About the ComTrust Foundation

• When was the Foundation established?
  • When was the Foundation established?

    1. The Foundation was established as a charitable trust in 2003. It was registered as  Charity #634 under the Charities Act Cap 243  on 25th June 2004.

• Funding
  • How is the Foundation funded?

    1. Funding for the Foundation is calculated at 1 % post tax profits (prior year).  

  • How are the funds allocated?

    1. Funds are divided between local charitable giving (assigned to our business in each country) and regional projects managed by the Trustees.

• Youth and Education
  • What projects are we involved in?

    1. Youth/Education

       - UWI MOU - Scholarships and other local educational donations - Caribbean Youth Business Programmes - The King’s Trust - YMCA After School programmes (six countries)

        

• Community and Environment
  • What projects are we involved in?

    1. Community/Environment

       - Environmental projects - Country Community giving - Adopt-A-Cause - Unsung Heroes (new for 2024)

• Health and Wellness
  • What projects are we involved in?

    1. Health/Wellness

       - Walk for the Cure - Hospital for Sick Children SickKids Caribbean Initiative or other health/social projects (to be completed in 2025) - Local healthy lifestyles initiatives

• Trustees
  • Who are the Foundation's Trustees?

    1. - Mark St. Hill* - Chair, CEO (2012)

       - Clenell Goodman* - Director, CIBC Caribbean Barbados (2016)

       - Olivia Burnett*  - Legal Counsel (2022)

       - Trudy King* - Director, Operations, Client Care & Sales Centre

       - Lynda Goodridge* - External (2012)

       - Ladesa James* - Country Head - Antigua (2014)

       - Debra King* - Director, Corporate Communications (2003)

       - Shantelle Griffith - Secretary (2016)

        

       *Voting members

• What does the Foundation's mandate cover?
  • What does the Foundation's mandate cover?

    1. THE FOUNDATION’S MANDATE COVERS DONATIONS

       Donations are the provision of resources (e.g., money, people, equipment) by any organisation (the sponsor) directly to a beneficiary, to enable the latter to pursue some activity in return for benefits contemplated in terms of the sponsor’s promotions strategy, and which can be expressed in terms of corporate, marketing, or media objectives.
        

       Donations are made under the general themes established by the Foundation. The Corporate Social Responsibility Policy outlines the criteria for giving donations:

        

       - Well-administered, locally based, not-for-profit initiatives and organisations that promote pride and the well-being of the communities in which we live and work

       - Organisations that command the public’s respect and confidence

        - Organisations that work in socially relevant fields

       - Projects that provide a tangible benefit to the community

       - Projects that have a record of achievement or a very real potential for achievement

       - Projects that encourage employee volunteerism
        

• What types of projects are considered to be outside the Foundation’s mandate?
  • What activities are not considered donations?

    1. THE FOUNDATION’S MANDATE DOES NOT COVER:
        
       SPONSORSHIP – BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
        
       An effort to bring (to an enterprise) a customer, client, or other type of working relationship that appears likely to make a positive contribution to the bottom line; either a personal effort that is made, for example, through networking to develop a profitable relationship or an enterprise effort that utilises capital and time for growth and expansion purposes. Enterprise development is The Network term used to define business development, in the latter context.

       In our context, budgets are allocated at the beginning of each fiscal year for the year and if requests are received outside of those previously budgeted, a business case must be made.

        

       The following categories of activities are not considered for donations:

       - Sectarian or sectarian-related organisations

       - Political parties or political organizations

       - Support for promoting a religious cause

       - Sponsorship for conferences and conference attendance, dinners, annual meetings, workshops, study sessions, golf tournaments, memberships and other business development activities

            - Endowments 

            - Employee activities

            - Organisations or projects wholly outside of CIBC Caribbean’s operating countries

            - Individuals, for trips to conferences, sporting events etc. We will support organisations, teams, groups not individuals

            - Activities and/or organisations with which members of the CMC/Executive Management are publicly involved
        

• How to apply for funding
  • How can I apply for funding?

    1. - If the project is limited in scope to one country in the Caribbean, please send your application to your local Country Management Team, via our Country Manager/Country MD.

       - If your project covers more than one of our locations, i.e., is regional in scope for the benefit of multiple jurisdictions in our region, please send your request to:

        

       Debra.king@cibcfcib.com | Shantelle.griffith@cibcfcib.com 

        

       - Requests for funding are assessed against the criteria we have set out for giving and the availability of funding.

       - Funding partners may be required to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the ComTrust Foundation outlining the relationship between the two partners and expected management of the funds received. 

        - All applications for funding will be subject to a vetting process that may include an interview with the Trustees of the Foundation

       - All recipients of multi-year funding/MOU partners are required to provide the Trustees with a quarterly report of activities and the use of the funding