September 2010 E-bulletin
FEATURE
ARTICLE
Media Coverage on Charity Fundraising Can be Misleading
Did You Know?
Volunteer Manitoba's Community Feedback Survey
Related Resources
Resources on Disaster Planning for Non Profits
SPECIAL
EVENTS
Special Events Happening at Volunteer Manitoba This Fall
Strengthening Non Profits Workshop Series
Effective Group Facilitation with Recreation Connections
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Volunteer Manitoba's Facebook and Twitter Pages
CBC Announces "Champions of Change" Celebrating Incredible Canadian Volunteers
CVSRD Volunteer Survey
News From MAVA (Manitoba Association for Volunteer Administration)
FEATURE
ARTICLE
Media Coverage on Charity Fundraising Can be Misleading
By Erik Butenschon, Manager, Training Department
The CBC recently ran an article highlighting some negative activity within the fundraising sector. The purpose of the article was to point out that charities often outsource third party for-profit companies to run their fundraising campaigns. In other cases, the article eluded to certain charities which have a high portion of the funds that are raised going towards that organizations administrative costs, and not directly to the cause.
The CBC article drew attention to certain egregious examples, such as The Alzheimer Society of Saskatchewan, which paid $96,849 for a campaign that raised just $95,812.
In total, third party fundraisers were paid $762 million over a span of 5 years.
To its credit, the article eludes to guidelines set out by Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The CRA recommends that no charity spend more than 35 per cent of revenue on fundraising and can revoke the registered status of any organization whose expenses seem disproportionately high.
While it’s important to note that when donating funds to a charity questions should be asked and research should be done, the statistics in the CBC article can be a bit misleading. The article leaves a tone that implies that the misappropriation of funds is a wide spread issue in the non profit sector. This myth can be very harmful to the sector, as it will obviously make potential donors leary.
As Imagine Canada stresses in their response to the CBC reports, “the vast majority of charities act appropriately when they seek donations from Canadians”. The $762 million over 5 years paid to third party fundraisers is less than 1 per cent of the total of $86 billion raised by charities over this period. As well, only 0.3% of the over 85,000 registered charities in Canada used third party fundraisers.
Some of the questions the CBC article gives as examples of good questions to ask before donating are;
• What is the organizations charitable registration number?
• Can they send audited financial statements?
• How much of the donation will be spent on costs?
To read the entire CBC article click here.
To read Imagine Canada’s response click here.
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Did You Know?
Volunteer Manitoba's Community Feedback Survey
We are committed to providing innovative and quality services to the not-for-profit community and want to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our stakeholders. Therefore, we are collecting feedback about the effectiveness of our programs and services through a quick online survey. This survey should not take longer than five minutes. Data from this survey will be used in strategic planning, program planning and a communications strategy.
You can complete the survey here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CBJDKKQ
Thank you for your participation! We appreciate any feedback you have.
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Related Resources
Resources on Professional and Organizational Development
Disaster Planning Internet Sites
Canadian Centre for Emergency Preparedness (CCEP)
http://www.ccep.ca/
Retrieved September 9, 2010.
The Canadian Centre for Emergency Preparedness is a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering the development of a disaster resilient Canada by preparing small business, non-profit organizations, and the disaster management professional.
Institute for Business & Home Safety – Open for Business
http://www.ibhs.org/docs/openforbusiness.pdf
Retrieved September 9. 2010.
A disaster planning toolkit for the small to mid-sized business owner. Although the toolkit was produced for U.S. viewers, much of the information applies to any geographical location.
Manitoba Emergency Measures Organization (EMO) – Prepare for Disaster
http://www.gov.mb.ca/emo/home/prepare/index.html#work
Retrieved September 9, 2010.
According to EMO, your emergency planning at work should include procedures to deal with a disruption, and an understanding of how specific hazards would impact your business. General information for businesses is included as well as how to deal with specific disasters.
EMO’s Business Resumption Planning – A Development Guide
http://www.gov.mb.ca/emo/home/brp.pdf
Retrieved September 9, 2010.
The goal in developing this guide has been to develop an easy to use, comprehensive package of basic information necessary to assist organizations in developing and supporting Business Resumption Planning to prepare for any hazardous event.
Public Safety Canada –
A Guide to Business Continuity Planning
http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/prg/em/gds/bcp-eng.aspx
Retrieved September 9, 2010.
Business Continuity Planning (BCP) is a proactive planning process that ensures critical services or products are delivered during a disruption. Creating and maintaining a BCP helps ensure that an institution has the resources and information needed to deal with emergencies.
