The Ask

Our thanks to Erin Sargeant Greenwood of Saint Mary’s University for joining Nicole Nakoneshny on this episode of KCI’s The Ask. Erin shares her insights, advice, and thoughtful list of “must do’s” for charities as they move forward with fundraising during and after the pandemic. “The lasting effect that I hope we come away with…is an enhancement of the appreciation of the role of philanthropy and the power of fundraising, both in terms of impact on recovery and to build resilience in people and communities.”

Dans le baladodiffusion The Ask de KCI, Lili-Anna Pereša, Présidente et directrice générale de Centraide du Grand Montréal prédit les effets à long terme de la pandémie : entre autres, un virage vers des approches ultralocales, une consolidation au sein du secteur, une augmentation de partenariats à impact collectif avec les secteurs public, privé et sans but lucratif et une meilleure utilisation des données, des informations, de l’expertise et des connaissances pour la prise de décisions éclairées. Aussi disponible en anglais.

In KCI's The Ask podcast, Lili-Anna Pereša, President and Executive Director of Centraide of Greater Montreal predicts lasting effects of the pandemic, including a shift to hyperlocal approaches; sector consolidation; more public, private, non-profit collective impact partnerships; and better use of data, facts, expertise, and knowledge to inform decisions. Aussi disponible en français.

In this episode of KCI's The Ask, Eva Friesen, President and CEO of the Calgary Foundation offers her thoughts about mission relevance, mergers, and doing things differently in both service delivery and grant making.   “The COVID 19 epidemic has shed light on some areas of society where we know we need to do things differently for evermore after.”

Thanks to Ted Garrard, Chief Executive Officer of SickKids Foundation for sharing his wisdom and guidance! In this episode of KCI's The Ask, Ted offers thoughts about the impact of the pandemic on fundraising in Canada. “Donors and volunteers are reappreciating the importance of having a very strong social safety net…recognizing that government can’t do it all…and an opportunity for charities to work collectively and with government to ensure we are all well prepared for what the future holds.”

Unprecedented. Uncharted. Uncertain. These are just a few of the words being used to describe the times we’re navigating as we deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and its fallout.  And given the degree of uncertainty we continue to face, it’s hard to know exactly what this will mean for Canadian charities and their fundraising. What will be the impact of the pandemic on Canadian charities? What are the challenges and opportunities? How will this change how organizations raise money? We’re delighted to bring you the perspective of five of the sector’s most knowledgeable and thoughtful voices who will share their thoughts and advice on these questions. In this first conversation, we hear from with Bruce MacDonald, President & CEO of Imagine Canada.

The attention of organizations over the last weeks and months has been almost exclusively focused on how to adapt, adjust, and frankly survive these unprecedented times.  It’s now time to start to think ahead. But since we will need to navigate volatility and uncertainty for a while yet, the biggest challenge in the next while will be to find the right balance between addressing immediate challenges with starting to plan for the future.  In this episode, we provide some practical tips to guide your planning over the next months to marry a focus on the now with starting to set your organization up for recovery and future success.

Many non-profit organizations struggling to remain relevant and resilient amid an evolving and crowded market place are considering new and innovative ways to remain viable, including collaborating with like organizations. Two such organizations breaking new ground are Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada and Make-A-Wish Foundation, who joined forces in 2019 with the goal of reaching their full mission potential - granting the wish of every eligible child across the country. Jennifer Ritter, Co-CEO of Make-A-Wish Foundation of Canada, the resulting amalgamation, shares the process the two organizations undertook, from assessing the potential for collaboration, to integrating business practices and melding two very different organizational cultures.  Despite challenges, the organizations were able to take similar missions, passion and drive to form one highly competitive organization that is now able to achieve far more, far faster than they were able to accomplish separately.

Throughout our What’s Next Interview Series, Nicole Nakoneshny, KCI’s Lead, Knowledge + Insights conducted in-depth, one-on-one interviews with each member of our Philanthropic Trends Advisory Board who are some of the most thoughtful and successful people involved in fundraising and philanthropy today. Via those conversations, we explored how fundraising is evolving, what it takes to be successful in today’s environment, where the opportunities are to raise money and how to deal with the inevitable challenges that face us…basically, as the title of the Series suggested, to understand “what’s next” when it comes to fundraising in Canada for 2020 and beyond. As the series comes to a close, Nicole shares her What’s Next Interview Series Top 10 - the biggest learnings, insights, takeaways and personal a-has that she took from these conversations.

