It's official. Today marks the launch of Imagine Canada's new Standards Program. The initiative, which was in a testing phase from last year into early 2012, now goes full steam ahead with a set of requirements, funding partners and participating...
Is it ethical for a member to demand a list of fellow members of a charity, or is this a breach of confidentiality? I'll have to break this question into component parts. a) Is this a breach of confidentiality? This...
Readers in British Columbia may be aware of the current consultations taking place regarding Ministry of Finance staff recommendations for changes to the Society Act – the legal framework for societies in BC. Consultations took place in February in Vancouver...
"That decision is up to the board." "I'll have to take this back to the board for a vote." "We'll see what the board recommends." Sound familiar? A board of directors is clearly a powerful and necessary mechanism for any...
Our founder stepped down from being chair after accomplishing our initial goal over our first three years. However, she remains on the board as past chair, and everyone defers to her opinions, opinions that are not helping us move forward....
The Canada Revenue Agency's new guidance on fundraising is scheduled to be released in March. Preliminary details were revealed in an hour-long webinar on February 10, hosted by charity lawyer Mark Blumberg and co-sponsored by both the CRA's Charities Directorate...
Here are two related committee stories I've encountered over the past week. First, board members were interviewing an executive director candidate. The interview panel asked the candidate, currently employed in government, what was appealing about moving to a job in...
If a member thoroughly disrupts an annual general meeting (AGM), can they be removed or prevented from attending in future? Usually, AGMs are open to everyone although only members, or certain classes of members, have a vote. And members are...
Back in October 2011, CharityVillage® covered the early pilot launch of Imagine Canada's new Standards Programs, designed to be a guide to good governance and operating policies and practices and intended to complement standards that many organizations already have in...
Since we value honesty, but donors and funders don't want to support administration costs, how can we ethically define and report on administration costs? It is extremely unfortunate that some nonprofits perpetuate the misleading idea that it is possible to...
