Weekly News Recap: June 19, 2020

Weekly News Recap: June 19, 2020

The Rogers Communications sign marks the company's headquarters in Toronto, April 25, 2012. The Rogers family is making a $60-million community donation to various charities across Canada to help those hurt financially by the COVID-19 pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim

You will find that it is necessary to let things go; simply for the reason that they are heavy. -- C. JoyBell C.

VITREO FUNDRAISING ASK ANYTHING ZOOM CHATS

We have hosted eight Ask Anything* Zoom chats over the last twelve weeks. The feedback on these sessions has been tremendous. Thank you to all of our speakers and, most importantly, you, our guests who joined us. We are working on our plans for our next iteration of these chats. Stay tuned!

FUNDRAISING IN THE TIME OF COVID-19

+ We are here to help. We are all in this together. If you would like to chat, reach out and schedule some time to talk. You can also call us at 403.210.3157 or, if this is still your thing, you can send us an e-mail. Stay safe. Stay sane.

+ Here is ViTreo's most recent blog post: NONPROFIT BOARD GOVERNANCE IN THE CORONIAL AGE We’re In This Together. Right?

+ And a freshly updated (as at June 12, 2020) set of resources: Fundraising In The Time Of COVID-19

SOME GOOD NEWS

  • Promising Aid to Arts Organizations, Five Charitable Foundations Will Give an Unprecedented $1.7 Billion to Nonprofits Worldwide (ArtNet) Boom! Note: three of these organizations are undertaking this initiative by selling bonds. Thank you to Tom Berekoff for sharing this story. "In a bold joint effort, five major US charitable foundations have come together to pledge more than $1.7 billion to stabilize and sustain nonprofits around the world that have been battered by the devastating combined effects of the coronavirus outbreak, the resulting financial downturn, and the social unrest triggered by systemic police violence against the African American community. The Ford Foundation, which is leading the initiative, has promised $1 billion for the endeavor, and is joined by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (which is pledging $300 million); the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation ($200 million); the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation ($125 million); and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation ($100 million)."

  • Mother Goose Takes Care Of 47 Babies And Keeps Them All Safe (the dodo) SASKATOON STORY A belated Mother's Day story :-) Thanks to my cousin Madeleine Twocock for sharing this story. "He counted 25 goslings one day, then 30 the next until he finally spotted the mama goose and her mate with 47 babies. Digout realized that this amazing mama was caring for goslings from many different families. This is known as a gang brood and is common in urban and suburban areas with lots of nests."

TOP TEN STORIES OF THE WEEK

  1. Graduation in the time of COVID-19: Celebrating the Class of 2020 (CBC) ALBERTA STORY Congrats to all. High school graduation in 2020 was not only memorable but historic. "There would be no en masse celebrations with classmates. Cozy photos with prom dates and awkward slow dances were out of the question. Blue medical masks replaced floral corsages and boutonnieres. Caps were tossed and tassels were turned in isolation. Diplomas were sent in the mail or passed from teacher to student by hockey stick. But despite the disappointments and the distancing, there have been unexpected moments of joy and as resilient graduates celebrated amid COVID-19 in new and innovative ways." Related: Proud memories, big dreams: Meet some valedictorians from the Class of 2020, CBC

  2. Albertans warming to idea of a provincial sales tax, according to poll (CBC) ALBERTA STORY "It's said to be in our electoral blood, our economic DNA — fundamental to who we are. For decades it's been held as a truism that Albertans are dead set against a provincial sales tax, and any politician silly enough to suggest the idea would be ridiculed and forever shunned by voters. Our sales tax-free status has long been touted as one of the key pillars of the Alberta Advantage. Although economists have long suggested the idea as a way for Alberta to move away from the ups and downs of the resource revenue roller-coaster, politicians of all stripes have disavowed the thought of such a tax to smooth out those bumps. That mindset appears to be shifting now, and the COVID-19 pandemic may have something to do with it."

  3. Giving USA 2020: Charitable giving showed solid growth, climbing to $449.64 billion in 2019, one of the highest years for giving on record (IU Lilly School) As a reminder, this is for last year. It will be very interesting to see when these stats come out in 2021. "Measured in current dollars, giving in 2019 reached the highest dollar total to date. Adjusted for inflation, total giving reached the second highest level on record, just slightly below the all-time high dollar amount achieved in 2017." Related: 10 Must-Know Stats About COVID-19 Donors, Nonprofit Tech for Good.

  4. ATHABASCA U: THE REDHEADED STEPCHILD OF ALBERTA UNIVERSITIES FACES A CINDERELLA MOMENT (Alberta Politics) ALBERTA STORY This is certainly a COVID-19 silver lining story. "Is Athabasca University, long the redheaded stepchild of Alberta’s universities, about to have its Cinderella moment? After years of financial insecurity and deep angst about a mission seemingly made redundant by the Internet that sometimes gave the impression of an existential crisis about to go critical, there are signs the future of Athabasca U is suddenly assured."

  5. Banff Centre permanently lays off 284 staff, cancels in-person classes (CBC) BANFF STORY Ugh. This is terrible news. "Only a quarter of the usual staff at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity remain on the job as the school cancels its in-person classes for the pandemic. [Management] laid off 284 staff members, some of whom had worked there for decades and lived in campus housing."

