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1.
Sustainability Network Announcement: Rooftop Summer Celebration Launches 2010 Organizational Report
On Friday, July 16, over 150 supporters came together for a fun evening of conversation, refreshment and inspiration. It was great to see so many members of Toronto's environmental community enjoying the summer and celebrating the important contributions of the sector. Special thanks go out to Steam Whistle, AutoShare, Bullfrog Power, Green Living Enterprises, ChocoSol and Evolutiongreen.com. To view photos of the event please go to http://www.sustainabilitynetwork.ca
That evening, we also launched our latest Organizational Report. It's a 28 page overview of our programs, board members and staff as well as our latest financials. To download a PDF copy, visit http://sustainabilitynetwork.ca/reports.html |
2.
Sustainability Network’s Good to Great Program: Archive on First Learning Network Now Online
This gathering, involving 16 participants from across Ontario, took place on May 26 -28, 2010 at the Harmony Dawn Retreat Centre outside Cobourg. This first of three Learning Network gatherings for the six participating organizations focused on establishing a peer network and helping these organizations define priority capacity challenges and year-long development projects that will initiated this fall.
For a list of participants, an agenda, testimonials and photos please visit:
http://sustainabilitynetwork.ca/session1_goodtogreat.html |
3.
Boreal Learning Network: Second Western Session Now Archived Online
This gathering, involving 18 participants from British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, took place on June 15 - 17, 2010 at the Doig River First Nation Reserve, outside of Fort ST. John, BC.
The second session continued to focus on engaging partners for boreal sustainability. Within this theme, multiple developments and snowballing impacts across provincial and territorial jurisdictions were discussed.
For a list of participants, the resource team, an agenda and photos please visit:
http://sustainabilitynetwork.ca/session2_wboreal09_10.html |
4.
Reminder: Powerpoint Projector – and Now a Flip Camera -- Available for Rent
Environmental nonprofits in Toronto are invited to rent our Flip Camera and LCD projectors.
We aim to provide environmental nonprofits with temporary access to projection and video equipment that many organizations find too expensive to purchase or even rent privately. We have a Panasonic PT-LB50XGA and a Dell 1800MP, as well as a Flip Camera that directly downloads videos to your computer via a USB port. The LCD projectors require a lap top to operate and can project video as well as Powerpoint presentations.
Those interested should can check availability of the projectors and the camera, and make a reservation at http://sustainabilitynetwork.ca/lcd_rental.html
Once you have made a reservation, your browser will be redirected to our online payment to collect $50/day for a projector and $10/day for the Flip Camera. Reservations will only be confirmed after payment has been processed. Users will be required to pick up and drop off the equipment from our downtown Toronto office (no shipping, couriers or cab pick-ups) and sign a loan agreement stating terms of use, and an itemized check list with replacement costs. The projectors and camera are expensive items and we reserve the right to decline any loan request. |
5.
Update: Sustainability Network’s Environment & Diveristy Project
The Environment & Diversity Project is a four-year collaborative designed to help the Ontario environmental NGO community consider, develop and implement strategies to better reflect and engage under-represented communities.
This month, news about free workshops offered by various community colleges across Ontario that help employers overcome potential cultural biases when recruiting skilled immigrants. The first workshop will examine how changing demographics are affecting the Ontario workforce; explore how culture can influence hiring decisions; and includes an assessment tool to measure cultural awareness. The second workshop will provide tools for recruitment and selection; information on how to access highly talented and skilled workers; and include the creation of an action plan. To find out more and to register, visit: http://www.collegeconnect.on.ca/areyouready
Read more about the Environment & Diversity Project and sign up for our listserv at:
http://www.sustainabilitynetwork.ca/environment_project.html
For timely information, updates and lessons learned, visit our blog at:
http://environment-and-diversity.blogspot.com |
6.
Facebook: Are You One of Our ‘Fans’?
If you are on Facebook, please consider becoming a ‘fan’. More than 400 of your peers couldn’t be wrong!