In this special four-part Summer Series of KCI’s podcast The Ask we share snippets from some of our favourite recent conversations that we weren’t able to include in an episode.  Some quick, easy listening for those long summer days where we might have better things to do than listen to full-length podcasts about fundraising.  Enjoy! In this final episode, we circle back one last time to our conversation about talent and talent management with Tara George, the Lead of KCI’s Search and Talent practice…and tackle the topic “Are you ready for a leadership position?”  In this episode, both Tara and host Nicole Nakoneshny get personal about our own journeys and Tara shares some thoughts and advice about what is required to be ready take on a leadership position.

In this special four-part Summer Series of KCI’s podcast The Ask we share snippets from some of our favourite recent conversations that we weren’t able to include in an episode.  Some quick, easy listening for those long summer days where we might have better things to do than listen to full-length podcasts about fundraising.  Enjoy! In this episode, we revisit the topic of how best to work with fundraising volunteers, specifically focusing on onboarding best practices. This conversation was recorded at AHP’s annual Convene Canada conference when The Ask Host Nicole Nakoneshny moderated a panel discussion on the topic of volunteers with senior leadership from two of Canada’s foremost hospital foundations – Toronto General and Western Hospital Foundation and The William Osler Health System Foundation. You’ll hear that ensuring clarity of purpose, tapping into and regularly reconnecting volunteers to their passions, and creating activities that build camaraderie and relationships are key…as is recognizing that onboarding is not an event, but rather a process executed over a period of time.

In this special four-part Summer Series of KCI’s podcast The Ask we share snippets from some of our favourite recent conversations that we weren’t able to include in an episode.  Some quick, easy listening for those long summer days where we might have better things to do than listen to full-length podcasts about fundraising.  Enjoy! In this episode, we revisit the need to “make the case for our sector”. In the same way that the sector overall needs to adapt and respond to a changing philanthropic environment, many specific charities are finding the need to do the same thing, something particularly true of long standing organizations that need to ensure their ongoing relevance in the minds of today’s donors. One organization that’s been undertaking this work over the last number of years is United Way of Greater Toronto.  In a conversation with its President and CEO Daniele Zanotti, we hear about the adaptations and responses they’ve put in place to respond to their changing environment…as well as about the organizational resilience that is being created as a result.

In this special four-part Summer Series of KCI’s podcast The Ask we share snippets from some of our favourite recent conversations that we weren’t able to include in an episode.  Some quick, easy listening for those long summer days where we might have better things to do than listen to full-length podcasts about fundraising.  Enjoy! In this first episode of the Summer Series, we revisit our exploration of talent management with Tara George, Lead of KCI’s Search + Talent Practice and tackle the question “Do people really quit their bosses?” While there is some truth in that idea, you will see that the dynamics involved in what makes people stay in or leave their jobs, or even what makes someone a good boss, are far more nuanced and complicated and involve everything from leadership, training, skill set and even organizational culture.

In this episode of The Ask, recorded live at the 2019 AHP Convene Canada Conference, we talk volunteers – how to engage them and how to set them up for success.  Joined by four panelists comprised of senior staff and Board members from the William Osler Health System Foundation (Ken Mayhew, President and CDO and Bob Peacock, Board Chair) and Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation (Louise Aspin, SVP and CDO and Raj Kothari, Chair of Board of Governor), this episode the panel explores the trends and best practices in engaging volunteers, both board and fundraising, in raising money, sharing tips and anecdotes from their experiences.

As we’ve observed changes in how the generosity of Canadians is being expressed over the last few years, it begs the question if the relevance of the charitable sector is starting to get lost a little. Do Canadians really understand the essentialness of what we do and what our impact is…and what society would look like without us.  And so, similar to the way organizations build a “case for support” for themselves, there has been an awakening of late for the need to “advocate”, educate and build a case for our sector as a whole. In this episode, we speak to three sector leaders about this issue.  We hear from Sandy Richardson , CEO and Lori Elder, Board Director, about how the Victoria Foundation’s recently released report, Civil Society Impact, has built a compelling case for the sector in Victoria. And we hear from Bruce MacDonald, President and CEO of Imagine Canada, who shares the pan-Canadian perspective of the need for and impact of the sector across the country…including a part of the story we don’t often talk about – our economic impact.

