Weekly News Recap: January 22, 2016
Ron Southern (credit: Alberta Order of Excellence)
Philanthropic personalities
Gates & Bono: Philanthropy's dynamic duo VIDEO. I mean, it's Bill and Bono. You kind of have to watch. Interesting takes on philanthropy, the "RED" initiative, etc. (1/22/16)
Spruce Meadows and ATCO founder Ronald Southern remembered as 'a true community builder' We are truly saddened. Our thoughts and prayers are with Margaret and the rest of the Southern family. Ron was a leader and a great philanthropist. We shall not see his like again. CALGARY STORY (1/21/16)
Billionaire philanthropists and their favourite causes (1/18/16)
Events, conferences, celebrations
U of L to celebrate 50 years in 2017 Nice milestone. Looking forward to joining them in their celebrations in a few years time. ALBERTA STORY (1/20/16)
CCVO's Connections Conference 2016 - April 11-12, 2016 ViTreo partners are hoping to present at this important conference. Hope you can attend. Thanks for CCVO for sharing this. (1/20/16)
Tools and resources
Philanthropy, American Style Nice overview of the tools and resources available through the Philanthropic Almanac. Good work Mr. Taylor. (1/22/16)
WELCOME TO THE FUNDRAISING EFFECTIVENESS PROJECT! This is a great resource with reports, tools, and resources. Includes online tool that allows you to evaluate your fundraising programs against a set of 100 performance indicators. Very cool. Thanks to Andrea for highlighting this reference from the AFP Winter Issue of Advancing Philanthropy, pg. 8.
Top Ten Philanthropy Resources: January Good set of resources. (1/15/16)
Stats, facts, reports, trends, shifts, and studies
Profiles of Canadian Companies Investing in Communities Kudos to the newly launched Institute for Community Prosperity (I love this name!). This is one of their products. Read on for CI profiles on companies like Enmax and Canadian Tire. Good stuff. Thank you Andrea for pointing this at us. CALGARY STORY (1/21/16)
Your Favorite Philanthropic Insights A collection of articles, thoughts, and thinking on philanthropy. (1/20/16)
Trend Watch: Passive Philanthropy I need to think more on this one. (1/21/16)
Philanthro-ethics for Philanthropy Advisors: Transparency or Confidentiality Blog post on philanthropic advising. Veddy interesting... (1/20/16)
In 10 Years: Mobile Technology Democratizes Philanthropy My head is spinning...there is a buzzing in my ear...lot's to think about here. (1/20/16)
Can Philanthropy Save These Big City Newspapers? Follow on story from a few weeks ago about nonprofits running big newspapers. Turns out, this is not new. (1/20/16)
On the Mend - Putting the Spark Back in the Government-Charitable Sector Relationship Yes, it has been a rocky few years. Some interesting recommendations. Worth a look. Thanks for CCVO for the heads up. (1/20/16)
Provide Your Input to the PIPA Review.pdf) There is support for a move to full inclusion of nonprofits under PIPA.Thanks to CCVO for sharing this. Deadline for comments is February 26, 2016. ALBERTA STORY (1/20/16)
News
Parker: Kasian Architecture finds projects outside Calgary With the economic downturn, 60% of their revenue is coming from outside of Calgary. Not surprised. (1/21/16)
Wall says $1B federal stimulus would be ‘helpful’ to Saskatchewan, Alberta No. No. We don't want that! Wait, oh. o-h. Why yes, we do. That would be great. Thanks. ALBERTA STORY (1/20/16)
Political-activity audits of charities being wound down by Liberal government Hallelujah!! The 'advocacy chill' is finally starting to thaw. CANADIAN STORY (1/20/16)
Calgary Mayor Nenshi holds the line on arena project Have to agree with Nenshi. Whether we do or don't end up with a new arena, we deserve to be given the time to review clear and present documents. At the end of the day, the citizens are truly going to be the largest 'sponsors' of this project. Will be interesting to see if the tactics used to get arena projects moving in other cities will be at play (or work) in Calgary. CALGARY STORY (1/20/16)
Fort McMurray's workers desperate to find jobs during economic slump Yuck. ALBERTA STORY (1/19/16)
CalgaryNext arena project still in running for provincial funding Interesting... CALGARY STORY (1/18/16)
Bob Baker stepping down as Citadel Theatre's artistic director Wow! Bob has been the artistic director of The Citadel almost as long as I have been a fundraiser. Crazy. Chhhh-a-n-g-es. (1/18/16) ALBERTA STORY
Alberta to lose 31,000 construction jobs, says BuildForce Canada labour forecast The spillover effect. Not pretty. ALBERTA STORY (1/18/16)
Alberta given 'negative' outlook by Moody's rating service Eek! "Moody's Investors Service has changed its outlook on the Alberta economy from "stable" to "negative" and says the situation will get worse unless the province's NDP government takes action." ALBERTA STORY (1/18/16)
Goodwill closing 16 stores and 10 donation centres in Ontario over ‘cash flow crisis’ I had heard that one closed in Edmonton but I had not heard this. CANADIAN STORY (1/18/16)
