Welcome to the Foundation for Rural Living

Message from the FRL Board

January 11, 2012

FRL announces wind-down of its operations

Dear Friends, Colleagues, Community and Funding Partners, and Rural Stakeholders:

For over the past 12 months, the Foundation for Rural Living (FRL) has been engaged in a comprehensive strategic planning process. This process has involved outreach to key stakeholders through surveys, key informant interviews (Nov 2010 to Jan 2011), and a key stakeholder meeting (May 2011).

And it is through this process and after much dialogue and thoughtful deliberation that we are writing to let you to know that FRL will be divesting itself of all program delivery effective Friday, February 3, 2012. Shortly thereafter we will be voluntarily revoking our charitable status and closing down FRL.

Rural Social Enterprise Project: Documenting the Learning

Enterprising nonprofits have a long standing presence in rural Ontario. This entrepreneurial spirit will continue to benefit rural communities into the future.

The Rural Social Enterprise Project (RSEP) collaborative (Foundation for Rural Living, C. Lang Consulting and Eko Nomos) and our community partners got a glimpse of this interest in growing social enterprise through our capacity building work with the nonprofit sector in southwestern and northwestern Ontario in 2011.

We also discovered a pent up need for social enterprise supports that deserves the attention of funders, regional capacity builders and policy makers.

This and other key learnings are captured in the attached document, Rural Social Enterprise Project: Documenting the Learning. Please feel free to pass it on.

We extend our thanks to the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the RBC Foundation, and our community partners, for making the work of investing in rural Ontario possible.

Foundation for Rural Living, on behalf of the RSEP Collaborative

C. Lang Consulting
Eko Nomos
Huron Business Development Corporation
PARO Centre for Women’s Enterprise
Perth Community Futures Development Corporation
Wellington Waterloo Community Futures Development Corporation

Collaboration and Partnership

FRL collaborates with organizations and individuals who exemplify our core values of integrity, philanthropy, partnership, citizenship, empowerment, fairness, and a demonstrated commitment to advancing the nonprofit sector.