Point: Bob Wyatt Just before Christmas, another self-proclaimed watchdog declared that too many charities are spending too much money on administration instead of on their missions. This led to the usual media furor and comments on media websites alleging that all charities are scams, and “I’m not going to give my money to any of them.”…
Author: Bob Wyatt
Point : Bob Wyatt I am frankly well beyond frustrated by the media coverage of Canada’s voluntary sector. Or perhaps it might be more appropriate to call it non-coverage. Oh, sure, there are the “fluff ” stories—so-called human interest stories, usually featuring children or small animals. And there are, of course, the so-called scandal stories—somebody…
Counterpoint: Don Bourgeois Litigation. It is not a word to be feared. It is not a dirty or four-letter word. We lawyers like the word. Now, some might suggest that this is because we profit from litigation. But those individuals would no doubt also point to the suggestion by Dick the Butcher in Henry VI,…
Point: Bob Wyatt As I reflected on the theme of this issue of The Philanthropist – the sector’s involvement in public policy—I tried to think about why we are rarely as successful as we would like to be. After all, groups that aren’t as broadly based, that aren’t as engaged with citizens, and that are…
Point : Don Bourgeois Charitable gaming is an important fundraising tool for charities. Since 1969, when charitable gaming was legalized in Canada, billions of dollars have been raised to support charitable activities in communities by registered charities, charitable organizations, and not-for-profit organizations with a charitable mandate, such as services clubs. Gaming as a fundraising tool…
Uncharitable: How Restraints On Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential by Dan Pallotta Medford, Mass: Tufts University Press isbn: 978-1-58465-723-1 in recent years, there has been increasing discussion ab ou t the “blurring” of the lines that separate the charitable sector from the private sector. To many people, the argument goes, the concept of “charity” is no…
You can’t read a newsletter or go to a sector conference these days without being batted heavily about the head by the concept of social enterprise. It is, according to proponents, the greatest thing since sliced bread or the remote control; it’s going to solve all of the sector’s problems and allow organizations to grow…
Point : Don Bourgeois Whether or not there is a charitable and not-for-profit “sector” is more than an exercise in semantics. Its existence (or non-existence) matters because the idea of a “sector” speaks to commonalities of interest and cohesion, and those factors lead to influence and political power. In politics, size does matter to the…
Abstract: This article examines changes in Canada’s charity law between 2001 and 2009, the dates of two conferences on Commonwealth charity law held by the Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies in Brisbane, Australia. It suggests that attempts to change charity law in Canada have constituted tinkering, rather than involve any substantive change. It…
Charity Law and Social Inclusion: An International Study By Kerry O’Halloran Published by Routledge, New York. pp. 437, paper $44.95 REVIEWED BY BOB WYATT Executive Director, The Muttart Foundation, Edmonton, Alberta When most of us hear there’s a new book about charity law, our minds go immediately to Pemsel, Guaranty Trust, or Vancouver Society, or…