They may be Canada’s two coastal bookends, but two provinces, Nova Scotia and British Columbia, have recently taken almost identical measures to increase the power and reach of social venture organizations in each region. On December 4, 2012, Nova Scotia...
Canadian charities: ready yourselves. In late November a new, potentially game-changing foundation launched that could spell financial windfall for many charitable sector organizations over the coming years. Toronto-based Upside Foundation has set itself up as a national vehicle through which...
This column was written with the assistance of Ryan Turnbull, Director of Ethics and CSR, Eco-Ethonomics. Our charity needs to start a social enterprise to fund programs operating at a deficit. Do we need to replace the board with business...
In naming 2012 as the United Nations’ Year of Co-operatives, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, “Co-operatives are a reminder to the international community that it is possible to pursue both economic viability and social responsibility.” In recognition of the Year...
Editor’s Note: CharityVillage is pleased to be a media sponsor for the Social Finance Forum taking place in Toronto this month. Benita Aalto will be attending and sharing her thoughts and insights with CharityVillage readers. Below are her initial musings...
My dad was very frugal and it would mortify me as a kid when he would proudly announce that he bought his shirts and suits – and, eww, shoes! – from Goodwill and Salvation Army charity shops. Buried at the...
In 2004, Jessie Huggett joined an Ottawa-area dance company and developed an innovative dance about the experience of having Down syndrome. Response to “I am Me” inspired company director Hannah Beach to create Dandelion Dance Company and later to add...
Take two scenarios. A small environmental organization wants to take part in the Ontario government’s microFIT program to demonstrate the possibilities of solar power, but needs a loan to buy the equipment to make participation possible. An artists’ organization and...
Social Capital Partners (SCP) is an innovative example of a nonprofit that has aligned its business with its charitable purposes: SCP facilitates financing for private-sector companies at a competitive interest rate; in return, the companies commit to hiring staff through...
As part of Social Finance Week, CharityVillage talked with Derek Gent, the executive director of the Vancity Community Foundation, a public foundation with more than 100 donor-advised funds associated with the Vancity Credit Union. For more than 20 years, the...
