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…
Contents: Volume 23, Issue 4 (2011)
Jennifer leads the association of food banks in a mid-sized Canadian city. At their regular meetings, the directors report changes in the patterns of people using the food banks—more families with young children, more frequent visits, and higher levels of anxiety. A major employer has recently closed, and there are more people out of work:…
The New Federal Policy Agenda And The Voluntary Sector—on The Cutting Edge Edited by Rachel Laforest. McGill-Queen’s University Press, Montréal, qc & Kingston, on isbn 978-1-55339-132-6 Elizabeth Mulholland The New Federal Policy Agenda and the Voluntary Sector—On the Cutting Edge is a collection of seven academic essays emerging from a 2006 conference organized by the…
The Lessons Learned From The Voluntary Sector Reporting Awards For Excellence In Financial Reporting Transparency Information about the Voluntary Sector Awards Program and entry information can be found at http://business.queensu.ca/centres/CA-QCG/ voluntary_sector_reporting/ index.php . A professor at one of Canada’s leading universities wanted to use a set of financial statements from a not-for-profit organization in class as…
Contributing Citizens: Modern Charitable Fundraising And The Making Of The Welfare State, 1920–66. By Shirley Tillotson. UBC Press, Vancouver, BC isbn 978-0-7748-1473-7 In Contributing Citizens, professor Shirley Tillotson of Dalhousie University provides an insightful look at the rise of the Community Chests. The predecessors of today’s United Way agencies, the Chests were federations of welfare…
Nearly every registered nonprofit organization is heavily immersed in figuring out how to use or harness social media to strengthen and promote itself and its work. In the frenzy to latch onto these new forms of communication and linkage, and given the pace at which these new media are developing, organizations may not be conscious…
Introduction The third and most recent edition of Imagine Canada’s Sector Monitor (www.imaginecanada.ca/sector_monitor) was conducted between October 28 and November 24, 2010.1 A major focus of this survey was exploring the public awareness and policy activities of Canadian charities. Because this topic can be somewhat sensitive among charities, the survey instrument used a framework that…
Summary this article describes a lobbying campaign by women in zimbabwe to ensure gender sensitivity in a new constitution—a campaign being conducted in very difficult circumstances. The description of this campaign is a further illustration of how rights set out in international agreements can be applied in domestic public policy processes. While the ultimate goal…
Introduction Advocacy has been defined as the act of speaking or of disseminating information intended to influence individual behaviour or opinion, corporate conduct, or public policy and law.2 Many people believe that the act of advocacy as a form of free speech is an essential part of democracy.3 While many registered charities in Canada believe…
Good policy development lies as much in the “how” as in the “what.” This is because the process used to develop policy positions can either lead one headlong into common policy development traps or help one to sidestep these and continue safely to one’s goal—producing good policy. This article looks at what we mean by…