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If you are like me it’s the New Year and you haven’t really dealt with clearing up the Christmas/Hannukah mess yet. A great first step is getting rid of gently-used or new things your kids or grandkids can’t use. A key part of that sentence is “gently-used or new.” No one wants your Harry Potter book […]
Charities often struggle to find great volunteers. Part of the problem is that for some reason, many charities have the idea that there are a legion of people out there just waiting to do dull, routine clerical work. How can you effectively find the good volunteers who are keen to help you? Have you posted […]
One of my first jobs was working to raise money for Goodwill in San Francisco. Through this work, I was inspired and impressed by the mission of the organization and the remarkable front-line employees. Recently, in the face of enormous financial crisis, the entire Board of the Toronto Goodwill quit. I am outraged. The media […]
(Psst- want to know a secret?) 2016 is nearly here and nearly 50% of are making a resolution to get healthy in the new year. Want to know a secret that volunteers and donors already know? The lazy way to get more healthy is to give and volunteer! Donors and volunteers live longer and happier […]
Twas the night before Christmas and despite fundraising yelps, not a gift was stirring – not even one via CanadaHelps. The direct mail was posted with live postage and care, in hope there were still donors writing cheques here and there. The children were snuggled all nestled in beds, while visions of social enterprise chocolate danced in […]
Interested in some good quality education as a Board member but not sure where to turn? Recently, I attending the Institute for Corporate Directors Not-For-Profit Governance Essentials program. There is a scholarship program for charity employees to attend sponsored by TELUS and Royal Bank. Is f-r-e-e- more in line with your Charity’s budget? Altruvest has […]
Are you are a volunteer for a fundraising event? Did you know that running a charity auction at your event can get you into a lot, (and I do mean a lot) of tax trouble?Why? Donated goods transactions, particularly in Canada, are rife with fraud. This makes CRA understandably grumpy. This leads to point #2 It is […]
generosity is more than just a small drop of the soul every good thing does not have to have some dark and devastating consequence sometimes a smile and the time of day is just a gsture of good faith and patience with the poor old shrews of fate theyve been at that loom for so […]
Volunteers are awesome. There are some areas where volunteers are particularly strong. These days many volunteers are looking for intense, short-term projects – the challenge is that much charity work is ongoing. The donor public is rightly concerned about ensuring money is well spent. Sometimes that veers into questioning why charities can’t be completely run […]
In business, risk is connected to return – the higher the risk, the higher the return. The problem with risk is failure, particularly failure in the charitable sector is something that the donor public and charity employees are reluctant to embrace. If we are going to actually solve some of the big problems of our […]