Weekly News Recap: December 9, 2016
Viola Desmond. Photo taken circa 1935. (courtesy Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University / Wanda Robson Collection / 2016-16)
Breaking
Viola Desmond will be first woman other than the Queen featured on Canadian currency In 1946, Viola Desmond’s stand at a segregated Nova Scotia movie theatre made her into a civil-rights icon for black Canadians. Yesterday, the federal government announced that she’ll be the new face on the Canadian $10 bill in 2018. CANADIAN STORY (12/8/16)
Who’s the woman on Canada’s new $10 bill? A Viola Desmond primer Here’s what you need to know about her. (12/8/16)
News
Alberta's recession to end in 2017 with 2.2% GDP growth, Conference Board of Canada predicts "Greater oil price stability, fresh hope for new pipelines, should spur recovery" ALBERTA STORY (12/8/16)
USA Funds Moves to Further Focus on Education Philanthropy and Investing USA Funds, which has played a growing role in education philanthropy and investing in the last few years, has announced that it would shed its loan-guarantee affiliates. Officials at the $1-billion organization said the move would allow it to further focus on its new mission of ensuring that college leads to meaningful results for students, which it does by making grants and investments in for-profit and nonprofit companies and organizations. (12/7/16)
Grande Prairie boy battling leukemia gets surprise of his life with Edmonton Symphony Orchestra Lovely. Wish I could be there to see his performance. EDMONTON STORY (12/5/16)
Fort McMurray's charities & services brace for an avalanche of need this Christmas "Last year, Santas Anonymous, one of Fort McMurray's largest holiday charity drives, filled over 600 hampers. The number might hit one thousand this year, depending on how many donations are received." FORT MCMURRAY STORY (12/5/16)
Newcomers in Edmonton introduced to world of art Love this. EDMONTON STORY (12/5/16)
How a $34M dinosaur museum in northern Alberta went from big awards to bailouts I feel this is more than just 'first-year growing pains'. This location is going to perennially be an issue for this museum. GRANDE PRAIRIE STORY (12/4/16)
Alberta unemployment climbs to highest rate since 1994 as more people look for work Unemployment in Alberta soared to its highest rate in more than 22 years last month, even as economists continued to point to signs of a modest recovery heading into 2017. ALBERTA STORY (12/2/16)
Resolve, Streetside bring new beginnings with first fully accessible building Congrats to Qualico, Alpha House, and RESOLVE. Streetside Developments: A Qualico Company is the latest builder to complete construction on an apartment building through the Resolve Campaign. Aurora on the Park is a 25-unit building in the northwest inner-city neighbourhood of Hillhurst-Sunnyside. CALGARY STORY (12/2/16)
Opinion
Evaluating the 2016 Campaign: Lessons for Assessing Philanthropy? Well! It appears that philanthropy could have played a more significant role in the most recent U.S. Election. Would you believe that the health of Americans might have changed who ended up headed to the White House? (12/1/16)
Do Philanthropy’s Attentions Improve or Worsen Equity in Schools? This article speaks to the inherent inequality that philanthropy, when directed at specific schools or school systems, can breed. Much more thought is needed here. (11/30/16)
“THE SELF-HELP MYTH” TELLS AN IMPORTANT STORY ABOUT PHILANTHROPY In her new book, Erica Kohl-Arenas explains how "philanthropy, by its inherent nature, often fails in its attempts to reduce inequity and poverty." (December 2016)
Life and career hacks
The Benjamin Franklin Method: How to (Actually) Learn to Write I am a Ben Franklin fanboy. His advice and methods were far ahead of his time. If you have trouble writing, his method might just be what you are looking for. (12/7/16)
This is How to Create a New Habit: 5 Secrets From Research This is the time of year when many of us are setting our goals for 2017. I know I am. These tips might help. I particularly like (and use) #3. (12/6/16)
Overrated vs. Underrated: Common Beliefs We Get Wrong Overrated: Watching the news. Underrated: Reading old books. (12/6/16)
This is How to be Super Productive Every Day Without Losing Your Mind "Focus on the ONE thing that needs to be done every workday." (12/6/16)
Want to be a Creative Genius? Your Goal Should be Progress, Not Perfection "Once you accept the fact that you’re not perfect, then you develop some confidence. — Rosalynn Carter" (12/5/16)
11 Things You Can’t Change, So Quit Wasting Your Time Trying Not rocket science. That said, this article spoke to me. Still. (12/5/16)
How to Look Confident in Photos Simple but critically important tips on how to look better in photos. BTW, I have used photofeeler to assess important marketing photos in the past. If your marketing photos are mission critical (they should be), you might want to use it as well. (12/3/16)
How To Innovate With Confidence, By Lucy Gower, Founder and Director, Lucidity This is a link to the web conference session ViTrēo sponsored at the 2016 AFP Congress. If you missed it, here it is. (12/1/16)
The 10 Greatest Social Media Advertising Tips for Content Marketers Current and useful social media tips here. Most of it is mid-spectrum nerdy. (11/30/16)
Shifts and trends
Greenpeace Receives Big Digital Currency Donation Through M.A. Blockchain The future of ultra-secure (i.e. private, safe) giving. (12/8/16)
2016 Philanthropy Trends: Americans Donate Record $373 Billion - AUDIO (4:53) NPR's Ailsa Chang interviews Chuck Collins with the Institute of Policy Studies; transcript included. (12/4/16)
Here Are The World's Most Effective Charities There is a growing movement, especially among millennial donors to focus their giving exclusively on 'effective philanthropy'. This is a list that meets the 'effective' criteria if effective means 'most human impact per dollar raised'. These all appear to be worthy charities but you might notice that if all we do is give to the most effective charity, very little philanthropy will be directed to local areas in developed countries. Costs are higher in developed countries, therefore, the impact per dollar is almost always going to be lower. (12/2/16)
Reports and research
