Weekly News Recap: November 15, 2019

Weekly News Recap: November 15, 2019

Tom Crist, centre, and his children have vowed to donate the $40 million he won on a Lotto Max lottery. MONIQUE DE ST CROIX

Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive. -- Elbert Hubbard

This week's highlights

AFP Global

  • AFP Responds to Maclean’s Charity Ranking, Raises Concerns About List of “Best” Charities (AFP Global) CANADIAN STORY "AFP Canada appreciates articles that highlight the importance of giving and agrees with Maclean’s that Canadians should do more planning before deciding which charities to support [...]. However, the ranking of charities used to make the list misses entirely why people give to charity [...]. There is no one preferred, ‘ideal’ way for us to change the world—so long as we feel we’ve helped change the world—whether it’s one person, a group, a community or more broadly." 11/7/19

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Real humans

  • Alex Trebek chokes up reading heartfelt Final Jeopardy message (CBC) CANADIAN CONTENT Lovely. Really lovely. "Unflappable Jeopardy host Alex Trebek's smooth demeanor was given momentary pause [...] when he suddenly encountered a heartfelt message from a contestant." 11/12/19

  • 'Guardian angel': Contractor tricks senior into accepting free roof (CBC) Nova Scotia STORY I heart this story. So much! "Jeremy Locke often drove by Jeanette MacDonald's Glace Bay, N.S., home, watching the roof deteriorate. The owner of a roofing and construction company, Locke thought the roof had been partially repaired and that a company would return to finish the work [...]. But to his surprise, when he approached MacDonald with an offer to fix her roof for free, she turned him down [...]. So Locke changed tactics. 'Businesses often run raffles and draws for free items so I told Jeanette that our company was going to have a raffle, or a draw, for a free roof,' said Locke. MacDonald agreed to take part in the raffle, not realizing she had the only ticket." 11/1/19

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News

  • University of Alberta professor Joel Gehman creates website with data on oil and gas wells in North America (REM.online) CANADIAN STORY This is cool. Not sure how useful it is to the nonprofit sector but...it rang my bell. So here it is. You're welcome. "A University of Alberta professor has created a website that provides data, history and news about two million oil and gas wells across North America. It was designed to be used as a tool to gather useful information for real estate purposes and received a $30,000 grant from the Alberta Real Estate Foundation in 2017. " 11/12/19

  • 'We call it the intensive care unit for a reason': SickKids ICU simulation pushes fundraising boundaries (CBC) TORONTO STORY I love the innovation at work here. "To create awareness of the problem and raise funds to build a new hospital, SickKids partnered with Airbnb recently in a campaign that likely surprised people who came across it on the accommodations website. For $2,392 per night, people could rent a bed in a mock SickKids Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) for a three-hour experience they'd share with three other guests. The cost represented the actual cost of running a single PICU bed for a night, and the money went to the hospital's fundraising drive. The experience sold out." 11/11/19

  • B.C. gives $1M toward proposed Chinese-Canadian museum (CBC) VANCOUVER STORY Good move. "The City of Vancouver is getting a $1 million boost from the B.C. government to support the establishment of a Chinese-Canadian museum, with the goal of creating branches in other communities across the province." 11/11/19

  • Columbia University named ninth richest non-profit in US (New York Post) Wowzers! "Nearly two-dozen New York non-profits are among the richest in the country, raking in hundreds of millions in donations, according to a new analysis. Columbia University landed at the ninth spot nationwide, and first in New York, with $1 billion in cash donations last year, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s list of the country’s 100 favorite charities based on the dollar amount of donations." 11/9/19

  • Edmonton Grads basketball team featured in Google Doodle (CBC) EDMONTON STORY As a proud Edmontonian, I know this story very well. The inventor of basketball called them the greatest team in the world. And, indeed, they were. "The Edmonton Grads, known as Canada's most successful team in history, were depicted in the day's Google Doodle, when the search engine's home page features artwork to celebrate people, anniversaries or events. A wildly successful women's basketball team founded in 1915, the Grads won 17 world titles, along with national and continental championships. The Grads won about 95 per cent of their hundreds of games, an astonishing success rate for any team in any sport." 11/9/19

  • Why the University of Calgary launched its own crowdfunding platform (CBC) CALGARY STORY This is cool. Nice work UofC! "Crowdfunding isn't just for inventions on Kickstarter — post-secondaries have been getting into the online money-raising tool, too. And now, the University of Calgary is launching its own platform, known as UCalgary Crowdfund, to help faculty, students, alumni and staff push their ideas further with extra funding." 11/9/19

