Donor & Member Survey 2026

Executive Summary

Purpose & Methodology

This executive summary presents the key findings and strategic conclusions drawn from the Tamil Community Centre Donor & Member Survey conducted between March and April 2026. The survey was administered across five community meetings: one Membership Meeting and four regional donor meetings held in Scarborough, Durham, Peel, and York, collecting 377 total responses.

Respondents were asked to rank priorities and provide written feedback across seven questions covering community challenges, mandate priorities, cultural programming, diaspora–homeland connections, membership eligibility, governance, and general recommendations. Results are presented in aggregate across all donor meetings, with per-meeting breakdowns noted where divergences are significant.

Survey Structure

The survey comprised of seven questions covering:

Community challenges and identity priorities
TCC mandate rankings
Cultural and heritage programming preferences
Diaspora–homeland connection strategies
Membership eligibility expansion
Member governance and decision-making mechanisms
Open-ended recommendations

Key Results at a Glance

Tamil Language Preservation

Ranked first unanimously in every meeting

72%

Transparency Demand

Called for frequent, public financial reporting

61%

Support Membership Expansion

Donors favour broader eligibility criteria

47%

Heritage as Top Priority

Chose homeland history & culture preservation

Responses were collected in person across one membership meeting and four regional donor meetings. All seven questions were answered by participants, with valid response counts used for each calculation. Non-responses were excluded. Due to a form design variation, the Membership Meeting combined two Q2 mandate items; where this affects comparability, data from the Membership Meeting is reported separately.

Conclusion & Analysis

With 377 respondents across five meetings and seven structured questions, the dataset provides a reliable and actionable basis for strategic decision-making.

Three overarching conclusions can be drawn:

Conclusion 1: The community has given TCC a clear and unified mandate, build the infrastructure for Tamil heritage, starting now. Tamil language preservation and cultural continuity ranked first across every meeting, in every format, without exception. Heritage exhibitions and archival spaces ranked first for cultural programming. Preservation of homeland culture and traditions won the diaspora-connection question by a wide plurality. The community wishes TCC to translate this mandate into tangible commitments: Tamil-language classes, bilingual communications, a heritage library, and a building whose primary justification is cultural preservation.

Conclusion 2: Governance credibility is not a process matter, it is a trust matter. The most-cited theme in open feedback and the top-ranked governance mechanism were both the same: transparent financial reporting. Respondents drew explicit comparisons to publicly listed company reporting standards. Calls for elected boards, term limits, and independent oversight appeared across all five meetings. The community is signalling that its continued support, financial and participatory, is conditional on TCC demonstrating accountability. Quarterly financial updates, published publicly, should be treated as the minimum viable commitment. A formal governance framework, with documented policies on elections, term limits, and conflict of interest, should follow.

Conclusion 3: The membership expansion question differs between members and donors. A clear majority of donors (61%) support expanding eligibility, while a clear majority of existing members (60%) oppose it. Donors want a more inclusive organization; members want to protect governance integrity. The survey data, especially the qualitative emphasis on legitimacy verification, points toward a tiered membership model as the most viable path: one that enables broader participation without immediately conferring full voting rights.

In summary, the TCC community has articulated what it wants with unusual clarity and consistency. It wants a Tamil institution, rooted in heritage, led with transparency, and built for the next generation. The survey data provides TCC's leadership with a strong foundation of community consultation to act on these priorities with leadership and accountability.

Read the full Survey Report

Detailed findings across all seven survey questions, per-meeting breakdowns, Q7 open-feedback themes, and the full set of strategic recommendations (10 pages).

View Full Report (PDF)