Dying With Dignity Canada (DWDC), with its 40th anniversary celebrated, has been on a successful streak in its fundraising efforts with the question arising about the need to make calls for more funding.
On the one hand, many secular organizations need finances more because of the tighter purses with the coronavirus pandemic ongoing. On the other hand, it becomes an issue having to ask for more money as an organization.
The issue with secular organizations is that they do not necessarily have the formalized infrastructure of zakat or tithing, which makes donations, grants, etc., important for closing the secular and religious organizational financial gap.
With such gaps, many of the secular organizations are forced into precarious situations of requesting funding while having to double down on said requests in times of organizational or cultural crisis. C-19 is one such time.
Nonetheless, many organizations have happily, been pulling through for improved functionality in regard to the fundraising. With DWDC, it is one of those organizations.
The organization has reported several positive and encouraging messages in spite of the pandemic. They have been met with “best wishes and congratulations” for the 40 years of service as an organization.
There were some in reference to specific great successes of the organizations including the Carter v. Canada Supreme Court of Canada decision influencing the right to die movement in Canadian society.
The supporters who were giving the aforementioned best wishes and congratulations were providing some personal stories based on the decision of the highest court in Canadian jurisprudence.
“Throughout the last two weeks, these communications have fueled me and my team — and so clearly confirmed that we have an incredibly generous community who is willing to go the extra mile when asked,” Helen Long, CEO of DWDC stated, “But before I say anything else, I must say: thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you for taking the time to engage with our blog posts, petitions, social media posts, webinars — and, yes, donation requests.”
In particular, she was greatful for members and others utilizing the resources, educational and otherwise, online, as well as the Advance Care Planning Kits of DWDC. As Long reported to the community, they reached the total fundraising goal of $40,000 with an anonymous donor matching the funds for a total $80,000 in additional finances for them.
For the rest of the Summer and the Fall, DWDC, based on the new funding, will be working on the following projects, as reported by Long:
- Coordinate with federal legislators to make sure Bill C-7 is passed into law;
- Engage Canadians across the country as part of Canada’s five-year legislative review process for our medical assistance in death law;
- Connect patients, independent witnesses and clinicians to improve access to assisted dying, particularly in more remote regions;
- Promote our Advance Care Planning Kits and other educational resources to new supporters across the country; and
- Hold a range of webinars and other virtual engagement opportunities to share stories, experiences and actions that further our growing movement.
This fundraising and the projects ongoing for 2020 in the midst of the pandemic remain a win for the secular movements on the right to die movement.
Photo by Loren Cutler on Unsplash