  • 'I had to pinch myself': B.C. photojournalist inducted into International Photography Hall of Fame (CBC) CANADIAN STORY Woot! Congrats! "Photojournalist and non-profit founder Paul Nicklen has been inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame in St. Louis, Missouri. Nicklen, who lives in Qualicum Beach, B.C., is best known for his work with National Geographic profiling wildlife in the Arctic. This isn't his first award — he was recognized as BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2012 and received first prize from World Press Photo in 2010." 11/9/19

  • Calgary National Philanthropy Day honourees include family donating $40 million in lotto winnings (Calgary Herald) CALGARY STORY When you are stuck by financial lighting, you have choices. Not many make this one. What an amazing family. I heart this story. "Tom Crist was golfing with friends in Palm Springs, Calif., in 2013 when he got the phone call that would touch thousands of Albertans’ lives. News that this former truck driver had just won a $40 million Lotto Max jackpot meant he and his family could give back to the community to an extent they never thought possible. To date, Crist’s vow to donate every penny of his winnings to charity has included gifts in the multiple-million-dollar range to the Alberta Cancer Foundation, as a tribute to his late wife who received care at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre." 11/8/19

  • CMLC boss, driving force behind East Village and Rivers District plans, exits for Trico Homes (Calgary Herald) CALGARY STORY Michael has done a terrific job. He has been a leader of leaders. Trico is lucky to get him. Congrats Michael! "Michael Brown, the president and CEO of the Calgary Municipal Land Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the City of Calgary, will depart in January to become president of Calgary home builder Trico Homes." 11/8/19

  • Two Okanagan schools receive part of $733,000 donation to improve own libraries (Kelowna Capital News) OKANAGAN STORY This is terrific. Now you know what happens when you buy books at Indigo! "Mission Hill Elementary School in Vernon and AS Matheson School in Kelowna are set to receive part of a $733,000 donation from the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation’s 2019 Adopt a School program to help bring more books and resources to their libraries." 11/8/19

  • Total signs agreement for $111 million Notre Dame donation (Crux) Good. I am glad to see these pledges being fulfilled. "Oil company Total says it has signed an agreement to pay $111 million toward the reconstruction of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris that it pledged shortly after [the] devastating fire." 11/8/19

  • Read the 2019 Canadian University Report (Globe and Mail) CANADIAN STORY If you or someone you know cares about universities in Canada, this report is for you. "The Globe and Mail’s annual report on university education offers in-depth reporting on academic and career trends and gives prospective students advice on how to thrive in and choose a school, including profiles of more than 70 public, degree-granting universities across the country." 11/1/19

  • Mayor's Urban Design Awards honour outstanding work in Calgary (The London Free Press) CALGARY STORY Congrats to all! "An innovative infill community in west Calgary and an upscale townhome development in University District were winners at this year’s Mayor’s Urban Design Awards. These honours, held every second year, recognize the standout work of designers, architects and artists in Calgary. This year’s winners and submissions that earned honourable mentions were unveiled during a gala event at the Calgary Central [Library]." 11/4/19

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First Peoples of Canada

  • Indigenous elders facing 'endless' demands as role expands (CBC) CANADIAN STORY We are burning out our Elders. "Elder Weenie's marked-up calendar hangs in the sunlit room. He's approached for help daily — and he doesn't say no. The Cree man from the Sweetgrass First Nation, west of the Battlefords in Saskatchewan, has practised cultural healing work for about 35 years, spending the last decade in the Regina area. 'It's busy. Sometimes you get tired but still you have to push yourself,' he said. 'That's the meaning of this work: once you're committed you've got to commit to it.'" 11/11/19

  • Vancouver mayor calls massive First Nation development a 'gift to the city' (CBC) VANCOUVER STORY "Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart says he supports a local First Nation's plan to build a large-scale housing project in the centre of the city that is raising concerns about the pressures it will place on city infrastructure and services. The Squamish Nation is planning to construct 11 housing towers with 6,000 housing units on 11 acres of property it owns at the south end of the Burrard Street Bridge. The Senakw development will be on federal reserve land, meaning the nation does not need permission from the city to forge ahead." 11/7/19

