McConnell Family Foundation is the largest private foundation in Canada. It seeks to advance the quality of life in Canada through grants and awards to not-for-profit organizations that help solve cultural, educational, environmental, health, or social problems. Its full name is the J. W. McConnell Family Foundation.
Programs funded by the foundation include those that (1) promote the artistic development of people seeking to become professional artists; (2) provide alternatives to institutional living for elderly or disabled people; (3) increase public awareness of environmental issues; (4) aid rural communities, homeless people, or disadvantaged youth; or (5) help not-for-profit companies improve their management and fund-raising skills. The foundation makes grants only to nonprofit organizations and only for clearly charitable purposes. It does not make grants to individuals.
In 1937, John Wilson McConnell, a Canadian financier, set up the J. W. McConnell Foundation. In 1966, that organization established the Griffith Foundation. In 1987, the two foundations combined to form the J. W. McConnell Family Foundation, with headquarters in Montreal. For assets, see Foundation (table) .