Largest ever research into philanthropy reveals Australians' generosity The Giving Australia 2016 research was commissioned by the Commonwealth Government's Department of Social Services and is an initiative of the Prime Minister's Community Business Partnership. For those interested in how Australians give, this is a definitive source. (12/1/16)
The Future of Foundation Philanthropy: The CEO Perspective "The report shows that two-thirds of foundation CEOs believe in the potential of foundations to make a significant difference in society, but most do not see foundations taking full advantage of their opportunities for impact." (December 2016)
Large gifts
Jonathan Toews donates $1 million to community center Great way to give back Jonathan. Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews has donated $1 million to the Winnipeg-based Dakota Community Centre's Dakota Futures Capital Campaign and will serve as the campaign's honorary chair. WINNIPEG STORY (12/7/16)
Missouri football receives another donation towards new Memorial Stadium facility Wow. This school has received a number of $1 million plus anonymous gifts in the last year. See related story below. (12/7/16)
Jefferson Gets $3M for Cannabis Research Jefferson University announced today it had received a $3 million donation from Australian philanthropists Barry and Joy Lambert to fund medical research into cannabis. As a result, the school is renaming its cannabis research center the Lambert Center for the Study of Medicinal Cannabis and Hemp. Thomas Jefferson University is a private health sciences university in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (12/7/16)
Roosevelt University Receives Largest Ever Donation From Long-Time Supporter The school has received a $25 million donation from its long-time supporter. The gift was from the estate of Rosaline Cohn of Chicago. She died in 2010 at the age of 97. Her daughter, Marcia Cohn, died last year. The gift will be used to support student scholarships. (12/6/16)
Kelsea Ballerini, CMA present Nashville schools with big donation "Metro Nashville Public Schools have received a $1 million donation from the Country Music Awards Foundation to support music education, bringing the total donated since 2006 by the foundation to the district to $11 million." (12/6/16)
Hillel Scores Record $38M Donation To Bolster Staff The Marcus Foundation, established by Bernard Marcus and his wife Billi, has made a multi-year donation to a new Hillel staffing initiative, Talent Grants. Hillel is a world-wide Jewish campus life organization that is named for one of the most important figures in Jewish history. (12/6/16)
Donation helps fuel Camosun high-tech interactive classes Babcock Canada has donated $800,000 to launch a high-tech Interaction Lab at Camosun College’s Interurban campus. Babcock Canada is a subsiderary of the British multinational firm Babcock International Group PLC and is responsible for the repair and upgrade work on Canada’s fleet of four diesel-electric submarines. VICTORIA STORY (12/6/16)
WILMINGTON YMCA GETS $2M DONATION FOR RENOVATIONS AFTER 2015 FIRE The Wilmington North Carolina Family YMCA has received a gift of $2 million from Dr. Oaz Nir, son of long time YMCA Healthy Living Director Dalia Nir. (12/6/16)
Dalton gets $1 million donation for the arts Jeanne Burr has donated $1 million to support the arts in Dalton, Georgia, by helping to provide a performance venue. In return, the city was asked to designate the site of the Lee Printing building as a permanent park. (12/6/16)
Henry Ford cancer center lands $20-million donation Henry Ford Health System has announced its largest single donation in 100 years, a $20-million package to support the Detroit hospital’s new cancer building project. The donor, Mort Harris, gave the money in honor of his wife, Brigitte, who had pancreatic cancer, as part of a total package of $40 million in lifetime giving to the health system. The Henry Ford Health System is located in the Detroit area. (12/5/16)
Boca Raton Jewish foundation gifted $10 million donation for programming, library The Jewish Foundation of South Palm Beach County was recently gifted $10 million by Boca Raton philanthropists Toby and Leon Cooperman. (12/4/16)
Facebook philanthropy? Social media giant to invest $20mn in affordable housing projects Good move. I hope more tech companies will follow suit.Too many people have been pushed out of the Santa Clara Valley by the cost of housing. Today, 70,000 people who work in this valley have to commute 50 plus miles to work. (12/3/16)
$15-million donation funds immunization clinic at B.C. Children's Hospital Go Save-On Foods! Thanks to a $15 million donation from Save-On-Foods, a new immunization clinic is expected to open at the hospital in the fall of 2017. VANCOUVER STORY (12/2/16)
American machining giant gives SAIT a hefty donation "American machine giant Haas Automation has chosen Calgary’s SAIT campus for its foundation’s largest-ever donation to a Canadian post-secondary institution. Haas is a global leader in machine tools, and dropped a million dollars into SAIT’s machining labs." Congrats SAIT. Congrats Haas Automation. CALGARY STORY (12/1/16)
Anderson Cancer Center at Memorial gets $1 million donation Curt and Libba Anderson donated $1 million to the Curtis and Elizabeth Anderson Cancer Institute to help kick off it's Destination Cancer Care Capital Campaign. The Anderson Cancer Center is located at Memorial University in Savannah, Georgia. (12/1/16)
Morford family gives $1 million donation to Kent YMCA A new YMCA is being built in Kent, Washington. The gift is from Paul Morford who helped run a Kent construction company and supported and pushed for the YMCA and the city to work out a deal for a new facility. Morford died in 2010. (12/1/16)
Nazi soldier's £400,000 donation to Scottish village finally reaches Comrie Moral of the story: Be kind to others, especially if they are POWS. What a phenomenal act of gratitude. (12/1/16)
University of Missouri Athletics gets $1.4M Donation The University of Missouri’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has received $1.4 million for its proposed plan to build a new south end zone facility at its stadium. The gift is from an anonymous donor. (12/1/16)
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