This article describes how to set your organization up to be able to take advantage of online volunteers.
Volunteering at your fingertips!
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Articles
Preparing newcomers for life in Canada: The NPO’s role
Although Canada is a country of tolerance, opportunity, and world-famous politesse, for new immigrants it can be a minefield of cultural unknowns, indecipherable mores and baffling bureaucracy. Nonprofits play a crucial role in helping newcomers adapt to and settle in Canada.
Human Resources Q&A: Developing accurate job postings
How to reduce hiring costs by writing good job postings.
Governance Q&A: In a nonprofit organization, who protects whistle-blowers?
Discussing the appropriate internal routes for internal whistle-blowing that protects employees.
Through donors’ eyes: What donors would like nonprofit organizations to know
We check in with four donors from different parts of the country to find out what motivates them to give and what advice they can offer to help nonprofits be strategic in their ask.
Creating a volunteer handbook
This article provides a step-by-step process for creating a volunteer handbook for your organization.
Festival survival: A behind-the-scenes look at the business of fun
Whether it’s an over-saturated market, increased competition for sponsors, fickle attendees, escalating financial costs or inclement weather, the number of obstacles facing festivals today are many. So, how do the Shaw and others avoid festival landmines and achieve success?
Defining what your project management office will do
To deploy a PMO, you need to start with a Terms of Reference (ToR). This article will serve as a guide to creating a basic outline for a Terms of Reference for a PMO.
Career Q&A: Getting out of a job search rut
Are you sending out resume after resume without gaining many interviews? You might be stuck in a job search rut.
Purchasing ethics 101
Nonprofit organizations may even have a harder time making purchases and getting supplies because they exist to serve their communities. They must be more mindful of the ethics of retaining suppliers or materiel while drawing on fewer resources.
Governing for results: How boards can add value
An article describing the premise and process of a results-based board.
Ten professional development benefits of volunteering
How volunteering can contribute to your professional development.
What do the sponsors want from me?
This article provides some tips for event fundraisers to consider when approaching corporate sponsors.
Human Resources Q&A: The manager-employee relationship
The importance of the manager-employee relationship and the nature of workplace abuse.
Reactivate lapsed donors with a direct mail fundraising survey
Recapture your lapsed donors by conducting a direct mail fundraising survey.
Handling disputes with the Canadian Revenue Agency: The audit phase
This 2006 article outlines the rights and responsibilities of an organization when disputing a penalty imposed by the CRA.
Governance Q&A: Should I tell my boss that I’m looking for a new job?
A small charity depends on the program coordinator, but no career path or challenging roles are made available.
E-mail campaigns – Not a one shot deal
When beginning your permission-based e-mail campaign it is fundamental that you have an e-mail campaign strategy in place that is integrated with your other programs.
Through the media’s eyes: What the media would like nonprofit organizations to know
If you are a nonprofit organization, how do you stand out among all this competition for limited space? Three media representatives explain media relations with the nonprofit sector from their side of the fence, and along the way share insider tips for getting noticed.
How staff can support their board of directors
Steps for staff to take to support the board.
Career Q&A: Successfully transitioning from one career to another (Part 2)
This column looks at the more practical elements of how to transition into your new career once you've determined exactly what that new career might be.
Good governance and board/staff relations
A summary of information and tips for fostering positive board/staff relations.
You had me at the invitation!
This short article offers some key reasons why the invitation to your fundraising event is a very important marketing tool.
The donor life cycle: Life stages and resulting opportunities
How to work with the donor life cycle to market different gift options to your donors at different times in their lives.
Highlights from the Canadian Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating
Statistics Canada just revealed the results of a survey conducted in 2004, providing a comprehensive overview of how Canadians support their communities. And according to the Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating (CSGVP), there’s some good news – and some not so good news.
Nine fantastically frugal ways to manage nonprofit admin costs
No business, nonprofit or otherwise, can do its work without incurring some administrative and other operational costs along the way. Administrative and operational costs are one area where dollar-stretching and saving is most important and very achievable.
Human Resources Q&A: Firing a new employee
What to do when a new hire is not working out.
Thanking donors right: Sample thank-you letter for gift or contribution
The most important letter in direct mail fundraising never asks for a donation. Thank-you letters increase donor loyalty, strengthen relationships and increase your chances of receiving more gifts in the future, including major gifts and legacy gifts.
Through consultants’ eyes: What they would like nonprofit organizations to know
Whether speaking with individual consultants, consulting firms, those who focus entirely on the nonprofit sector and those who split their business between the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, consultants all say the same thing about working with nonprofit clients: “It’s a partnership.”
Governance Q&A: Compensating the board for non-board duties on behalf of the organization
Understanding the legalities and ramifications of providing your board of directors with any sort of compensation.
The tipping point of online communications
Why change is more of a process than an outcome.
Building your monthly donor base through telefundraising
The key role of telefundraising in building and maintaining a donor base.
Nonprofit/For-Profit Partnerships: Moving beyond simple philanthropy
Traditionally, when nonprofits and for-profits partner-up on an issue, it is usually because the former needs funding from the latter. In exchange for the cash infusion, the for-profit gets to laud a good deed and enhance its public image as a responsible corporate citizen. This paradigm still holds true today, but as the singer said, the times they are a-changin’.
Tools for nonprofit leaders: Policies and procedures
This is the third in a series of articles offering tools to not-for-profit leaders. Policies and procedures set out the rules for both volunteers and paid staff, consultants, and other outsourced individuals.
Career Q&A: Successfully transitioning from one career to another (part one)
Practical advice on how to decide what career choice is best for you.
Voluntary sector board governance – survey says!
Many organizations and foundations struggle mightily with governance issues, decisions, and best practices. Thankfully, that struggle may soon become more manageable.
Conflicted about conflict of interest?
How to identify and manage a conflict of interest.
The advantages of branding your event
This article discusses some of the advantages of creating a unique brand for annual fundraising events.
Gifts of life insurance
How to market a donation of life insurance to your constituents.
Is a project management office right for you?
This article looks at what a PMO is and what it does, and provides you with a basis for determining whether your organization would benefit from implementing one.
Mixing it up in boardroom – Exploring the value of board diversity
An article suggesting increasing board diversity to better serve an organization.
Improving analysis in strategic planning
How to improve data gathering and analysis in organizational strategic planning.
Governance Q&A: Is it ethical for the chair of the board to become the executive director?
A look at the considerations a board of directors need to take when considering candidates for the executive director.
What is behind your front door?
For most organizations, the web is the “front door” to their organization – a place where people can connect with and engage in their work. Here’s how to make your front door more appealing.
Through the volunteers’ eyes: What volunteers want nonprofits to know about effectively involving them
Happy National Volunteer Week! In the midst of the festivities, let’s pause for a quieter, more reflective way to recognize our volunteers…by listening to them as they share their thoughts and ideas.
Career Q&A: Choosing the right volunteers for your organization
This article explains how to choose the best people to join your organization as volunteers and board members.
Paper Promise: Direct mail still holding its own in the electronic age
Direct mail, in all its varied and colourful incarnations, continues to fill our mail slots, drop to awaiting floors, and give our mail carriers backaches. Yes, in this electronic age, direct mail is holding its own.
Donation Letters: Raise more funds by thinking like your donors
Writing direct mail letters requires thinking like your donors and understanding their wants, needs, and motivation for giving.
How to share suppliers and maintain individuality
This article provides some tips for organizations about how to maintain their individuality and brand at events when using the same suppliers as others.
Life Insurance: A Gift Overview
An explanation of how life insurance can be gifted to a charity.