In this, the second part of our exploration of the topic of talent with Tara George , Lead of KCI’s Search and Talent practice, we turn our attention to creating an overall talent strategy, identifying the elements involved in doing that and discussing how to realistically make that happen in what is usually a cash strapped reality at most non-profits.  Hear her thoughts on what she calls the “management gap”, and why courage and candour to make the case that investing in talent is no longer optional.

Ask the leader of almost any charity what keeps them up at night and the organization’s talent is likely to be near the top of the list – things like how to attract top talent, how to retain high performers and how to match the right talent to the right roles.  But, while its importance is universally acknowledged, many organizations struggle with turning talent into an actual top priority thanks to a lack of time and money to focus on this area. In the next two episodes of The Ask, we turn our attention to the topic of talent via a conversation with Tara George, the Lead of KCI’s Search + Talent Practice.  In this episode, Tara shares insights into what high potential talent is looking for from employers, what makes people stay in jobs, what makes them leave and how organizations should be approaching the onboarding process with new employees.

Campaigns continue to be critical tools in the fundraising toolkit to attract the attention and investment of donors, mobilize volunteers and raise significant amounts of money.  But the way we “campaign” today is different than it used to be, with the best way to describe campaign strategy being “one size fits none”.  To better understand the trends and next practices in campaigns, we recently released a report entitled Fundraising Campaigns in Canada: What’s New, What’s Not New, What’s Next.  And to further explore those trends, we shine the spotlight on an incredibly successful campaign in this episode of The Ask by speaking to Ryan Koch, Director of Development at Union Gospel Mission.  He tells the story of their latest capital campaign…which has raised more than $15 million in nine months!

[et_pb_section bb_built="1" specialty="off" _builder_version="3.17.6" background_image="http://kciphilanthropy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/1380x535_Ask-Tile_Ep13.jpg" custom_padding="0px||0px|" custom_margin="0px||0px|" next_background_color="#ffffff" background_color="#333f48" module_class="trends-background"][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.17.2" make_fullwidth="on" use_custom_width="on" width_unit="off" custom_width_percent="100%" custom_margin="0px|||" custom_padding="0px||0px|" padding_top_1="0px" padding_bottom_1="0px" module_class="arrow-row"][et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_code admin_label="Back Button" _builder_version="3.17.4" module_class="people-back" saved_tabs="all"]Back[/et_pb_code][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.17.2" background_color_1="#ffffff" custom_margin="0px||0px|" custom_padding="360px||0px|" padding_top_1="20px" padding_left_1="50px" use_custom_width="on" custom_width_px="1210px" custom_padding_last_edited="on|tablet" module_class="trends-header" custom_padding_tablet="160px||0px|"][et_pb_column type="1_2"][et_pb_text admin_label="EPISODE / 11" _builder_version="3.17.6" module_class="episode-number" custom_margin="||0px|"] EPISODE / 13 [/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label="Immigrant/Diaspora Philanthropy" _builder_version="3.17.6" custom_margin="||20px|" module_class="trends-heading"] Donor-Advised Funds [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="1_2"][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built="1" specialty="on" prev_background_color="#333f48" _builder_version="3.17.4" use_custom_width="on" width_unit="off" custom_width_percent="57%" custom_padding="0px|||" padding_top_2="0px" padding_top_1="45px"][et_pb_column type="3_4" specialty_columns="3"][et_pb_row_inner admin_label="Row" _builder_version="3.17.4" custom_margin="0px|||" custom_padding="0px|||" padding_top_1="0px" custom_padding_last_edited="off|"][et_pb_column_inner type="4_4" saved_specialty_column_type="3_4"][et_pb_post_title admin_label="Date - don't edit" _builder_version="3.17.4" title="off" author="off" date_format="M Y" categories="off" comments="off" featured_image="off" module_class="trends-date" custom_margin="||0px|" /][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.17.6"] Donor-advised funds are growing in popularity with balances held in DAFs offered by community foundations and other sponsoring institutions growing at over 11% per year. At the end of 2016, DAF balances were approximately $3.2 billion…and expected to double over the next decade. But even with that growth in number and popularity, a full picture of Canadian donor-advised funds has been lacking…until now. A recently released report by Investor Economics, A Strategic Insight company, called Donor-advised Funds: The Intersection of Philanthropy and Wealth Management contains the most comprehensive examination of DAFs available in Canada. The report reviews DAFs from all points of view and provides insights into trends, possible regulatory developments and the attitudes of donors, sponsors and advisors. In this episode of The Ask, we explore the findings with report authors, Keith SjÖgren, Managing Director, Consulting Services at Investor Economics and Karen Hudson, an Independent Consultant working with Strategic Insight as well as with Jo-Anne Ryan, Vice President Philanthropic Advisory Services at TD Wealth. You can access information on accessing the report here. [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column_inner][/et_pb_row_inner][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="1_4"][et_pb_image _builder_version="3.17.6" src="http://kciphilanthropy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/366x366_Ask_Tiles_Ep13.jpg" align="center" custom_margin="0px|||" custom_padding="0px|||" /][et_pb_code admin_label="Social Media Share" _builder_version="3.17.2" saved_tabs="all" global_module="777"][et_social_share_custom][/et_pb_code][et_pb_sidebar _builder_version="3.17.4" area="et_pb_widget_area_2" show_border="off" module_class="insights-sidebar" /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_section]

