Why is volunteer recognition so important? Why do we leave it to once a year to recognize our volunteers? How can we make a difference throughout the year? These are key questions we should be asking ourselves as we plan for the coming year.
The Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (CNCA) finally received Royal Assent on June 23, 2009 and came into force on October 17, 2011. Though still early for any far-reaching conclusions in terms of impact and implications, some changes are worth a preliminary mention.
Back in 2010, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) released new charity guidance entitled Canadian Registered Charities Carrying out Activities Outside Canada. As the title implies, it has to do with how organizations can legally allocate funding for charitable work outside of Canada, as organizations are prohibited from simply funnelling donor dollars from the Great White North to a foreign-operated charity or NGO, even if that organization shares the same mission and vision as the Canadian one.
Many organizations are understandably nervous about providing references for staff – especially if they have something negative to say. Find out how to properly handle references in this article.
For the typically cash-strapped nonprofit, a staff retreat can seem like a luxury, reserved for private companies with revenue to spare. But organizing a staff retreat on a budget is not only feasible, some executive directors argue it’s a necessary and integral component of long-term strategic planning.
Volunteers and staff have all experienced a wayward member who is considered the loose cannon in the organization, known for wreaking havoc on boards and committees. By not addressing the issues caused by this person, you may be putting your organization at risk.
Creating a great job posting is one of the first steps in a successful hiring process. A well-crafted job ad will not only attract the right quality of candidates for the job, but will also increase the likelihood that applicants will be a good fit with your organization’s culture and values, making selecting the right candidate that much easier for you.
A reader wonders whether an organization should foot the bill for alcohol served at staff retreats and events.
All nonprofits have administrative tasks that need to be taken care of, and one that is absolutely a necessity is insurance. There are four major factors that influence your insurance premium. Here they are in no particular order.
Can a few dollars produce significant impact? And by a few we mean very little. Because that’s the idea behind microgiving, a relatively new approach to fundraising that asks multiple donors to cough up small amounts of cash to support a cause.
Sooner or later, your nonprofit will consider approaching a bank for support, sponsorship or a donation. To help you save time, CharityVillage® has compiled a list of Canada’s five major banks, how they focus their funding, what they don’t fund, how to apply and how long you should expect to wait for a response.
Facebook is the second most visited website in the world and is reshaping the Internet as we know it with every passing day, yet many nonprofits still relegate their Facebook Page to volunteers and interns who have no background in online communications or fundraising. However well-intentioned these people may be, that has led to some poorly executed Facebook campaigns.
A recent KCI survey demonstrated that the programs showing the greatest growth in the past five years were major gifts and planned giving. “Capital campaigns are on the rise,” confirms Karen Willson, senior vice president of KCI Philanthropy. Despite what seems like a challenging time to ask for money, the consensus among those running campaigns is that there’s no time like the present. So long as there’s a need, it must be addressed.
For a long time now, the adopted viewpoint in the nonprofit sector is that volunteering is the best route to a job. Anecdotal evidence affirms the truth in that statement. But how does that overarching goal fall in line with organizational objectives? Is it helpful or detrimental?
Good mentorship program design and matching is crucial to the effectiveness of mentorship relationships. Not only does good design lead to good outcomes, bad design can lead to worse outcomes than not having a mentorship program at all.
For many nonprofits, the mere thought of approaching a government body for any kind of “ask” can be daunting. Yet lobbying can be an essential part of a nonprofit’s work in reaching its goals. Those in the sector should at least know the basics on how it gets done, and how to properly conduct oneself while doing it.
Many organizations, and many more than we would like to think, have not managed their donor information well or with an eye to the future. In fact, they have placed their organization at risk due to the loss of valuable data.
How to ask the right questions at the end of a job interview.
