As we mark the 150th anniversary of confederation, The Philanthropist is profiling Canadians from across the non-profit sector and putting a face to 150 individuals who work or volunteer in Canada’s social sector. Name: Ali McConnell Current role in the sector: Project Director, Northern Youth Leadership, a Project on Tides Canada’s Shared Platform and Managing Director, Empowering Kids in…
Tag: accounting
This is the first in a series of articles on Indigenous Communities and Philanthropy. In his 5th Century, BCE, play “Prometheus Bound,” the Greek playwright Aeschylus tells the tale of Prometheus, son of Zeus, taking pity when he encounters a group of sickly creatures. Prometheus provides them with two special gifts: fire and blind…
Governance is a hot topic in the nonprofit sector, with largely volunteer-based boards of directors struggling to fulfil their governance responsibilities, as well as serve as major fundraising resources. Indeed, board members are often recruited for their fundraising prowess, with little expectation that they will actively monitor the nonprofit organization. The fact that nonprofit organizations…
The Special Report: Ornge Air Ambulance and Related Services (Office of the Auditor General of Ontario, 2012) reports that the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) has not been obtaining the information it needs to fulfill its oversight responsibilities over Ornge’s financial undertakings and operations. Ornge, a government agency reporting to the MOHLTC, is…
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…
Welcome to the fourth 2010 issue of The Philanthropist. This issue discusses public policy and how various parts of the charitable and not-for-profit sector participate in public policy making—and how it should be done. It is an area in which the sector has generally failed to have substantial and sustained influence. Before I focus on…
In the fall of 2008, The Philanthropist was on the verge of moving online and wanted to mark this achievement by taking stock of its contribution to the practice of philanthropy over the years, while setting a course that looks forward to the future of this field. It was around this time that a box full…
Welcome to the new, online version of The Philanthropist. When The Philanthropist was established in the early 1970s, its goals were not dissimilar to those of today—to be a forum for ideas and discussion within and for the charitable and not-for-profit sector. However, a few things have changed over the almost four decades since the…
Most individuals have been in a meeting at which an accountant or financial person presents financial information. This can take the form of a budget proposal, a review of the year-end financial statement, or a routine report on operating results at a board of directors’ meeting. Once the presentation begins, the people at the meeting…
LAURIE MOOK Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto BETTY JANE RICHMOND Faculty of Education, York University, Toronto JACK QUARTER Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto Evidence of Volunteer Contributions In Canada, the National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating for the year 2000 estimated that there were 6.5 million…