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Books to read

  • Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators (Amazon) In the era of #metoo, this is is a must read. "In this instant New York Times bestselling account of violence and espionage, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Ronan Farrow exposes serial abusers and a cabal of powerful interests hell-bent on covering up the truth, at any cost." October 2019

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Seven life and career hacks -- one for each day of the week

  1. The Simple Dutch Cure for Stress (Nautilus) Nature bathing. You really can't beat it. "In the Netherlands, people have been seeking out windy exercise for more than a hundred years. Today, the practice is so common that it’s known as 'uitwaaien.' It 'literally translates to ‘outblowing,’' explains Caitlin Meyer, a lecturer at the University of Amsterdam’s Department of Dutch Linguistics. 'It’s basically the activity of spending time in the wind, usually by going for a walk or a bike ride.'" 11/8/19

  2. The Urgent Case for Boredom (The Forge) Turns out, we benefit from being truly bored...yawn. 6/19/19

  3. Insights from a Reluctant Leader (Google Design) I learned quite a bit from this piece. A thoughtful piece from an Asian-American, self-described reluctant leader. In a time where were are actually trying to do something about diversity and inclusion, this is more than just something to read. 2/19/19

  4. The Problem With Compromise (Relationships) "[Research] shows that 2/3 of couples problems never go away. The 'master' couples are the ones who can make some peace with this." Well then. 2/14/19

  5. How To Reach Flow State (Using 10 Flow State ‘Triggers’) (Personal Growth Lab) I especially love Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's chart of flow as related to challenge and ability (Flow State Trigger #6). 2/12/19

  6. How I analyzed the data from my FitBit to improve my overall health (freeCodeCamp) Fitness geeks and data nerds rejoice. A thoroughly meaty article on how to hack your Fitbit data. 11/9/18

  7. While Everyone Is Distracted By Social Media, Successful People Double Down On An Underrated Skill (Accelerate Intelligence) Can you name the four horsemen of the Info-Apocalypse? Ya, couldn't either. Now I can. 5/2/18

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Uncommon knowledge

  • It’s Boom Times for These Daring Firefighter-Scientists (Bloomberg) "As thousands of Sonoma County residents drove south Saturday, away from the Kincade fire, a team of researchers headed north toward the flames [...]. [Craig Clements] and his team are the only meteorological researchers in the U.S. certified as firefighters. They use a combination of radar and lidar to gather information at multiple wavelengths, beyond the limits of human eyesight." 10/31/19

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Philanthropic controversy

  • One of UBC's biggest donors goes to court in effort to ensure his name appears on all law-school degrees (CBC) VANCOUVER STORY "One of the most prominent donors to the University of British Columbia (UBC) is taking the school to court, saying the institution isn't holding up its end of the deal struck when he made a historic donation to its law school. Peter A. Allard gave $30 million to the university on a number of agreed terms five years ago. One of those terms said degrees granted by the Faculty of Law would have Allard's name printed somewhere on the parchment." 11/12/19

  • Penn Law's Name Change Sparks Outcry Following $125 Million Donation (Law.com) "The University of Pennsylvania [...] unveiled that it has received the largest donation to a law school of record and a new moniker, but not everyone is thrilled with the prospect of telling people they attend or graduated from 'Carey Law.' More than 500 students and alumni so far have signed a petition asking administrators to retain Penn Law as the shorthand for the law school, even though it is now officially the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law after the W.P. Carey Foundation gave it $125 million." 11/12/19

  • Meng Wanzhou arrest caused UBC leaders concern over enrolment, fundraising, internal documents show (National Post) VANCOUVER STORY "The vice-provost international told colleagues in an email a campus-wide meeting was needed 'given our significant reliance on China for students.' One theme of the internal discussions was whether UBC needed to take a more vocal stance to counter 'darker public feelings about China' and to respond to critics who were calling on universities to cut or minimize ties with Huawei and other Chinese companies or institutions. The dean of science pressed the need to 'keep doors open to our colleagues in China.'" Thanks to Scott Decksheimer for sharing this story. 11/9/19

  • Trump ordered to pay $2M for misusing his charitable foundation (CBC) "A New York judge has ordered Donald Trump to pay $2 million US to settle a lawsuit alleging he misused his charitable foundation to further his political and business interests before he became U.S. president." 11/7/19

  • Microsoft has beaten Amazon to the Pentagon’s $10 billion cloud computing contract (MIT Technology Review) "President Donald Trump has repeatedly and publicly played down Amazon’s prospects (he is apparently engaged in an ongoing vendetta against the company and its CEO Jeff Bezos). A speechwriter for former defense secretary Jim Mattis has told the Washington Post that Trump intervened to lock the company out of the contract." 10/28/19

