Voting now open – Canadians can help the Aviva Community Fund donate another $1M to charitable organizations!

September 25, 2018 (Toronto, ON) – The Aviva Community Fund (ACF) celebrates its tenth anniversary this year and will once again donate over $1 million to fund charitable initiatives in communities across Canada. ACF is a two-phase competition where ideas are first submitted and then open for voting by the Canadian public.

Between September 25 to October 4, Canadians can support any of the ideas at avivacommunityfund.org.  With 10 votes to cast, they can support up to 10 different ideas, or use all the votes to support one idea. With 60 prizes to give away, the ACF has two categories open for voting:

• Small Ideas: Top 50 ideas with the most votes will each receive a $10,000 prize.
• Big Ideas: Top 10 ideas with the most votes will progress to the Judging Round. The three ideas with the highest scores will each receive a $100,000 prize. The remaining seven ideas will each receive a consolation prize of $15,000.

“For the last 10 years, the Aviva Community Fund has opened the competition for online voting because we strongly believe Canadians who live, work, and play in these communities should decide which ideas win funding,” says Colm Holmes, President and CEO of Aviva Canada. “We’re proud to fund and celebrate moments – big and small – that bring people together. I encourage all Canadians to get involved in their communities and help a good cause by voting for their favourite ideas today.” 

Strong evidence suggests that people who vote in public campaigns are highly altruistic and that voting helps strengthen social ties to create a more cohesive community. ¹ Feeling part of a close-knit community is also linked to greater quality of life and longevity. ² The Aviva Community Fund has been able to support hundreds of charitable organizations and community groups since 2009 because of the support rallied by voters through word-of-mouth, social media and community networking.

For the tenth anniversary of the ACF, the number of prizes has increased to give charitable organizations more chances to win funding. Aviva Canada is putting more focus on supporting charities and community groups who come together through shared interests, common culture and causes they care about, taking a moment to celebrate them and remembering why we’re #BetterTogether.

¹ http://www.apa.org/monitor/2008/06/vote.aspx 

² https://www.nonprofitvote.org/documents/2014/07/benefits-voting-benefits-voters-factsheet-en.pdf

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About Aviva Canada

Aviva Canada is one of the leading property and casualty insurance groups in the country, providing home, automobile, leisure/lifestyle and business insurance to 2.8 million customers.
A subsidiary of UK-based Aviva plc, Aviva Canada has more than 4,000 employees focused on creating a bright and sustainable future for their customers and communities.

Aviva Canada invests in positive change through the Aviva Community Fund, Canada’s longest running online community funding competition, which has awarded $8.5 million to over 280 charities and community groups nationwide since its inception in 2009. Aviva Canada was the first insurer to become a national corporate partner of the Canadian Red Cross’ Ready When the Time Comes program, to be there for Canadians when disaster strikes. In 2016, it received The Burns & Wilcox Award for Philanthropy & Community Service. At Aviva Canada, protecting the people and things you love, supporting the causes you care about most and strengthening your local community is just good thinking.

For more information, visit Aviva Canada’s Corporate Responsibility page, or blog, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn pages.