What would true, reparative giving in the philanthropic sector look like?
In this first episode of the Reimagining Philanthropy podcast, host Senator Ratna Omidvar asks guests Kris Archie and Edgar Villanueva a big question that looms over the philanthropic sector: “If accumulated wealth comes from years of oppression, exploitation, and colonization, then is philanthropy simply an expression of atonement at best or a cover-up at worst?”
The anti-racist agenda of Canada’s international cooperation sector: From commitment to action
In the fourth article in our Rethinking Philanthropy series, contributor Judyannet Muchiri looks beyond the promises made in the international cooperation sector’s Anti-Racism Framework to outline insights from sector leaders on progress made and key areas of action going forward.
YAM: Improving quality of life through innovative environmental projects
(Cet article est disponible en français.) Non-profits tackle big problems: poverty; inequities in health, education, and work access; sexual and racial discrimination; refugee crises; food
Closing the sector’s data gap: The promises and challenges of collecting near-real-time data
Charity Insights Canada, a rapid-response survey project run out of Carleton University’s School of Public Policy and Administration, has three main pillars: collect quality, near-real-time data; advocate for better public policy; and provide community education through data literacy. Will the sector buy in?
Featured
Analysis
For Canadian charities, victory on Budget Implementation Act is tempered by uncertainty
The House of Commons finance committee passed key amendments to the BIA at the end of May, ridding the bill of language described as “‘direction and control’ on steroids.” But a prohibition on “directed giving,” which prevents pooled funding if those funds are solicited for a specific cause, remains.
Charity law reform: Charitable purpose trusts
This is the second in a series of articles focused on various aspects of charity law that have been a burden on the Canadian charitable and non-profit sector for 70 years. The articles are written by members of the Canadian Bar Association’s Charities and Not-for-Profit Law Section, who deal with these issues on behalf of their clients on a regular basis. In this piece, Terrance S. Carter looks at charitable purpose trusts.
Diversity and Inclusion
Why philanthropy needs a new story
The story of philanthropy is not static; it evolves with every new challenge faced. Recently, the calls for reform have been loud and clear – to unlock the billions locked up in endowments, remove “direction and control,” and shift to more reciprocal relationships.
Let’s talk about the problems with volunteering
Volunteering is an amazing thing, but it remains an area of unharnessed potential, replete with missed opportunities to build connections across social groups.
Case Studies & Guides
Centre d’écologie urbaine de Montréal: Building resilient cities on a human scale
Cities have developed at the expense of the human condition and Centre d’écologie urbaine de Montréal wants to change that. The organization's aim is to develop the capacity of individuals and communities across Quebec to work together to create democratic, healthy, resilient cities on a human scale.
Halifax Mutual Aid: Building shelters and raising awareness about the housing crisis
Grassroots organizations are an integral part of the non-profit sector, responding to needs and shaping how communities care for each other. This profile, the first in a series, looks at how a group of Haligonians, recognizing that vulnerable people had nowhere to go during the pandemic and that government and non-profit organizations weren’t acting quickly enough, came together to fill a pressing need.
Decolonization and Reconciliation
Philanthropic sector ‘relieved’ with key victory at Commons committee
Canada’s charitable and philanthropic sector won a major victory Monday, May 30, when the House of Commons finance committee voted unanimously to eliminate wording in the budget implementation bill that had been described as “‘direction and control’ on steroids.”
Putting data in the hands of clients: Data portability in the social sector
Data collected by the sector is rarely accessible to those who provide it, but giving clients a right to data portability – and recognizing them as data owners rather than simply data subjects – would empower them to choose how it is shared and reused.
Series on Rethinking Philanthropy
Rethinking Philanthropy: Emerging paradigms of social justice
In the first of a series that seeks to inform the charitable and non-profit sector’s collective imagination, contributor Gloria Novovic traces the evolution of Western philanthropic models – and charts a new path toward a “just transition.”
‘We don’t have a word for philanthropy’
What do Indigenous Peoples mean when they talk about Indigenous philanthropy? Miles Morrisseau put this question and others to Indigenous people who are leaders in the philanthropic sector.