[et_pb_section bb_built="1" specialty="off" _builder_version="3.17.4" background_image="https://kci.sendittoweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/1380x535_TheAsk_Hero.jpg" custom_padding="0px||0px|" custom_margin="0px||0px|" next_background_color="#ffffff" background_color="#333f48" module_class="trends-background"][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.17.2" make_fullwidth="on" use_custom_width="on" width_unit="off" custom_width_percent="100%" custom_margin="0px|||" custom_padding="0px||0px|" padding_top_1="0px" padding_bottom_1="0px" module_class="arrow-row"][et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_code admin_label="Back Button" _builder_version="3.17.4" module_class="people-back" saved_tabs="all"]Back[/et_pb_code][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.17.2" background_color_1="#ffffff" custom_margin="0px||0px|" custom_padding="360px||0px|" padding_top_1="20px" padding_left_1="50px" use_custom_width="on" custom_width_px="1210px" custom_padding_last_edited="on|tablet" module_class="trends-header" custom_padding_tablet="160px||0px|"][et_pb_column type="1_2"][et_pb_text admin_label="EPISODE / 12" _builder_version="3.17.6" module_class="episode-number" custom_margin="||0px|"] EPISODE / 12 [/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label="Building Trust: A conversation with the Right Honourable David Johnston" _builder_version="3.17.6" custom_margin="||20px|" module_class="trends-heading"] Building Trust: A conversation with the Right Honourable David Johnston [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="1_2"][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built="1" specialty="on" prev_background_color="#333f48" _builder_version="3.17.4" use_custom_width="on" width_unit="off" custom_width_percent="57%" custom_padding="0px|||" padding_top_2="0px" padding_top_1="45px"][et_pb_column type="3_4" specialty_columns="3"][et_pb_row_inner admin_label="Row" _builder_version="3.17.4" custom_margin="0px|||" custom_padding="0px|||" padding_top_1="0px" custom_padding_last_edited="off|"][et_pb_column_inner type="4_4" saved_specialty_column_type="3_4"][et_pb_post_title admin_label="Date - don't edit" _builder_version="3.17.4" title="off" author="off" date_format="M Y" categories="off" comments="off" featured_image="off" module_class="trends-date" custom_margin="||0px|" /][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.17.6"] Trust is essential to the sustainability and growth of any relationship and is a key currency by which we forge relationships with our donors and volunteers. But in recent years, Canadians have begun to exhibit declining levels of trust in many institutions, including those in the charitable sector. In thinking about how to regain that trust, the key is to focus on how to we can be trustworthy. In this episode of The Ask, we speak to the Right Honourable David Johnston about his book Trust: Twenty Ways to Build a Better Country in which he outlines what individuals, organizations and even societies can and should do to build stronger, more trusting relationships.   [/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label="Download PDF" _builder_version="3.17.4" module_class="download-pdf"] Transcript [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column_inner][/et_pb_row_inner][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="1_4"][et_pb_image _builder_version="3.17.6" src="https://kci.sendittoweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Episode_12_ASK_TILE.jpg" align="center" custom_margin="0px|||" custom_padding="0px|||" /][et_pb_code admin_label="Social Media Share" _builder_version="3.17.2" saved_tabs="all" global_module="777"][et_social_share_custom][/et_pb_code][et_pb_sidebar _builder_version="3.17.4" area="et_pb_widget_area_2" show_border="off" module_class="insights-sidebar" /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_section]