Social Finance Week: Social Finance 101

Most of us do-gooders have heard of social finance, an approach to managing money that gives back to society or the environment while still producing a financial return. We hear about social enterprises harnessing finance this way, but charities and...

Ethics Q&A: Criticizing your organization

I’m a board member who has learned to live with decisions I don’t always like. What do I do when people in my community complain to me about a concern I share regarding my organization? The quick answer is that...

D is for Disenchantment: How nonprofits are losing out

When 27-year-old Julie (*name has been changed) began working at the national organization that still employs her today, she had big dreams and an even bigger heart. “I was gung ho about it,” she says of jumping headfirst into nonprofit...

Best practices in charity annual reporting: Top ten tips

This article is reprinted from Best Practices in Charity Annual Reporting, 2012 Edition created by the Voluntary Sector Reporting Awards (VSRA) – Ontario’s awards program for best charity annual reporting. Register for the July 9th free webinar on charity annual...

Moving forward on nonprofit labour force issues

“Cracking the nut from different angles.” Those are the words Michelle Gauthier, vice-president, public policy and community engagement with Imagine Canada, used when asked what actions have taken place as a result of the HR priority area discussions at the...

Redefining ourselves: Building a foundational narrative for the nonprofit sector

The 2011 National Summit for the Charitable and Nonprofit Sector set the stage for further development of four identified priority areas, including the need for a better understanding of the sector and its impact. Six months later, the development of...

Championing sustainable financing: Progress following the National Summit

In his opening statement at the 2011 National Summit for the Charitable and Nonprofit Sector, Adam Spence – one of the co-leads of the priority stream focused on more sustainable and diversified financing – observed that while the two-day Summit...

The balanced scorecard: From strategic plan to effective execution

Sound strategic planning is critical for an organization’s success because it helps define and communicate what the organization wants to accomplish and the steps necessary to get there. Unfortunately, less than 10% of strategies are effectively executed according to Fortune...