Having just returned from maternity leave, a reader wonders how to balance her career and the needs of her new baby.
Career Q&A: Balancing your career and a new baby
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Articles
Should I stay or should I go?
Jean Crawford, President of crawfordconnect lists the tough questions you should be asking about your career.
Human Resources Q&A: Engaging employees of any generation
Outlines keys to employee engagement that cut across all generations.
Canada’s voluntary sector: Grooming from within and without
Late last year, Imagine Canada released the report Leadership Perspectives: Interviews with leaders of Canada’s charities and nonprofit organizations.
Strengthening organizational capacity: Social finance survey report
According to the findings of a recent survey on the emerging world of social finance, senior executives from nonprofit organizations around the world are keen to access new forms of capital for their organizations.
Flow-through shares as a planned giving option
Adam explains what flow-through shares are, how they can be used in tax planning, and how charities can benefit from gifts of flow-through shares.
How do you deal with a difficult board member?
Strategies for dealing with difficult board members effectively.
Governance Q&A: When should a charity close its doors?
Is it ethical to shut down a charity when there is a group of people that would like to form a new board, drawing on new contacts and strategies, to help the organization carry on its work?
Of cars and oil changes and…team building???
What could cars and oil changes possibly have to do with building successful volunteer-staff teams? If you are scratching your head, then read on…
Effective relationships between staff and volunteers
This article lists tips for encouraging good relationships between staff and volunteers.
Why stories can change the world
Why it is important to avoid storytelling that creates distance between the storyteller and the listener.
Getting your not-for-profit organization to go green
Not-for-profit organizations are going green. Here are some tips on how not-for-profit organizations can be environmentally friendly.
Listen up! Effecting change through public policy
What can nonprofits be doing differently to effectively shape public policy? What measures can they adopt to best tackle public policy issues, capture the ear of decision-makers, and influence legislative action?
Five simple steps to ensuring stakeholder buy-in
Stakeholder buy-in is essential to the success of anything an organization undertakes.
Career Q&A: Making the transition into self-employment
Tips on how to leave a salaried job in the nonprofit sector to become a successful consultant.
Nonprofit-consultant collaborations: What to look for and why
A whole ancillary segment of professional, voluntary sector consultants has sprung up to help make the daily planning and operational structures of nonprofits easier and more effective (in many cases). In fact, in recent years various movements were launched to help consultants and nonprofits find each other and broaden the knowledge base of the sector.
Signs of stress, part 1
Strategies for coping with such stress and staying healthy.
Governance Q&A: Fee-for-service vs salary for executive directors
Consider the full ramifications when considering an executive’s compensation structure.
Life insurance as a planned giving option
Adam explains the advantages of life insurance as a planned gift, when receipts can be issued for such a gift, and the different types of life insurance policies that are currently available.
Charitable remainder trusts as a planned giving option
Adam explains what a charitable remainder trust (CRT) is, how CRTs are used in tax planning, and how donors can get tax credits now for shares donated after death.
Listen and learn: Marketing your planned giving program
At first glance, the idea of marketing planned giving programs might appear to require a certain degree of delicacy. After all, isn’t it about asking people to think about their own death? While it may appear that way at first, planned giving professionals explain it differently.
Your planned giving program on the web
How to market your planned giving on your website.
Tools for nonprofit leaders: Conducting an organization review
Many not-for-profit organizations do not have a budget for such a review, and this article offers some tips on how to conduct one in-house.
Tracking constituents in small and mid-sized organizations
Best practices for selecting and managing a constituent database at smaller NPOs.
Technology and donor stewardship: Bringing the human touch into the 21st century
How technology has affected donor stewardship – and how it hasn’t.
How a simple idea changed the world
An interview with World Wildlife Fund’s public relations manager Tara Wood reveals the secrets of success for Earth Hour 2008.
Canadian nonprofit and charity legal audits: Forget about it!
