horribly rude to read while at a party, it was hard not to flip through the guide to see what’s new and exciting in Ottawa’s non-profit community.
The publication includes charity profiles and a directory on nearly 1,000 charities in Ottawa and the surrounding area.
“It really is intended to be a resource to accelerate and propel corporate giving in the city,” OBJ publisher Michael Curran told guests.
Attendees will get their own copy of the Giving Guide at the awards the Philanthropy Awards dinner, commonly known as The Phils, taking place at the Shaw Centre on Tuesday, November 14. Mayor Jim Watson will serve as this year’s guest speaker while TV personality Sarah Freemark from CTV Ottawa will take on the role of emcee.
The party, catered by Thyme & Again, featured a performance by members of an acclaimed baroque music group, Ensemble Caprice.
Attendees included Len Farber, a senior tax advisor with Norton Rose and a member of WCPD’s philanthropic advisory council, along with his wife, businesswoman Barbara Farber, a former philanthropy award recipient. Also seen was Jennifer Van Noort, this year’s recipient of the AFP’s Outstanding Fundraising Professional Award. She’s vice president of philanthropy at The Ottawa Hospital.
Read original article in the Ottawa Business Journal here.
Photo by Caroline Phillips