DRYDENS’ PASSION
Family provides bedkits to kids
Ken Dryden’s held many positions in his career — as a goaltender, a member of Parliament, a writer, a sports executive and an academic — but his involvement in one organization has been consistent throughout and that’s his personal work with a charity.
Not just any charity. Sleeping Children Around the World (SCAW) was started by his father, Murray Dryden, in 1970. It distributes bedkits to children in need in the developing world. And thanks to the founder’s vision, which embodied key leadership principles, it’s still going strong. However, Ken Dryden said his father didn’t know how successful the charity would be when he first came up with the idea, after accidentally tripping over a child sleeping on the street in Pakistan.
“It just started with Dad loving to take pictures of sleeping kids and then thinking someone like UNICEF would be interested in them,” Ken Dryden said. Murray Dryden wanted to do something to help because he believed every child deserved a good night’s sleep and that ultimately led him to create SCAW. “The one thing that was absolutely clear in Dad’s mind from the beginning was that it should be 100 per cent charity.”
SCAW is one example of a growing trend of successful family charities. SCAW, which has raised more than $40 million to help children sleep comfortably, is one of about 5,500 private foundations — typically run by families — in the country.
That’s up about 15 per cent from 4,700 in 2005. Canadian private foundations held about $34.3 billion in assets in 2014, according to Philanthropic Foundations Canada (PFC), a charity that supports Canadian philanthropy.
“Multi-generational charities are a growth industry,” said Hilary Pearson, president of Montrealbased PFC. In the past, families would typically launch charities with the hope their cause would garner the attention of government, which would eventually assume responsibility. But that’s no longer the norm, she said.
“Families are seeing them as longterm projects.”
Some family charities boast grant-making mandates, others, like SCAW, are internally inspired and focused. No matter the mission and regardless of size, there are common elements that enable family charities to succeed and become leaders in their field.
DRIVEN BY PASSION
Having passion for what you do is one such trait. For the Drydens, that lesson of following your passion has found resonance in their every pursuit, said Ken Dryden, who as a famed Montreal Canadiens goalie knows a thing or two about it.
“My father lived until [he was] 92 and I believe that he wouldn’t have lived nearly that long if it wasn’t for this [passion],” he said.
“I think one of the lessons is that if people are doing stuff just for financial return, they’ll get tired of it at a certain point,” Ken Dryden said. “I think people underestimate immensely the value that people place in having a purpose ... And I think that’s why it works so well with volunteers.”
Ken Dryden’s brother Dave Dryden, president and chairman of the SCAW board and also a former goaltender with the NHL and WHA, agreed.
“In my family, we have all sorts of different passions about all kinds of things; SCAW is one of them,” he said. “People talk in terms of money need, donor need. My sense is it’s a passion need.”
Murray Dryden was 59 when he took the misstep that inspired a global movement. Since its launch, SCAW has funded 1.5 million bedkits for children in 34 countries.
Indeed, passion has been a driver for many foundations.
PHILANTHROPY LANDSCAPE
Another key to success has been that an increasing number of families — such as Bill and Melinda Gates and Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg — boast greater discretionary income and are realizing their assets can be put to good use through philanthropy or impact investment. In addition, the philanthropy landscape has become more sophisticated in the past 15 years, PFC’s Pearson said. Families that are able to take advantage of the improved access to information and resources can make greater strides than in the past.
Boomers and their kids are also finding it easier to work on charitable projects together than on a business. Keep in mind, statistically, by the third generation, most family owned businesses are no longer in operation. What’s more, while many general charities struggle economically and fundraising continues to be a difficult challenge, family charities — especially foundations — usually have money to begin with so they don’t face the same constraints.
The Dryden family home in Toronto (donated to the charity) serves as SCAW headquarters. And three generations of the family is currently involved to varying degrees in the charity.
More than 2,000 volunteers have also helped SCAW, working in countries such as India, Kenya and the Philippines on the ground, organizing the manufacturing of bedkits and finding children who need them.
“You couldn’t pay these people to do what they’re doing. There isn’t enough money to do that. But the return they get is 100 per cent more,” said Debbie Dryden, the charity’s director and Murray Dryden’s granddaughter.
Murray Dryden was confident from the start that volunteers going overseas with SCAW would graciously pay their own way. He was right. “What our Dad knew from his own travelling was that he would be basically offering a volunteer a vacation of a lifetime,” Ken Dryden said.
Maintaining passion and focus and incorporating them into governance also helps charities survive in the long-term.
For example, the Montreal-based J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, which focuses on building an inclusive and resilient society, is now a fifth-generation charity. As is the London, Ontario-based Lawson Foundation, which aims to boost the well-being of children. Likewise, the Toronto-based Weston Foundation, which helps charitable organizations enhance the quality of life for Canadians, has been a family tradition for three generations.
“There’s a strong motivation as a family to create this philanthropic experience,” PFC’s Pearson said, adding they all want to do something to make a difference.
PARTNERSHIPS
Creating good partnerships also plays an integral role in their success. SCAW has earned the support of such corporate giants as Sleep Country, Choice Hotels, TD Commercial Banking and agricultural commodity producer and trader Cargill Inc. And the charity works with locals as well.
SCAW establishes local partnerships in every country it works in to help the indigenous economy, Debbie Dryden said, adding they source items for their bedkits locally, to try and help countries be more self-sustaining.
It also means there’s a joint commitment to the greater good, she said.
Pearson said getting that message out is also key.
“It is not only important to communicate your story, but to be able to describe your impact,” Pearson said.
And that’s another leadership skill Murray Dryden passed on to his family. He would take any opportunity to start a conversation with others and eventually would direct it toward whatever cause he was championing.
While on a book tour, Ken Dryden recalled how his father kept 100 copies of his book The Game in the car, making a sale at every turn.
Murray Dryden’s family have taken his lessons to heart, establishing themselves as ambassadors of the charity, travelling with volunteers and playing their part every day to promote his cause.
Through passion, partnerships and volunteering Murray Dryden’s vision of spreading compassion and hope continues to build momentum — a tradition the family would like to see carried on by future generations.
I think people underestimate immensely the value that people place in having a purpose.