Volunteer Manitoba’s Resource Centre has all of the information you need on the non-profit sector. Please call the Resource Centre Coordinator at 477-5180, ext. 223 or email linda.horodecki@volunteer.manitoba.ca for more information.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Special Events Happening at Volunteer Manitoba this Fall
Volunteer Manitoba is pleased to announce an exciting lineup of new topics and special events this Fall.
Disaster Planning Essentials for Non Profits - Thursday, October 14th, 9am-12pm. Registration is $80. For more information or to register, click here.
Brand, What Brand? - Friday, October 15th, 9am-4pm. Registration is $125. For more information or to register, click here
Register for both "Bookkeeping Basics", scheduled for the morning of November 4th, and "Budget and Cash Flow Management" scheduled for the afternoon of the same day, and receive a $20 discount!
Focus Groups and Interviews - Thursday, November 18th, 9am-12pm. Registration is $80. More information to come. Click here for more information and registration details.
To Tweet or Not to Tweet: Understanding When Using Social Media Makes Sense for Your Organization
- Friday, December 3rd, 9am-4pm. Registration is $125. Click here to register.
Strengthening Non Profits Workshop Series
The Canadian CED Network, Spark and Volunteer Manitoba invite you to attend the 2010 Strengthening Non-Profits Workshop Series designed to address critical capacity needs of Manitoba's non-profit organizations. Click here for a list of all of the topics and other details.
Effective Group Facilitation with Recreation Connections
Recreation Connections, in partnership with Volunteer Manitoba, will be hosting two sessions of "Intro to Effective Group Facilitation". The workshops will take place on October 8th and November 8th. Both sessions will be at at the Sport for Life Centre in Winnipeg. This one day workshop will provide you with the training that will better equip you to facilitate effective meetings, assist in the change process, and utilize resources with your team or community more effectively. To register visit http://www.recconnections.com/
For a full listing of all of Volunteer Manitoba's special events, click here.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Volunteer Manitoba's Facebook and Twitter Pages
Volunteer Manitoba's Facebook page now has over 250 community minded people on board! If you are interested in a convenient place to network, share ideas or information on the not-for-profit sector, or stay tuned to special events and workshops, sign up by clicking the links!
Facebook
Twitter
CBC Announces "Champions of Change" Celebrating Incredible Canadian Volunteers
Do you know a volunteer who is making a difference in your community? CBC News and Outpost Magazine are looking for Canadian volunteers who are changing the world. Nominate an outstanding volunteer in your community and their charity could be a winner too - $130, 000 in prize money funded by Manulife Financial will be donated to the finalists charities. Mark Kelley, of CBC News Network's Connect with Mark Kelley, is leading the search for our country's top 10 volunteers. Help celebrate Canada’s most passionate volunteers, and inspire a whole new generation to rise to the challenge.
To nominate someone in your organization please go to http://www.cbc.ca/change/.
To see some examples of inspiring volunteers go to http://www.cbc.ca/change/video.html
CVSRD Volunteer Survey
The Centre for Voluntary Sector Research and Development has been working with Volunteer Canada on a study to better understand the world of volunteering today.
Harris Decima has been contracted to conduct online surveys as part of this research, in order to gather the views of volunteers and the organizations that involve volunteers.
If you are an organization that involves volunteers, please complete the survey by following the link below and please forward this message to those who volunteer in your organization.
English Survey
If you are a volunteer please complete the following survey.
English Survey
News From MAVA (Manitoba Association for Volunteer Administration)
Our fist Lunch and Learn PD event of the season takes place on Thursday, October 7 at the Norwood Hotel between 11:30-1:00pm. We will be presenting: “iVolunteer: A Panel Discussion with Members of the iGeneration.” This is your opportunity to ask, first hand, what the Y Gen want…and expect from your organization. For more information about how to register, please visit www.mavamanitoba.ca
The MAVA PD committee has set the following PD dates for the 2010/11 calendar:
October 7/10 – Thursday, 11:30 - 1:30PM
Location: Norwood Hotel
Topic: The i-volunteer (i-pod, i-phone, i-me…)
November 30/10 – Tuesday, 11:30 - 1:30PM
Location: Norwood Hotel
Topic: Ethical Problem Solving (CAVR – Code of Ethics)
January 26/11 – Wednesday, 3 - 5PM
Location: TBD
Topic: Speed Mentoring
March 15/11 – Tuesday, 11:30 - 1:30PM
Location: TBD
Topic: TBD
May 12 (evening) and 13 (day), 2011 – Conference
Ruth MacKenzie, Volunteer Canada and Senator Sharon Carstairs will be joining us.
Stay tuned for more detailed information, or visit http://mavamanitoba.ca/.
