Fall 2021 (Volume 31, Number 3)
Establishing the Canadian
Rheumatology Association
Foundation
By Evelyn Sutton, MD, FRCPC, CRA President;
John Wade, MD, FRCPC, CRA Secretary/Treasurer;
Ahmad Zbib, MD, CPHIIMS-CA, CEO of the CRA
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At the CRA Annual General Meeting in 2020, we advised
our membership of the intention to establish
the Canadian Rheumatology Association Foundation
(CRAF). This move will allow the CRA to establish an entity
with a charitable status in support of our mission: helping
our members provide optimal care to their patients.
The CRA Board has been working with Carter’s Law
Firm (carters.ca) over the past two years to move our application
forward with the Canadian Revenue Agency. We
have hired fundraising consultants, The Dennis Group Inc.
(thedennisgroup.ca), in June of this year to assist with the
operationalization of the Foundation and development of a
robust and vanguard fundraising operation. The Discovery
Group (thediscoverygroup.ca), a firm which specializes in governance,
has been engaged to define our value proposition
as we plan for the future.
“Having a charity focused on supporting our
efforts to deliver optimal care for patients with
rheumatic conditions will enhance our collective
capacity to serve our community. This charity is
ten years in the making, and I am excited to share
that we are close to making that vision a reality.”
– Evelyn Sutton, MD, FRCPC,
CRA President
The establishment of the CRAF will help to fund current
activities of the CRA such as the CIORA, the Annual
Scientific Meeting, and research projects. In fact, members
should not experience a change in their engagement as the
Canadian Rheumatology Association will continue to be
the organization that serves the members and will remain
the voice of rheumatologists in Canada.
We estimate the process of implementation will take up
to one year. The mission of the new charity will be set at
the time of its creation. Although it will have its own independent
board of directors, our mission and vision for the
future will be very aligned and synergistic.
“The CRAF is a dream to ensure that Canadian
rheumatologists have the ability to be world leaders
in research and education, and to ultimately provide
outstanding clinical care for both present and
future generations. It is the vehicle for providing
the guidance and resources to make sure that
the ideas and hard work of rheumatologists are
not lost because of financial constraints.”
– John Wade, MD, FRCPC
CRA Secretary/Treasurer
Stakeholder engagement remains a top priority for the
CRA. As we roll out our new plan, we intend to work closely
with our partners. Our objectives are to create an organization
that allows us to build capacity to fund activities
that are in line with our mission, which is focused primarily
on serving and representing rheumatologists in their
pursuit of delivering optimal care. We continue to believe
in building strong, synergistic partnerships with aligned
charitable health and patient organizations so we can all
better reach our collective goals.
“We are excited to be working on launching
the new charitable organization, the Canadian
Rheumatology Association Foundation (CRAF)
which will focus on building sustainable sources
of revenues to support and fund programs
serving the rheumatology community.”
– Ahmad Zbib, MD, CPHIIMS-CA
CEO, CRA
At this pinnacle in the establishment of the CRA Foundation
we welcome member participation and involvement.
For more information on the process or how you might
be able to support the CRAF, please contact Ahmad Zbib
(email: azbib@rheum.ca; phone: 905-952-0698 ext. 8).
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