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Trends and shifts

  • President calls for promotion of philanthropy to address poverty (Pakistan Today) "President Dr Arif Alvi [...] while appreciating character of the Pakistani nation in charitable services, called for promotion of philanthropy both at the state and corporate level to address the challenges of poverty and social inequality." 11/7/19

  • Why $4.5 Billion From Big Tech Won’t End California Housing Crisis (New York Times) "Efforts by Apple, Facebook and Google to address the California housing crunch must contend with the forces that created it." 11/6/19

  • Beyond Fundraising: What the Public Hears—and Doesn’t Hear— About Fundraising Ethics (AFP Global) "The ethics issue that has been most dominant in the headlines over the past year focuses on whether it’s appropriate for nonprofits to take money from 'tainted' sources [...]. Each of us has to decide where to draw that line. But clearly, there are moments when history and our conscience call on us to act in a way contrary even to the financial and operational interests of our organizations; times when, as Martin Luther King Jr. said, 'Silence becomes betrayal.'" 10/1/19

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Stats and facts

  • The growing gap between oil supply and pipeline capacity (The Owl) Best graphic representation of the issue I have seen to date. Nice work Owl. "Both the Alberta economy and the Canadian economy as a whole depend on expanding oil production as a source of economic activity and growth. The problem is that a lack of pipeline capacity is threatening to stymie the future expansion of oil production in western Canada." 11/7/19

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Reports and studies

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Large gifts

  • Nigerian Energy Magnate Femi Otedola Donates $14 Million To Save The Children Fund (Forbes) "Femi Otedola, one of Nigeria’s richest men, has donated NGN 5 billion (approximately $14 million) to the Save the Children Fund through his daughter, DJ Cuppy’s Foundation, to support various intervention programmes for destitute children in Nigeria’s north-east region. It is believed to be the single largest individual donation to charity in Nigeria’s history." 11/11/19

  • University of Pennsylvania law school gets record-setting $125 million donation from N.Y. foundation (The Philadelphia Inquirer) "A New York-based philanthropy whose founders have deep ties to the University of Pennsylvania has given its law school $125 million, the largest single gift ever for a law school. After the gift from the W.P. Carey Foundation, the school will become the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law. It’s the first time in the law school’s history that it will carry a family name." 11/8/19

  • UK College of Law alum makes historic $20M donation (CBS) "J. David Rosenberg, Lexington native and graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law is giving back to his alma mater in a big way." 11/8/19

  • $10 million donation puts UWM on path to new research vessel (UWM Report) "An anonymous donor of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation has committed $10 million toward a new research vessel for the UWM School of Freshwater Sciences. In recognition of the gift, which equals the largest ever received by UWM, the vessel will be named the Maggi Sue. It will replace the current vessel, the Neeskay, a converted Army T-boat that is more than 65 years old." University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences is an academic division of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee focusing on freshwater research and graduate education. Located at the edge of the Great Lakes, SFS is the only graduate school of freshwater science in the U.S. and the third in the world. 11/8/19

  • Hamilton Community Foundation Invests $1 Million in Windmill Microlending’s Innovative Community Bond Program (Windmill Microlending) CANADIAN STORY This is terrific. Nice work Hamilton! "Windmill Microlending, Canada’s largest charitable microlender for newcomers, has received a $1 million investment from Hamilton Community Foundation. This is the largest social impact investment received by Windmill since launching its community bond program in 2017." 11/7/19

  • Syncrude Celebrates Three Billion Barrels With $3M Community Donation (Mix 103.7) ALBERTA STORY Congrats to all! Nice work Syncrude! "Syncrude is marking its production milestone of three billion barrels by investing more than $3 million into the community. The new investment is part of the oil company’s commitment to building a strong and vibrant place to live and work – helping fund several initiatives. They include the University of Alberta Faculty of Engineering for student engagement in northern communities, Tree Canada Operation ReLeaf program, and Inside Education’s Wood Buffalo Environment Education Project." 11/6/19

  • Cambridge accepts £6m Shell donation for oil extraction research (The Guardian) Nice work Shell! "Cambridge University has accepted a multimillion-pound donation from Shell to fund a team researching oil extraction technology, even as it publicly positions itself as part of the transition to a sustainable future." 11/5/19

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