Visit our page for some archived information but more importantly, you’ll get our status updates. We generally post about once per week and share items and announcements that can’t wait until the next edition of the Digest.
Becoming a fan is as simple as clicking through on the link below:
http://bit.ly/susnet_facebook |
7.
Sustainability Network and the Environmental Monitor: Major Discount on Public Opinion Research for Environmental Nonprofits
Sustainability Network and McAllister Opinion Research are pleased to offer a special arrangement for environmental nonprofits to subscribe to the Environmental Monitor.
The Environmental Monitor provides subscribers up to date and in depth insight into where Canadian public opinion is headed on issues like global warming, air pollution, water pollution, protection of wilderness ecosystems, energy conservation, environmental credibility and much more. This information will help you assess which audiences care about your issues most, what matters to them and how to reach them.
Subscribers receive:
- A copy of the Environmental Monitor, issued twice per year, for use throughout your organization
- Access for up to two representatives to two private, subscriber-only ENGO briefings in Toronto (with phone hook ups) by report author Angus McAllister.
You can acquire this highly respected source of public opinion research at a significant discount from the regular ENGO price of $14,310. There are several ways your organization can participate:
Small ENGO Discount Package
(Limited to small ENGOs with 10 staff or less and budgets under $1 million)
Cost: $1,590
ENGO Regular Discount Package
(Limited to ENGOs with budgets of under $2 million)
Cost: $5,300
Qualified environmental organizations across the country are invited to take advantage of this offer. To subscribe to either ENGO Regular Discount or the Small ENGO Group Package, please contact Paul Bubelis at 416 324 2792 or paul@sustainabilitynetwork.ca Anyone interested in finding out more about Full Service ENGO subscriptions at $14,310 should contact Angus McAllister at 604 601 2111 or angus@mcallister-research.com |
8.
Sustainability Network Publication: Getting the Message Out
'Getting the Message Out: A Step By Step Communications Guide for Environmentalists’ is Sustainability Network publication designed to help environmental groups focus their communication efforts. The work that environmental groups do, preserving our natural heritage for future generations, is hard, time-consuming and often difficult to communicate. Groups struggle with limited resources, competition for media attention and publics pre-occupied with important and pressing issues of the economy, health, social welfare and education.
Through exercises, worksheets and basic communications theory, this handbook will help any environmental group bring that focus to its communication efforts. We hope this handbook will help environmental groups and environmentalists tell the story about the critical work they do, in preserving our natural heritage. It's an important story, and one that should be heard.
Visit http://sustainabilitynetwork.ca/publications.html to view the preface, table of contents and the first chapter. Read what Charity Village review and information about how to order your copy.
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9.
Web Site of the Month: “Welcome Aboard”
Published by the Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick (PLEIS-NB), this site offers a number of bilingual resources to help individuals better understand the roles and responsibilities of board members, executive directors, and volunteers. Resources on the site include pamphlets, a handbook for board members, and a downloadable video.
Check it out at:
http://www.legal-info-legale.nb.ca/en/index.php?page=welcome_aboard |
10.
ICL Offering: Leading from Within
Participate in the Institute for Conservation Leadership’s Leading From Within program and discover your capacity to lead. Develop a leadership style that takes advantage of your unique personal traits. Be ready to tackle any situation through greater awareness of your individual strengths and confidence to impact others. Develop life-long leadership skills to create productive teams, address conflicts, and build the trusting relationships we all need to succeed.
By the end of Leading from Within, you will:
- Know your leadership strengths and how to use them,
- Have a greater impact as a leader in one-on-one, group, and organizational settings
- Choose your actions strategically from a place of centeredness, rather than reactivity
- Develop a toolbox of skills for effective leadership in a variety of situations, and
- Address current leadership challenges that you are facing.
