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Project manager Renee MacKillop, right, and architect Kristen Lien, left, review drawings of the Alex Community Food Centre in Calgary (Credit: Jennifer Lee/CBC)

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Events and reminders

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• What Canadian Donors Want This is a free webinar presenting the results of the third iteration of this survey. This research is made possible through the financial support of AFP members to the Every Member Campaign of the AFP Canada Foundation. REGISTER TODAY: WEBINAR IS TUESDAY, MARCH 8.

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News

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• China hopes to improve philanthropy through charity law: spokeswoman China has recently stepped up its philanthropy. This is a very natural and needed extension to this trend. (3/4/16)

• Vancouver Opera appoints new director for transition to festival format Courage and innovation: Two things you need to survive in 'big culture' today. CANADIAN STORY (3/3/16)

• Glenbow Museum strikes right chord with free promo as hundreds pile in Nice gesture. I hope they keep it up even after the economy rebounds. Thanks Glenbow! CALGARY STORY (3/3/16)

• ACAD calls on government to find equitable funding formula "For years students at ACAD have been funded around 67 cents for every dollar every other post-secondary student in the province is allocated." CALGARY STORY (3/3/16)

• Edmonton Galleria uses newly signed city support to woo province, federal government for cash In the chicken and egg game of securing government funding, this is a crucial strategy. Use one to get the the others. ALBERTA STORY (3/3/16)

• The Alex to open community food centre in Calgary The Community Food Centre takes the idea of feeding those in need beyond handing out food hampers. At the heart of the building will be a large kitchen, run by a professionally trained chef, where people can gather to create community meals and to learn cooking and nutrition skills. CALGARY STORY (3/2/16)

• National Music Centre hoping to open this summer Update on the installation of the exhibits. Can't wait to visit this summer. CALGARY STORY (3/2/16)

• New Philanthropy Agency to Advise Lady Gaga, Other Hollywood Charities Advisors to the stars. The good news: there are some bona fide fundraisers doing the advising. (3/2/16)

• Suburbs' fabric shifts as jobs move away from the downtown core Good reminder that 'tens of thousands' of Calgary's jobs exist in the 'burbs. CALGARY STORY (3/2/16)

• Alberta charities feeling strain of downturn as unemployed seek help Service requests are up, donations to support these requests are down. Thanks to Scott for sharing this link. ALBERTA STORY (2/29/16)

• Alberta's economy could get worse before it gets better "The downturn is affecting us all" - Andrea Robertson, President and CEO, STARS. In STARS case, the more expensive lottery tickets are not selling, they have had to make more lower priced tickets available. CALGARY STORY (2/29/16)

• Goodwill Toronto moving ahead with bankruptcy Just like enterprises in the private sector, social enterprise in the nonprofit sector also suffers from the ups and downs of changing market conditions. CANADIAN STORY (2/29/16)

• Don Getty, former Alberta premier, dead at 82 Mr. Getty, you served our province well. Thank you. RIP. ALBERTA STORY (2/26/16)

• Ontario budget 2016’s free tuition pledge: What the changes mean for some students This! Free tuition for students from families with incomes under $50K. This is awesome. Tremendous leadership by the Province of Ontario. CANADIAN STORY (2/25/16)

• Michael Phair named chair of U of A board of governors Congrats to Michael and to the University of Alberta. Michael will serve you well. ALBERTA STORY (2/25/16)

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Just fun

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• Dr. Seuss Quotes 2016: 20 Inspirational Sayings On His 112th Birthday “A person's a person, no matter how small.” (3/2/16)

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Humanity at work

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• Calgary downturn has some businesses offering discounts The news is not all bad folks. Good on these businesses for helping out. CALGARY STORY (2/26/16)

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Philanthropic and nonprofit controversy

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• In philanthropy, a deal is not always a deal This is such an interesting topic for fundraisers and the organizations and donors they serve. It's a key differentiator between the for profit and nonprofit worlds. (3/2/16)

• School of Humanities Rejects $3 Million Donation, Forms Committee to Vet Private Donor Interests For those following this story, this is the third article in this ongoing controversy at University of California, Irvine over a gift from a private donor who wanted to choose the chair holders for three endowed chairs. (3/1/16)

• Inn from the Cold says community inn program didn't serve appropriate needs The organization decided recently to stop offering shelter to single homeless people and to focus on helping homeless families. Inn from the Cold says that offering shelter to single homeless people is not in line with their mission. CALGARY STORY (2/26/16)

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Stats and facts

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• Charitable donors, 2014 $8.8 billion given by Canadians in 2014. Thanks to CCVO for providing this link. CANADIAN CONTENT (2/22/16)

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Opinion

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• The (Hectic, Messy, Sometimes Annoying) Truth About Working From Home Yep, this one hits pretty close to home. (2/26/16)

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Trends and shifts

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• How a New Generation of Business Leaders Views Philanthropy "Shape your business around social good." This is a goal at ViTrēo. We are trying to do this every day. (2/29/16)

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Solutions

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• How A 145-Year-Old Art Museum Stays Relevant In The Smartphone Age "We live in an experience world." We certainly do. The Met is not afraid of the smartphone. Instead it sees it as yet another way for patrons to experience art. (2/29/16)

• Use a Forward Intro Email to Make Better Connections Between Colleagues In a world where 'e-introductions' are a thing, this is brilliant. (2/26/16)

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Philanthropic personalities

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• Canadian Canoe Museum hires veteran fundraiser Jean-Charles D'Amours as philanthropy director to gear up for new museum campaign Ah yes, the Canadian Canoe Museum. Really, does it get any more quintessentially Canadian? CANADIAN STORY (3/2/16)

• Big decline for Calgary's richest on Forbes list of world's billionaires Murray Edwards and Clay Riddell are on this list to name a few. CALGARY STORY (3/2/16)