Pulse check: Anti-racist practice in international cooperation
In the third article in our Rethinking Philanthropy series, Musu Taylor-Lewis, co-chair of a task force from Canada’s international development sector, shares the main take-aways from the Collective Commitment report, produced in the first stage of a sector-wide initiative to create an Anti-Racism Framework.
Sector News Digest
-
Angela Long
This week: Ontario’s inaugural Non-Profit Sector Appreciation Week, Black History Month: February and forever Organizations condemn “freedom convoy”, underfunding LGBTQ2S+ organizations and more. Ontario’s inaugural
-
Angela Long
This month: the historic Indigenous child welfare settlement; Omicron pressure on non-profits; poverty and disability; and a new crop of environmental youth leaders. Indigenous child
-
Angela Long
Choosing hope: Acts of reconciliation “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul,” wrote Emily Dickinson. But for the Mi’kmaq of Atlantic
-
Angela Long
1.5 degrees of separation Against the backdrop of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, the Fondation du Grand Montréal, the Trottier Family Foundation, and the
- More Sector News Digests
Subscribe
Canadian non-profit sector news, in your inbox
Never miss news and analysis by and for the Canadian non-profit sector
Most Popular
Opinions
Canada’s charitable sector has key role to play in long-term growth and prosperity
A year ago, Century Initiative – whose mission is to enhance Canada’s resilience and influence by responsibly growing the population to 100 million by 2100 – launched a National Scorecard on Canada’s Growth and Prosperity. This year’s scorecard points to three key opportunities where leadership from the charitable sector will be critical.
To combat Islamophobia, charity leaders must commit to diversity and inclusion
In the wake of the national day of remembrance for the victims of the Quebec mosque shooting on January 29, Capacity Canada’s Cathy Brothers and MAC’s Memona Hossain offer six practical steps leaders can take to close the charitable sector’s diversity gap.
Let’s not conflate advocacy and political activities
Martha Rans, a lawyer who specializes in the legal needs of non-profits and charities, objects to the word “lobbying” to describe the sector’s advocacy. “We are not advocating for our own bottom line,” she says. “We are advocating for the public benefit.”
The intersection of fundraising, philanthropy, and generosity
On GivingTuesday, Ruth MacKenzie, CEO of the Canadian Association of Gift Planners, calls on the charitable sector to collaborate and celebrate the different elements of social good – fundraising, philanthropy, and generosity – to build back better.
More articles From the Archives
Charities and the rule against perpetuities
Charitable status is a legally privileged status. The law in numerous ways, ranging from the trivial to the noteworthy, confers legal advantages upon charities. These legal advantages are often misunderstood.
Charity and public welfare in history: A look at Ontario, 1830–1950
Several historical works have described 19th-century Ontario as lacking a conception of public welfare, where the poor were largely left to the benevolence of religious charities. This assumption, however, ignores the complex web of relationships that characterized the delivery of social services in Ontario and in many English-speaking regions across Canada.
Art, after virus: Seven questions for a sector on the edge
In 1999, the Metcalf Foundation collaborated with The Philanthropist to curate a series on the public value of arts and culture in Canada. Now, in the midst of the pandemic, there is a new urgency to the challenges facing the arts.
Strategies for a caring society
This article was developed from a paper presented at Investigating in the Whole Community: Strategies for a Caring Society, a conference organized by the Trillium
Featured Contributors
-
Miles Morrisseau
Miles Morrisseau is a Métis writer, journalist, and multimedia producer from the Métis homeland in Manitoba.
-
Christina Palassio
Christina Palassio is a non-profit communications professional and freelance writer. When she tweets, she does so at @mcpalassio.
-
Angela Long
Angela Long is a freelance writer currently working on a book about rural journalism in Canada.
-
Kareem Shaheen
Kareem Shaheen is a journalist based in Montreal. Previously, he was Middle East correspondent for The Guardian, based in Beirut and Istanbul.
- All Featured Contributors