Leading from Within 2010-11 runs from October 2010 to March 2011. Applications are due August 9, 2010. ICL is offering tuition assistance to groups who work on freshwater issues in the Great Lakes. For more information, visit http://www.icl.org/programs or contact Heather Misner at 240.638.3599 or heather@icl.org |
11.
CRA on HST: New Document Explaining Implications of HST For Nonprofits
As Ontario and British Columbia implemented the HST on July 1, 2010, nonprofits may have questions concerning HST rebates or other rules or requirements resulting from the new tax. To answer these questions, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has developed a publication called ‘Harmonized Sales Tax for Ontario and British Columbia — Questions and Answers for Public Service Bodies’.
For more information, and to access the publication, visit:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/gi/notice253/notice253-e.pdf |
12. Announcement: Nonprofit Risk Conference
Imagine Canada recently announced that they will be organizing a Nonprofit Risk Conference on October 28 2010 at the Delta Toronto East (Kennedy Rd/401).
Sixteen workshops covering governance, HR and finance and two keynote speakers comprise the bulk of the agenda but there will be ample time to network with over 250 nonprofit/charity leaders. The first 100 registrants are entered automatically in a draw for one Apple iPad. You also save 15% off everyone’s registration when you register online for more than one person from your same organization.
Learn more or register at:
http://nonprofitrisk.imaginecanada.ca |
13.
Free Webinar for Nonprofits: Your Board and Fundraising: An Introductory Class
The purpose of this 60 minute webinar is to think systematically through the process of getting your board involved with fundraising. This process involves some key elements:
- Understanding the role of your board
- How to overcome board member concerns regarding fundraising
- Ways the board can participate in the fundraising process
- Tips for strengthening your fundraising board
Register online for sessions on Wednesday, July 28, 3:00 - 4:00 PM Eastern or
Thursday, September 9, 2:00 - 3:00 PM Eastern at:
http://foundationcenter.org/getstarted/training/webinars/ybf_webinar.html |
14.
Update: The Partnership Project
Initiated by the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, the project aims to strengthen conversation between the Ontario government and the nonprofit sector.
Feedback from around the province will be gathered via eight regional consultations and via the Partnership Project website. To date, two in person regional consultations have been completed, one in Thunder Bay and one in Toronto. The online forum will present the same questions that are being used in the regional forums in both French and English and discussion will be generated in the form of a blog. Organizations are also able to send in their own submissions up until October.
The Ontario Nonprofit Network is active and creating new constellations and engaging existing groups, such as the Ontario Social Enterprise Forum, to undertake detailed work on determining the most productive “asks”. ONN topic areas include:
• Structuring the big relationship,
• Funding Reform,
• Maximizing sector potential
• Policy, research and coordination
Find out more at the Ontario Trillium Foundation site:
http://www.trilliumfoundation.org/cms/en/partnership.aspx
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15.
Management Advisory Service: Free Management Consulting for Toronto NGOs
Since 1993 the Management Advisory Service (MAS) has provided no-fee consulting help to over 600 non-profit organizations throughout the GTA. MAS is a registered charity with a mission to improve the ability of Toronto-area non-profit agencies to better serve their clients. It is a group of over 90 volunteer consultants with extensive experience in management and technical areas in both the private and public sectors. MAS can help in many areas, including with governance and board development, facilitation, strategic and technical planning, mentoring and coaching, human resources and organizational analysis, marketing and communications, information management, finance and accounting, and fundraising.
For more information, visit:
http://www.masadvise.ca |
16.
Report: Ketchum Canada’s Latest Philanthropic Trends Analysis
This latest edition of Ketchum Canada Trend Analysis, launched in spring 2010, is now available. This edition (Issue #2) explores technology. As always, they interviewed a number of their Philanthropic Trends Advisory Board members but also polled a cross section of clients and colleagues to get a broader sense of what the trends are in the sector.
Check out this 6 page Summer 2010 issue at:
http://www.kciphilanthropie.com/english/explore/trends/ptq-1002.pdf |
17.
