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Career Q&A: Tips for writing an effective cover letter
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Articles
Are you ready for your media interview?
How to prepare for media interviews.
Charity begins at home: Raising support among your staff and volunteers
Internal fundraising campaigns from within an organization
Governance Q&A: Should direct beneficiaries or their families serve on our board?
A charity board made up of a single stakeholder group needs to manage conflicts of interest instead of avoiding them.
Board assessment and ethical governance
An article describing how a board can self-assess as well a description of ethical governance.
Thinking from the “outside” in
How Web 2.0 creates an engaged relationship with your constituents.
Through the funder’s eyes: What funders want nonprofits to know about the funding process
Nonprofit organizations are all too familiar with the time and effort that goes into researching funders and writing funding proposals. What they may not be as familiar with is the funder’s perspective of the same funding process.
Career Q&A: What to do when they ask you an illegal question during a job interview
There are some questions that are illegal to ask a job applicant during an interview. Here's what to do if a potential employer breaks the rules and asks an out-of-bounds question.
Capturing charisma: Reflecting on past management
A look at the challenges of transferring mission-critical knowledge when leaders leave organizations.
Events need Emergency Preparedness too
This article discusses the advantages of arranging for medical and emergency staff at major events
Youth philanthropists: Getting a jump start on doing good
Some extraordinary young people are challenging these preconceptions about childhood and doing so in the most conscientious of ways: as bona fide philanthropists.
Four reasons for project failure
There is a hard reality that everybody has to face: sometimes our performances are less than stellar, and we are not always destined for success.
Fundraising letter response rates
Boost your fundraising response rates by watching these five key statistics.
“Mandatory volunteering”: What’s in a name?
While “mandatory volunteering” is an oxymoron, it is a growing trend that is worth watching.
So, what’s your story?
How a personal story inspires people to take action.
Getting them to give for tomorrow – today
How to attract donors to your planned giving program and ways to make the "ask".
Governance Q&A: The ethics of employees donating to employers
Board members donating to a charity is fine, but should this apply to employees as well? Would it be ethical to discipline an employee for refusing?
The Taxman Cometh: Shedding light on charitable receipting issues
Lately the federal government has taken a stronger stance on tax issues as they relate to receipting and charities.
Tools for Not-for-Profit Leaders: The Strategic Plan
A well articulated, concise strategic plan is a roadmap for everyone involved in an organization to follow.
Strategy: A process of problem solving & decision making
In most cases, strategy is developed by a group of individuals who solve the strategic problems of the organization and make key decisions with imperfect information.
Career Q&A: What to do when your old boss offers you a position at a new organization
What do you do if your boss moves to a new organization and then sets out to recruit you away from your current job?
Canada’s international aid role, part II: The government viewpoint
This article takes a look at what our government thinks about where Canada is and should be as a member of the international aid community.
Partnerships, Collaborations and Alliances: Managing for Success
This article briefly describes the three steps to successful collaboration: preparation and partnership selection, monitoring and managing; and termination and evaluation.
Where Teambuilding meets Philanthropy
This article offers some tips to consider when a team building event is organized with a philanthropic edge.
Does Your Association Need More Members? Try an Affiliate Strategy
A cost-effective strategy to growing your association’s membership might be affiliate marketing.
Career Q&A: Finding the right balance between compensation, job satisfaction, and home life
Finding a balance between a professional career, family, and financial stability.
Ontario’s growth projections and the important role not-for-profits play
Leaders within nonprofit and voluntary sector organizations have a unique opportunity to play a role in building capacity within this sector to help organizations meet the growing demand for their products and services to fulfill their missions.
Shifting views of retirement and the implications for volunteer-involving organizations
As baby boomers edge toward retirement, there is lots of speculation about how they will spend their retirement years. Baby boomers have done many things differently than the generations before them – will they do retirement differently, too?
Governance Q&A: Engaging the board of directors on financial matters
A treasurer asks if its OK that only a handful of directors are interested in reading and understanding a nonprofit’s financial statements.
Should you have a competency-based board?
An explanation and evaluation of competency-based boards.
Canada’s role in international aid: The NGO perspective
In a post-9/11 world has Canada’s standing as a respected global citizen diminished? Do other nations still view us as the knight in shining armour we believe ourselves to be? The answer is yes…and no.
Nonprofit Balancing Act: How to project the right image and fulfill donor expectations
There was a time when all a nonprofit needed was a cause, a simple campaign, some volunteers, a desk – and a lot of passion. Limited resources didn’t necessarily impede an organization from reaching its target audience, promoting its mission and raising money. Oh, how things have changed.
Career Q&A: Tapping into the hidden job market
Don't just rely on job ads to find out which jobs to apply for. Tap into the hidden job market to make your job search more successful.
Make strategic planning a way of managing, not an annual episode
Why strategy should be an ongoing process and how to continue strategic planning over time.
Nonprofit Election Advocacy: Raising voices to raise awareness
The major political parties and their candidates are not the only ones doing the talking this election. The nonprofit sector is talking back…and expects the parties to listen closely.
Do you need event cancellation insurance?
This article discusses the types of coverage event planners can secure with event planning insurance.
Vendor management: Tips from an Insider
The current article will provide you with some tips to deal with vendors to help make your experience a positive one. It will focus on vendors providing services rather than products.
In the beginning: Things to consider before starting your nonprofit venture
How could a venture seemingly destined for success fall so hard and so fast? Could the failure have been averted? And how can those looking to start their own nonprofit avoid a similar fate?
Governance Q&A: Is it ethical for a company to make a profit from a relationship with a charity?
An outline of the various relationships for-profit companies may have with nonprofits and charities, beyond a tax receipt.
Career Q&A: Succeeding during your first few months at a new job
It's normal to be a little on edge for the first few months at a new job and concerned about impressing your new supervisors and colleagues. Here are some tips on how to put your best foot forward when starting a new job.
Best practices for engaging youth as volunteers (part four)
This article lists tips for successfully integrating youth volunteers into your organization.
Career Q&A: What to do if you are being paid below market value
Do you feel that you're being paid less than fair market value for the work that you're doing? Here's what to do about it.
Governance Q&A: Handling sensitive client information and confidentiality
How to deal with a request from the board to include client names, contacts and other sensitive information.
Changing of the guard
An article on the expected exodus of babyboomers from the workplace.
The advantages and disadvantages of strategic management
Understanding the advantages and disadvantages of implementing a strategic management system.
The Media Savvy Nonprofit: What it takes to get noticed
What importance does the media play in how nonprofits deliver their messages? Is it even a relationship worth cultivating?
How to Conduct Your Own Member Survey
Your organization’s leadership supports your plan to survey members; regrettably your financial position does not allow you to pay an expert consultant to help you. This article provides ideas for you to consider as you set out to conduct your own member survey.
Career Q&A: How to survive on the job when you hate your boss
It's an often repeated maxim: Most of us spend more time at work, with our co-workers, than we do with our own friends and family. How do you handle all that time when you have a boss you can't seem to get along with?
The Struggle for Shelter: Canada’s affordable housing crisis
In early 2005 the government of Canada undertook a series of consultations to set about creating a new Canadian Housing Framework. A look at what’s happened since.
The advantages of having your own photographer at your event
This article advises event organizers why it’s important to provide their own in-house photographer to capture their event.