• Arcade Fire To Be Honoured For Philanthropy At Junos Arcade Fire, in addition to being fantastic Canadian musicians, have also been involved in helping to raise $9.6 million to help Haiti. Amazing. CANADIAN STORY (2/29/16)

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Life and career hacks

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• 8 Lessons Learned From Making Stupid Mistakes A perfect end of week read. 6 minutes. I hope you enjoy. I did. (3/3/16)

• Career Advice No One Tells You Good advice. My favourite. "Pick a boss, not a company." (3/2/16)

• These Are The Long-Term Effects Of Multitasking I really can't stress this enough. Multitasking is killing our careers. (3/1/16)

• 10 Ways To Find And Utilize Mentors “Never take advice from someone you wouldn’t switch places with.” — Darren Hardy. (2/29/16)

• 30 Behaviors That Will Make You Unstoppable This is one of my favourites: “You can have everything you love in life as long as you give up what you hate.” — Dan Sullivan. (2/29/16)

• Put Down the Broom: Tidying Up Can Hamper Creativity Ha! Take that Marie Kondo! (2/26/16)

• 7 Habits Of The Best Public Speakers Every bit of this is true. (2/26/16)

• Employ a "Silence Denotes Agreement" Rule to Get Better Feedback I love this hack. I have used it to great effect on many occasions. (2/26/16)

• Forget Introverts Versus Extroverts, Ambiverts Might Have An Edge In Business Are you both? Can you be both? Interesting concept. I think I might be an ambivert. (2/19/16)

• This Is How You Identify A-Players (In About 10 Minutes) During An Interview "A-players: the top 5% of people. They work hard, go over and above, are well liked and respected and typically move 'up the ranks' fast." Are you an A-player? (2/18/16)

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Large Gifts

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• UIS receives $1.5 million donation for new student union This gift to the University of Illinois was made by Richard and Charlene Osborne. (3/3/16)

• Komercijalna CEO, B92 Fund head present donation to hospital This is a gift of $47 million Serbian dinar (just over $500,000CAD) to support a hospital in Valjevo, Serbia. The campaign is called "Together for the Babies". Says it all really. (3/3/16)

• Google gives $1M grant, engineers to fight Zika virus This is a grant from Google to UNICEF to raise awareness for the Zika virus. (3/3/16)

• VITERRA INVESTS IN LAKELAND COLLEGE THROUGH STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP Nice gift Viterra! ALBERTA STORY (3/2/16)

• Ryan Zimmerman makes $1 million donation to UVA baseball Former All-America third baseman at Virginia and current member of the Washington Nationals, has made a $1 million commitment to the Virginia Athletics Foundation to support the Cavalier baseball program. Nice to see such a large gift coming from a major athlete. (3/2/16)

• CSU gets anonymous $20 million gift for regenerative medicine facility This gift to the Colorado State University is directed to support a regenerative medicine research facility. (3/2/16)

• WesWell Receives “4 Million Dollar” This is Why Donation WesWell, Wesleyan University's Office of Health Education received $4 million gift from John and Ruth Huss. The gift will help support WesWell's objectives to ease the mental and emotional strain of University life on students. (3/1/16)

• New Music Activities Center receives big donation, brings project within $2 million of goal A new music hall at Texas A&M University is a step closer to reality, thanks to a $10 million pledge from the Ed Rachal Foundation. The $40 million center will serve as a home for all of the university’s musical groups. (3/1/16)

• Christian Heritage Centre at Stonyhurst College receives £2m donation A gift from the Theadore Trust to support a new retreat, study, and leadership centre. The trust, and the new centre, are named after St Theodore of Canterbury, a Syrian Christian who was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by the pope in 668. (3/1/16)

• Breakthrough Austin receives $1 million donation Gift from Former Freescale CEO Gregg Lowe and his wife, Diana, to a nonprofit whose mission is to help low-income students in Central Texas become first-generation college students. Education is such a life changer. (3/1/16)

• Genomic clinic receives jaw-dropping donation to help patients with rare diseases, but still needs community support An anonymous gift of $1.05 million to establish a fund called the Hero Fund at the HudsonAlpha Foundation in Huntsville, Alabama. (2/29/16)

• Pfizer donates $5 million to La Jolla Institute This is the largest ever private donation to the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology. The gift will be used to establish an endowed chair in immunology. (2/28/16)

• University of Oregon lands $10 million from Tim Boyle for zebrafish facility Ok, I can hear you saying...Zebrafish? A zebrafish facility? Well, as it turns out, Zebrafish are vertebrates and during the embryo stage, they're transparent, making them ideal subjects to observe and manipulate. Their embryonic development is "remarkably similar" to humans." This gift was made by Columbia Sportswear's chief executive, Tim Boyle. (2/28/16)

• Children's Hospital of Illinois receives $2 million donation for pediatric cancer support facility Lovely gift from John and Annette Heller to create a new center to help families dealing with pediatric cancer. (2/27/16)

• Palace Museum receives record donation This 100 million Yuan ($15 million USD) gift was made by an artist, Cui Ruzhuo to Beijing's Palace Museum. His gift coincides with an exhibition featuring his works. (2/27/16)

• Michigan State receives $1.5 million donation to support Breslin Center renovation John and Becky Duffey have pledged $1.5 million toward the school's Breslin Center renovation project. (2/26/16)

• UNC School of Law Renames and Expands Environmental Center with Leading Gift from Duke Energy Foundation Duke Energy has committed $600,000 to the University of North Carolina's (UNC) School of Law. The gift is directed to support UNC's Environmental Center. The Center for Law, Environment, Adaptation and Resources (CLEAR) will be renamed the UNC School of Law Center for Climate, Energy, Environment and Economics (CE3). (2/24/16)

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