About the Foundation

The CSPG Foundation is the charitable arm of the CSPG and is a Registered Charity with the Canada Revenue Agency. It was founded in 1978 by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists to ensure sustainable funding for its’ outreach activities. The CSPG Foundation raises money to fund and support educational petroleum geoscience outreach across Canada. 

Canadian Registered Charity No. 890218043RR0001

Our Vision:

To fully fund and support all existing and future CSPG geoscience outreach programs

Our Mission:

We fund programs that inspire and advance education, foster technical excellence, and encourage awareness of petroleum geoscience.

Building our Geoscience Future

Together we are building our geoscience future by supporting educational outreach that inspires and advances education, fosters technical excellence, and encourages awareness of petroleum geoscience. Our programs include the Student Industry Field Trip, University Lecture Tours, Theses Awards, Scholarships, Student Field Trips, Earth Science for Society, Canadian museums, and many more.

In order to ensure funding for current and future programs we encourage our members to invest in a specific program or in our Endowment Fund.

Sustainable Geoscience Outreach Funding

The CSPG Foundation invests in outreach that educates about petroleum geoscience. Our goal is to ensure that current programs such as the Student Industry Field Trip remain world class and to help new outreach programs develop. Once a program is established it often becomes self sustaining through corporate sponsorship or through a restricted fund supporting only that program. Once a program becomes established the CSPG Foundation is able to invest in new opportunities.

The CSPG Foundation uses a three-fold approach to investing in geoscience outreach:

  1. Annual Donations
  2. Endowment Fund investment income
  3. Restricted Funds – used to fund specific programs such as the Baillie Award

Our Endowment Fund is approaching $1,700,000 and its investment income generates $95,000 for geoscience outreach programs. Over $300,000 is needed annually to fully fund current CSPG Outreach programs.

Endowment Fund

Established in 1978, the Endowment Fund is the CSPG Foundation’s way of ensuring sustainable funding for geoscience outreach. The Endowment Fund combines gifts allowing annual returns to fund current and future outreach programs. Our Endowment Fund is invested through the Calgary Foundation. You can review their investment strategy at: http://www.thecalgaryfoundation.org/donors/investment-overview