When you hear the word philanthropist, who comes to mind?

Maybe it’s someone whose name is on the side of a building. A business leader. A millionaire. Someone making headlines with a six-figure donation.

Most of us have been taught to think of philanthropy that way.

But that’s only part of the story.

The word philanthropy comes from the Greek philos (love) and anthropos (humankind). Quite literally, it means “love of humanity.” Today, philanthropy is simply the act of using your time, money, skills, or influence to make life better for others.

Notice what’s missing from that definition?

There is no minimum dollar amount.

No income requirement.

No expectation that your name appears on a plaque.

Somewhere along the way, we’ve confused wealth with philanthropy.

The truth is, philanthropy has never been about how much you give. It’s about choosing to make a difference.

Think about the way many of us pay for streaming services or a morning coffee. Ten dollars here. Fifteen dollars there. Individually, those amounts don’t seem like much.

But when hundreds of people make small commitments together, something remarkable happens.

A $10 monthly gift becomes $120 a year.

One hundred people giving $10 each month becomes $12,000.

One thousand people giving $10 each month becomes $120,000, enough to create meaningful, lasting change.

That’s the quiet power of collective generosity.

Across Canada, charities are seeing more people embrace monthly giving because it allows ordinary Canadians to make an extraordinary impact over time. In fact, CanadaHelps reports that monthly giving continues to grow because it provides charities with stable, predictable support while making giving more accessible for donors.

One Calgary Health Foundation donor explained it perfectly:

“Small donations by many add up to making a big impact.”

We couldn’t agree more.

We see every day how communities are built, not by one person doing everything, but by many people each doing something.

A safe, accessible home can change someone’s future. It can mean independence instead of isolation. Stability instead of uncertainty. Belonging instead of barriers.

And creating those opportunities doesn’t depend on one extraordinary gift.

It depends on thousands of ordinary people deciding they want to be part of something bigger than themselves.

Maybe it’s time we started thinking differently about philanthropy.

Maybe a philanthropist isn’t who we’ve always imagined.

Stay tuned.

We have someone we’d like you to meet on September 8.