Hamilton Community Foundation
Open to any Canadian donor.
Place-based community foundation serving Hamilton and surrounding region (est. 1954). Endowment-model; distinctive for community leadership spending and an impact-investing portfolio. 2024 Donor Brochure states fees 'typically two percent annually' as a bundled all-in rate.
Cost calculator
Estimate fees for your scenario. Grants are never reduced by fees — fees apply after each year's granting.
See year-by-year breakdown
| Year | Contribution | Growth | Granted | Fees | End balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | $5,000 | $5,250 | $1,995 | $97,755 |
| 2 | $10,000 | $5,388 | $5,657 | $2,150 | $105,336 |
| 3 | $10,000 | $5,767 | $6,055 | $2,301 | $112,747 |
| 4 | $10,000 | $6,137 | $6,444 | $2,449 | $119,991 |
| 5 | $10,000 | $6,500 | $6,825 | $2,593 | $127,073 |
| 6 | $10,000 | $6,854 | $7,196 | $2,735 | $133,995 |
| 7 | $10,000 | $7,200 | $7,560 | $2,873 | $140,763 |
| 8 | $10,000 | $7,538 | $7,915 | $3,008 | $147,378 |
| 9 | $10,000 | $7,869 | $8,262 | $3,140 | $153,845 |
| 10 | $10,000 | $8,192 | $8,602 | $3,269 | $160,167 |
Minimums
Opening minimums: $25,000 Donor-Advised / Field-of-Interest; $10,000 per named beneficiary Designated; $5,000 Named Community Fund.
Granting rules
Assets accepted
- Cash
- Public securities
- Life insurance
- Bequests
Scale & activity
From T3010 CRA filing · FYE 2025-03-31
- Total DAF assets
- $157.8M
- Annual grants
- $6.2M
- Actual payout
- 4%
- DAF accounts
- 83
- Avg. account
- $1.9M
CRA registration 130527427RR0001. Payout rate is actual grants divided by total assets over the filing period — a real-world indicator that can differ from the provider's stated disbursement policy.
Fee structure
Admin fee tiers
| Balance range | Rate |
|---|---|
| $0K+· All-in 'typically 2% annually' per 2024 donor brochure | 2.00% |
2024 donor brochure states fees 'typically two percent annually' as an all-in rate. A 2014 internal benchmark showed operating expenses at 1.5% of average total assets — the difference may indicate the brochure's 2% reflects a more recent bundled rate, or may require direct verification.
Also consider
One of Canada's earliest community foundations (est. 1943), serving donors across British Columbia. Community advisors with charity expertise review hundreds of grant applications annually to direct Focus Area donations. Permanent endowment model means one gift creates impact year after year.
Community FoundationCalgary FoundationCalgary and area community foundation (est. 1955) with deep local granting relationships and the most transparent published fee schedule of any Canadian DAF provider, with four tiers across standard and flow-through fund types.
Community FoundationWinnipeg FoundationCanada's first community foundation by charter (est. 1921), serving Winnipeg and Manitoba. Offers the lowest all-in cost among Canadian community foundations, with tiered investment and admin fees that decrease meaningfully above $10M.
Data sources
Confidence: Published on provider site · Last verified 2026-04-21
Value proposition authored by WellFunded