  6. Are we looking in the mirror? (Community Foundations of Canada) "It’s been almost three weeks since the death of George Floyd in the United States; three weeks that have seen persistent protests and demonstrations take place around the world demanding an end to systemic racism and a fundamental reform of the systems and institutions within which it is entrenched. In Canada, the shooting deaths of Chantal Moore and Rodney Levi are staunch reminders that, despite the narrative we so often hear, systemic and institutional racism is far from a uniquely American reality."

  7. David Sidoo stripped of Order of B.C. over college admissions scandal (CBC) VANCOUVER STORY "David Sidoo, a businessman from Vancouver who participated in a U.S. college admissions cheating scheme, has been stripped of his Order of British Columbia [...]. The former Canadian Football League player pleaded guilty in March to paying someone $200,000 to take the SATs in place of his two sons."

  8. Former Jean Vanier school renamed St. Maria Faustina School: Regina Catholic School Division (CBC) REGINA STORY "The Regina Catholic School Division has chosen St. Maria Faustina to be the new namesake of the former Jean Vanier [School]. Vanier, who died in Paris last year, was a once-respected Canadian religious figure who founded L'Arche, an organization that has people with and without intellectual disabilities live together in communities around the world. But an inquiry commissioned last year by L'Arche reported that its founder had sexually abused six adult women between 1970 and 2005."

  9. CHF’s New President & CEO, Patricia Jones (Calgary Homeless Foundation) CALGARY STORY Congrats! "Patricia comes to CHF from a dedicated 27 years with Catholic Family Service, where she focused on the delivery of programs and services to break cycles of generational vulnerability and build strong families. With a great appreciation for CHF’s mission-focused future, she was drawn to the role by our focus on collective action, evidence-based outcomes, and a strong personal belief that every Calgarian deserves a place to call home."

  10. More than 70 employees at Mark Zuckerberg’s philanthropy say it needs to change how it deals with race (Vox) "More than 70 employees at Mark Zuckerberg’s philanthropy are calling for significant internal change at the organization to combat systemic racism [...]. Dozens of people who work on the education team at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative are asking Zuckerberg and his co-CEO, his wife Priscilla Chan, to commit to 12 changes that will make the philanthropy more inclusive as it spends millions to reform the American education system."

SEVEN LIFE AND CAREER HACKS

  1. 35 books to read for National Indigenous History Month (CBC) June is National Indigenous History Month and June 21 is National Indigenous Peoples Day 2020 in Canada. Celebrate by reading one of these books by First Nations, Métis and Inuit authors. I will be putting Peace and Good Order and If I Go Missing to the top of my reading list.

  2. Tales from the Field: Tips for Making Major Gift Asks Using Zoom (Wastyn & Associates) Don't presume. Ask for the ask. There is a wee bit more involved in a virtual ask but the fundamentals don't change.

  3. Fundraising During the Corona Outbreak: Answers to 5 Pressing Questions (Chronicle of Philanthropy) All five questions are important. I don't have a favourite. Nice work Chronicle.

  4. 10 Tips for Using Zoom for Successful Donor Visits (sgEngage) All of these are good but #5 made me laugh out loud (even as I was agreeing with it).

  5. 12 Tips For Making Your Virtual Meetings More Professional (Forbes) #4...please please #4. And yes, dressing the part is also important. "More employees are working from home, more meetings are conducted online, and more candidates are interviewing via webcam. When you're in a virtual meeting with a colleague, hiring manager, or client through a conferencing platform like Skype, Zoom, Teams, or Slack, that virtual environment becomes part of your personal brand. If the virtual meetings you host are plagued by technical issues, unprofessional audio, and distractions, your personal brand will feel rough and chaotic. On the other hand, if you run virtual meetings without any hiccups, your personal brand will feel polished and professional."

  6. THE STRATEGIES THAT CAN MAKE — OR BREAK — YOUR SALES PROSPECTING (built in) Humanize yourself and throw away the pre-templated approach.

  7. Should You Run on an Empty Stomach? (Runner's Life) As a diabetic, this is really hard for me to do but...I am curious about the benefits.

TOP THREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

  1. Rogers marks 60 years with $60M donation to those in need (CityNews) Fantastic gift. Thank you Rogers Family. "The family behind Rogers Communications is celebrating 60 years in business in a big way. They’re donating $60 million to help Canada’s most vulnerable amid the COVID-19 pandemic [...]. The money will go to Food Banks Canada, the Salvation Army, Women’s Shelters Canada, other shelters, the Children’s Aid Foundation, the BOOST Child & Youth Advocacy Centre, Easter Seals Canada, and the Ted Rogers community grants."

  2. Mackenzie Health names new Vaughan hospital in honour of $40 million donation from the Cortellucci family (Newswire) VAUGHAN STORY Nice gift. Congrats to all. "Mackenzie Health unveiled the name of its much-anticipated Vaughan Hospital — Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital — in recognition of a generous $40 million gift from the Cortellucci family."

  3. NFL Announces $250 Million Donation Over 10 Years to Combat Systemic Racism (Complex) "The NFL is growing our social justice efforts through a 10-year total $250 million fund to combat systemic racism and support the battle against the ongoing and historic injustices faced by African-Americans." Related: NFL'S DEMARIO DAVIS ON NFL'S $250 MIL DONATION Black Players Should Have Say On Where Money Goes

LAST WEEK'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

Welcome to our recap of the week's news, articles, and information of note. ViTreo Group Inc. provides this information for the benefit of our clients, associates, staff, partners, and stakeholders. The content is collected and curated by ViTreo partner Vincent Duckworth. If you would like to submit a link for consideration, please send an email to info@vitreogroup.ca

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