Report: 2010 Global Thought Leader Survey on Sustainability
The views of more than 5,000 sustainability thought leaders in Canada, the U.S. and Europe are outlined in The 2010 Global Thought Leader Survey on Sustainability, commissioned by the Pembina Institute from McAllister Opinion Research.
Thought leaders from government, academia, industry, institutions and non-profit organizations completed the survey, which featured a core set of sustainability-related questions plus four specialized sections: climate change, sustainable energy, green economics and oil sands.
These results clearly illustrate that leaders within government, academia and the private sector understand the energy and sustainability challenges Canada faces, and have a high level of agreement on how best to tackle them. However, federal performance on sustainability is out of step with the views of those surveyed.
This is one of the largest recent surveys of the Canadian bureaucracy on sustainable energy and climate change.
For a copy of this 35 page report, published in May 2010, visit:
http://pubs.pembina.org/reports/thought-leader-survey-2010-pembina-summary.pdf |
19.
Report: What Makes an Effective Advocacy Organization? A Framework for Determining Advocacy Capacity
Advocacy as a strategy for the nonprofit sector has become increasingly widespread. Foundations are looking to fund more of this type of work; nonprofits are learning how to harness its power to achieve their mission; and both are trying to better understand how to evaluate success. To that end, The California Endowment asked the TCC Group to conduct an evaluation of a cohort of advocacy organizations who were receiving general support from the foundation. One of the important outcomes of that evaluation was a much deeper understanding of the characteristics of effective advocacy organizations.
Check out this 40 page report from January 2009 at:
http://www.tccgrp.com/pdfs/EffectiveAdvocacy_final.pdf |
20.
Article: Mission, Message, and Damage Control by Kim Klein
The following article has been adapted from Kim Klein’s new book, Reliable Fundraising in Unreliable Times, published by Jossey-Bass. In it, Klein shares strategies for surviving and thriving in any economy. The book is filled with practical advice on short- and long-term fundraising strategies and on issues that have an impact on fundraising, such as the role of nonprofits in working for the common good, the role of taxes in creating a just society, and the need for new organizational forms to accomplish nonprofit work.
Check out this 6 page article, published in the fall of 2009 at:
http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1585:mission-message-and-damage-control&catid=167:fall-2009-preview |
21.
Guide: The (Board) President's First 100 Days
This easy-to-read, 41 page step-by-step guide published by the Canadian Association Executive Association in 2007 is filled with tips for incoming presidents. Topics include staff and volunteer management, planning, resources, and organizational structure.
Check it out at:
http://www.csae.com/PublicUploads/224380hit_the_ground.pdf |
ABOUT THE SUSTAINABILITY NETWORK
The Sustainability Network is a support centre for environmental nonprofit organizations.
Our mission is to strengthen the capacity of the environmental community by improving
organizational management and leadership skills. Find out more at http://sustainabilitynetwork.ca
Paul Bubelis, Executive Director, paul@sustainabilitynetwork.ca
Victor Reyes, Program Manager, victor@sustainainabilitynetwork.ca
Sonia Dong, Diversity Project Manager, sonia@sustainainabilitynetwork.ca
YOUR PRIVACY
Sustainability Network will not sell or trade your email address.
OUR SPONSORS
The Ontario Trillium Foundation supports our Good to Great Program. Our work in the Boreal is supported by the Ivey Foundation, RBC Royal Bank, Suncor Energy Foundation, and The Winnipeg Foundation
. We also appreciate the support of the Salamander Foundation.
QUESTIONS? FEEDBACK?
We love feedback. Please email Paul Bubelis (paul@sustainabilitynetwork.ca)
with any suggestions or comments.
For any inquiries related to this edition of the Sustainability Network Digest or if you have any trouble accessing
the documents offered here, please contact Victor Reyes at 416-324-2792 or victor@sustainabilitynetwork.ca
CONTACT US
215 Spadina Avenue, Suite 128, Toronto M5T 2C7 [t] 416-324-2792 [f] 416-979-3936
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