Discussing the value of an informal legal audit for nonprofits and charities and how lawyers can be effectively and efficiently used to provide real tangible value to Canadian charities and nonprofits.
The Social Entrepreneurial Mindset: You, too, can think like an innovator
What are the unique qualities, if any, that are commonly associated with those who’ve introduced entrepreneurial buzzwords into the not-for-profit vernacular? And what can any organization, regardless of its model, learn from these entrepreneurs to help it succeed?
Career Q&A: Re-entering the nonprofit workforce
No matter what the reason, being out of the workforce for an extended length of time can make it intimidating to start job searching. Follow these tips to successfully re-enter the nonprofit workforce.
Understanding volunteer motivations
This article explains how understanding volunteer motivations can help you become a better volunteer manager.
Can nonprofit directors be compensated financially?
There are instances when directors are financially compensated for their time and effort. Adam explains when this may be allowed, the legal penalties for improper compensation, and the best ways to maintain transparency in the boardroom and beyond.
Career burnout: Dodging the stress bullet
According to study after study, workplace stress has become something akin to an epidemic in our fast-paced society. And where there’s stress, there’s the chance you might be looking down the barrel of the burnout gun. Here's what to do about it.
Human Resources Q&A: Human resources can be strategic
Explains Why HR is not generally viewed as a strategic function and why it is and should be.
Governance Q&A: How to manage troublesome volunteers who mean well
Can a nonprofit ethically get rid of good-hearted people who are more trouble than they are worth?
Fixing the broken governance board: Peer learning circles to the rescue
Using peer learning circles to correct governance board inadequacies.
Checking our Vital Signs®: How it impacts communities
In this three-part series, we explore the findings of the national and local Vital Signs® reports issued by Community Foundations of Canada (CFC) and 11 local community foundations. In this third and final installment, we explore the impact of Vital Signs® in various communities across Canada and what local communities are doing with the findings.
What happens when a charity shuts down?
When an organization decides to close its doors for good, people aren’t as vocal about the process. Still, there are steps involved and legal requirements that must be met.
We don’t need more information
Simply providing facts doesn’t spark social change: a good story is essential.
Tools for nonprofit leaders: Essential governance tools
A list of key governance tools that not-for-profit organizations should have.
Career Q&A: Staying calm for a group presentation
Do you get nervous and tongue-tied before important presentations at work? Follow these tips to stay calm for an anxiety-free presentation.
Human Resources Q&A: How to give performance feedback
This article provides an outline of how to give performance feedback, including an explanation of commonly used terms.
Online fundraising: The new tools that will change the face of philanthropy
An outline of several companies who help nonprofits with online giving.
How to measure the progress of your planned giving program
How to track the success of your planned giving program, including with different planned giving vehicles.
Understanding the public benefit test
Your organization may be doing great work in the community, but would it pass the CRA’s public benefit test? Adam explains what the test is and what it actually means to provide ‘tangible’ benefits to the public.
Governance Q&A: Accepting donations from tobacco companies
Is it ethical to take money obtained from a product that kills when used as directed?
Checking our Vital Signs®: The findings and the process
In this three-part series, we explore the findings of the national and local Vital Signs reports issued this past Fall by the Community Foundations of Canada (CFC) and 11 local community foundations. In this installment, we look more closely at the trends identified nationally and locally, plus find out more about collaboration in action at the local level.
Changing the way we are changing the world
How sometimes changing one aspect of your communications plan can create huge success.
Sports as a charitable object?
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled last year that sports organizations below the national level do not qualify as registered charities. Adam discusses the promotion of soccer and fitness as a charitable object, and the likelihood of obtaining charitable status for sports organizations.
Using metrics in not-for-profit organization management
Many board members want to see not-for-profit organization metrics in the strategic plan and committee work plans, so this article suggests ways to draft them.
Performance management primer: How to get the best from your staff
What is performance management and how does it help you and your staff?