When homeless guests enter the Mustard Seed in Calgary Alberta, they receive more than coffee, a bagged lunch or a shaving kit. They receive a warm welcome from staff and from a volunteer who truly “gets” their situation. Like the guest, that volunteer has likely slept in the street that night. While there are benefits to nonprofits making use of volunteers who are also beneficiaries of the services provided, there are challenges as well.
This article describes a comprehensive and multi-faceted approach to volunteer program evaluation.
HR Q&A: Workplace wellness and emotional intelligence.
This is the second in a hands-on, three part series on mentoring programs. The first article provided an overview of mentorship programs and their benefits, along with activities to help you start thinking about your own program.
If you're wanting a career in nonprofit executive leadership, this article is a must read.
A reader wonders whether it is ethical for a nonprofit organization’s board of directors to recommend candidates to fill vacancies.
Imagine Canada’s reaction to the recently proposed Bill C-470 that would seek to cap charitable salaries.
Is your organization interested in starting a mentorship program? This first article in a three-part series addresses how mentorship programs benefit organizations and their employees.
This article walks through tips for promoting your fundraising event online.
What do you do once a major donor turns down a gift proposal?
Organizing a fundraising gala is not getting any easier. Aside from the fallout of an unpredictable economy that keeps previously generous hands firmly in pockets, any number of unexpected hurdles can suddenly appear on the scene.
This article describes typical pitfalls when developing inter-organizational collaboratives and how to overcome them.
This article outlines the foundations necessary for effective HR governance.
Many women were a-twitter when data released from the 2011 Canadian Nonprofit Sector Compensation and Benefits Survey showed men earning more than women in the top five out of six job levels.
If you've been let go during your probation period, how do you address this in your job search?
This article outlines why it is imperative to have policies and procedures when working with volunteers and helps you get started with designing your own.
I was recently surfing Facebook and saw that a former staff’s page not only implied they still worked at this organization, but wildly inflated their job title. What can the organization do?
Does your nonprofit use interns? If so, here’s a question your human-resources managers need to be asking: Is your internship program potentially exposing your organization to legal action?
This article offers advice for overcoming typical stumbling blocks to the effective implementation of a strategic plan.
Can my nonprofit make me serve another organization without my consent?
This article shows ways your organization can generate revenue through the development and sales of information products.
Imagine seeing a job advertised that is similar to yours — only the salary listed is five to ten thousand dollars more than what you are making in your current role. The million dollar question is: should you make the $10K leap?
When nonprofits and charities consider employee remuneration, limited revenues and smaller operating budgets often hamstring them. This can lead to high employee turnover rates.
Here are ten tips to help you make your email newsletters more engaging and more effective.
This article walks through various considerations when choosing an online platform for accepting donations.
“I’m a marketer. And a fundraiser. And a volunteer coordinator. And a case manager. And…” Margot Cudmore is certainly a busy woman. As the events manager for Knights of Columbus in Oakville, Ontario, Cudmore is in charge of sales, marketing, promotions, planning, volunteer coordination, health and safety, procuring liquor licenses, inventory and client management. This laundry list of responsibilities is enough to induce panic in the calmest of employees, but Cudmore takes it all in stride.
This summer we’ve been looking at how cultural nonprofit organizations are running arts festivals across the country. This month, we venture to Charlottetown, PEI, to explore the emergence of a brand new festival called Art In the Open, taking place on Saturday, August 27, from 4 p.m. until midnight.
This article helps you overcome the fear of asking a friend for a donation by outlining the six (not so big) secrets of major gifts.
Career goals change at different phases of life but regardless of where you are in your career journey, many experts recommend developing a five-year career plan: this offers enough time to meet significant objectives without it becoming too overwhelming or impossible to project.
This article shows why problems would be more easily solved if managers only asked the right questions.
If you’re working at a Canadian nonprofit, chances are your compensation is modest compared to others working at for-profit companies. But how does your remuneration stack up against others in similar positions within the sector?
Here we outline three examples of hybrids,and proof that the simple organizational labels we have used for years just aren’t going to stick anymore.