7 WAYS TO MAKE SURE NEW PARENTS DON'T QUIT Keeping great staff is always hard. This might help. (1/16/16)
Five questions: Verna Yiu is new interim CEO of Alberta Health Services Follow on story on Verna Yiu. Getting to know her better. ALBERTA STORY (1/15/16)
Christian leaders attempt to fix global date for Easter Our children might the last generation to ask "What day is Easter on this year?" (1/15/16)
Human Services Procurement Q & A Verbatim responses from Alberta Ministry of Human Services on procurement initiatives. Thanks CCVO! ALBERTA STORY (1/14/16)
Life and career hacks
The Case for “Eating the Frog” Later in the Day A different take on old advice. (1/20/16)
To get into college, Harvard report advocates for kindness instead of overachieving Watching this closely. It has been along time coming. (1/20/16)
Top 10 Ways to Be More Productive When Working from Home Good advice especially the getting dressed part. (1/16/16)
A top recruiter on what anyone can see after 30 seconds with your resume Great (and funny) article. Thanks to Michelle for pointing this at us. (10/19/15)
Large gifts
Media advisory - Announcement of a donation of one million dollars to fight hunger in Québec schools Nice gift from President's Choice® Children's Charity CANADIAN STORY (1/22/16)
Holt property sale closes, Brentwood United Methodist gets $3.9 million donation I do so like to see gifts of land actually sold for real money. (1/21/16)
$75 Million Donation Boosts Newborn Care at N.Y. Hospital I keep telling my kids, "Have you thought about becoming a hedge fund manager?" (1/21/15)
Multi-million dollar donation helps renovate Merrill High School football stadium They take their high school stadiums seriously in Wisconsin. (1/21/16)
CRH physiotherapy department gets $2.5m donation from Guardian 5K Run Wow! I really had no idea that these charity runs could generate proceeds like this. (1/21/16)
Record donation boosts U of A hospital foundation brain centre campaign A lovely gift from Jim and Sharon Brown and Shelley and Guy Scott. ALBERTA STORY (1/20/16)
Tait: Corus Radiothon is a great tradition helping the Stollery Children’s Hospital $1.3 million for a Radiothon. Not bad. ALBERTA STORY (1/20/16)
Villanova to change name of law school after $25M donation The 19th law school to be named after a benefactor in the U.S. (1/20/16)
Pritzker donation to aid transgender studies What a wonderful gift to UBC. BTW, Jennifer Natalya Pritzker (born James N. Pritzker) is a former LCol in the U.S. Army and is the world's first openly transgender billionaire. CANADIAN STORY (1/20/16)
Saint Barnabas gets $5M donation for expansion project Board giving. What a concept. Nice. (1/20/16)
Smithsonian donor David Rubenstein gives $10 million to African American museum What a great example of board giving. (1/20/16)
Leonardo DiCaprio announced another $15 million donation to environmental charities Love him or dislike him, he is putting his money where his mouth is. This is a big commitment to the environment. (1/20/16)
Microsoft's $1bn Cloud Giveaway Is More Than Just Philanthropy Don't get me wrong, "we" are all grateful. This is a magnificent gesture but...who valued it a $1 Billion? And, is it philanthropy? (1/20/16)
JPMorgan’s $75M Push for Career Technical Education Boosts 2016 Ed Philanthropy to $1.2 Billion Wow! This year's economy may have sucked but education...whew! Nice year! (1/19/16)
AUD 1million donation from Cadbury kicks off Australian Paralympic Foundation Interesting story on a number of fronts. First. It's chocolate. Next, it's a gift to kick off the launch of a new charity, the Australian Paralympic Foundation -- that's a cool idea. Finally, Cadbury said of the gift, "...forms part of their wider mission to 'bring on the joy' to all Australians in the lead up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games." (1/19/16)
Yale's humanities programs just got their largest-ever donation — and it was given anonymously Pretty big gift to be made anonymously. Love that it was given to the humanities. (1/19/16)
$5M Donation From the Hospira Foundation Will Support Research in Cancer Care, Prevention and Treatment Nice to see the proceeds from a former drug company being used so...usefully. (1/19/16)
Grande Prairie Public Library honours anonymous benefactor You just never know. Oh, and ranchers read. ALBERTA STORY (1/18/16)
UConn Human Rights Institute to receive $4 million donation Nice gift from George Soros and a friend or two. (1/16/16)
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg Follows Zuckerberg With $31 Million Stock Donation Facebook 'staying active as a philanthropic entity'. (1/15/16)
$2.5 million donation boosts support for hotel college facility at UNLV Las Vegas really is the mecca for hotels and hotel training. Good to see Marriott stepping. Makes sense. (1/15/16)
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