Philanthropic gesture a win-win

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This article was published 12/02/2024 (622 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For its 25th anniversary, Daman’s Red River Group, a Winnipeg-based real estate consulting, appraisal and property management firm, donated 10 per cent of the company’s shares to Habitat for Humanity Manitoba as a legacy gift for the non-profit’s ongoing work in the community.

The gesture was meaningful, but Gordon Daman expects the payoff will be as impactful for the Red River Group as it was for Habitat for Humanity Manitoba.

“The legacy gift was a decision by the partners from a philanthropic perspective, simply to say, ‘Thanks for 25 years to the community as a whole,’” said Daman, president and founding partner of the organization. “And because we have a long-term relationship with Habitat as our charity of choice, it was really the only option of all the charities that we could coalesce around.”

The gift is a win for both sides, however, as Habitat receives shares, currently valued at $137,000, that provide some certainty around funding each year, while Red River Group adds an established organization to its list of shareholders, bringing some stability to a small business and confidence for its client base.

“That voice at the table is extremely important for the long-term sustainability of our firm, and we’re hoping it’s actually an example that other professional-based firms would actually consider,” Daman said.

“From a business perspective, there are some businesses that will take what you call a locused approach — thinking about profit today and today only — and there are some businesses that take the honeybee approach; they will think it’s OK to give up some short-term profitably so that over the long term you have sustainable operations and the ability to create shared values with community, and that’s what this is about for Red River.”

Red River Group has appraised every Habitat residential build outside of Winnipeg and provided more than $20,000 in consulting services pro bono over the last 10 years.

Under the agreement of the legacy gift, Red River Group will continue to provide appraisal and consulting services free of charge for new builds beyond the Perimeter Highway and existing projects in Winnipeg. For new projects within the Perimeter, Habitat will receive a 25 per cent discount for services on new projects and 15 hours a month of pro bono consulting related to project development — valued at upward of $50,000 per year.

Habitat’s model builds homes and sells them to low-income families at discounted rates, waiving the need for a down payment and charging no interest on 15-year mortgages that never exceed 27 per cent of the family’s monthly net income.

“Certainly in Winnipeg, there’s no shortage of families who would be eligible. So, for us, there are a number of inputs to our system but cashflow is one of them. So every amount counts,” said Jamie Hall, CEO of Habitat’s Manitoba chapter.

Habitat for Humanity must often take an educated guess at how much money it can raise — and, subsequently, how many homes it can build — each year.

“This becomes something that is obviously dependant upon the success of Red River Group, but if we look at their budgets and planning, we can say, ‘This is a piece of funding we can count on,’” Hall said.

In 2023, Habitat completed 20 homes and served 29 families across the province. The non-profit forecasts it will build at least 24 homes in Manitoba and Kenora this year, including 15 from its existing project at 900 Pandora Ave. in Winnipeg, which will be complete sometime in the spring.

The Transcona development will eventually erect 55 homes and house an estimated 275 people by 2027. The project could be completed by the end of 2025 if funding permits, Hall said.

He also noted Habitat could add another 10 homes to its plans for this year, again, if funding allows.

Daman pointed to a similar — and much larger — gesture made by local businesswoman Miriam Bergen to the Winnipeg Foundation in 2022. Bergen, who owned Appleton Holdings, a privately held company that operated under the name Edison Properties, willed the charity $500 million before her death.

It stands as the largest gift ever made to a Canadian charity by an individual.

“This is a little bit different — I’m not saying that others haven’t done this — but from what we could discover, this was a little bit different. We did participate in giving literally a portion of the company to a charity,” Daman said.

“As we move into the future of looking at long-term sustainability for the common good … we’re really hoping that this will be a living example that business and the not-for-profit community — charities, specifically — can come together to do some good together for the long-term suitability of common good for society as a whole.”

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca