Save the Date: CCVO AGM Sept 21 | Calgary Housing Advocacy
Save the Date: CCVO AGM September 21
Save the date for our upcoming AGM on September 21 from 2:30-5:00pm.
Program:
AGM & Panel: 2:30-3:45
Reception: 3:45-5:00
This year we'll be back at Fort Calgary. After a short business AGM, we'll give you an overview of CCVO's year and what we're planning for the future. We'll wrap with some special guests who will discuss the current political environment and what it means for nonprofits. Watch for more information and a registration link at the end of August.
Calgary Housing and Affordability Advocacy
In June 2022, City Council enlisted a group of experts from diverse backgrounds on a Housing and Affordability Task Force that made several recommendations to council in June 2023, which did not pass, but will instead be revisited at committee on September 14th. CCVO would like to see Council vote in favour of the whole suite of recommendations.
Nonprofits are a major employer of thousands of Calgarians (women and newcomers in particular) and our employees need safe, affordable, appropriate housing. Calgary, like many municipalities in Canada, is facing an affordability crisis. We have an opportunity to make a real difference with these recommendations on housing to keep Calgary affordable and from falling into a serious housing crisis.
CCVO has drafted a letter to Council, asking them to accept the recommendations of the Task Force, and we are asking Calgary nonprofits to co-sign with us. Click the link below to send us a message to add your organization's name to the letter. Join us and a chorus of others in asking Council to pass these recommendations to ensure that we can keep Calgary affordable for the essential nonprofit employees in our sector. Read the full blog post here.
The Road So Far
With the provincial election a couple of months behind us, we're considering how to keep nonprofit issues on the agenda, whose agenda to put them on, and whether those issues have substantially changed in the last year. For now, we’re reflecting on what we’ve accomplished over the past year - so we can build on what’s worked, and let go of what hasn’t.
Our November 2022 report on the state of the sector, Too Essential to Fail, found that while other sectors recovered, nonprofits remained in crisis - juggling heightened demand for services with increasingly complex needs, while revenues decreased. Along with The Nonprofit Vote partners, CCVO sounded the alarm, calling for a $30M emergency cash injection to prevent failure in the #nonprofit sector - and save millions in downstream costs.
In February 2023, CCVO made requests of the 2023 Government of Alberta Budget in this pre-budget submission. We followed up with a light analysis of the 2023 Budget upon its release in March 2023. We noted our requests had not been met, but that there was acknowledgement of key issues facing the sector
Together with partners from The Nonprofit Vote, CCVO crafted 5 priorities that party leaders must incorporate in their platforms to set the sector up for success. These were rooted in research and community feedback to date, and included: Appropriate Funding, A Workforce Strategy, Better Data Collection, A Door to Government, and An Empowered Sector.
During the election season The Nonprofit Vote partners hosted UCP and NDP party leaders Danielle Smith and Rachel Notley to present their vision for Alberta’s #nonprofit sector. Read the entire Road Ahead blog post here.
Policy Updates
Know Your Ministers and Critics
The list of ministers and critics have been updated to include links to the mandate letters for all cabinet ministers. The list has also been updated to list any government committees that MLAs are a part of. See the list here.
Federal Nonprofit Data Coalition 2024 Federal Prebudget Submission
The Federal Nonprofit Data Coalition is made up of representatives from nearly 50 nonprofit organizations and institutions. The Coalition advances the sector's priorities relating to data collected by the federal government. CCVO is part of the Federal Nonprofit Data Coalition and one of the signatories on the prebudget submission. The 4 recommendations in the prebudget submission are:
1) A permanent external advisory committee for Statistics Canada with a mandate to improve data collection, analysis and release practices related to the nonprofit sector.
2) A follow-up to the 2003 National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations, to be repeated every three years.
3) A clear mandate for data collection on the nonprofit sector and modification of exiting Statistics Canada programs to better highlight the role of the nonprofit sector.
4) The federal government provide funding for the creation and maintenance of a Nonprofit Sector Data Lab.
Read the full recommendations and letter here.
Welfare in Canada, 2022
Maytree Canada
Welfare income refers to a household’s total income from all government transfers, not just social assistance payments. The amount varies in every province and territory because each jurisdiction has its own distinct social assistance program as well as refundable tax credit and benefit programs. Welfare in Canada, 2022 looks at the maximum total amount that a household would have received over the course of the 2022 calendar year, assuming they had no other source of income and no assets.
The report looks at:
• The variation of welfare incomes across Canada
• The components of welfare incomes in each province and territory
• Long-term changes in welfare incomes in each province and territory
• The adequacy of welfare incomes in each province compared to poverty and low-income thresholds
• Long-term changes in the adequacy of welfare incomes in each province • Asset and earned income levels as they relate to eligibility for social assistance
• Indexation of social assistance benefits, other benefits, and tax credits in each jurisdiction, and
• A breakdown of cost-of-living and shelter benefits for social assistance programs.
Read the full report here.
Learning Opportunities
TalentED Summer Social: Navigating Succesful Student Engagement
Aug 22 | Bow Valley Square
REGISTER
Nonprofit Marketing Summit: Radical Impact
Aug 22-24 | Online
REGISTER
Inclusive Insights: Craft Donor Surveys for Meaningful Engagement
Aug 29 | Online
REGISTER
Unleash AI's Potential: 5 Practical Strategies for Year-End Fundraising
Aug 29 | Online
REGISTER
Ensuring Digital Access to Emerging Technologies
Aug 31 | Online
REGISTER
Get Off the Fundraising Treadmill" Thinking Outside the Box
Aug 31 | Online
REGISTER
Funding & Grants
City of Calgary Arts and Culture Microgrant
Bring an idea for a public arts and culture experience to life with a 2023 Arts & Culture microgrant. Non-profits and registered charities, including Community Associations and Business Improvement Areas, can apply for between $5,001 and $50,000 in funding for community-based arts and culture initiatives taking place between December 2023 and May 2024.
To qualify, initiatives must:
Be new or have new components over previous years
Support local and publicly accessible programming and creative placemaking.
Include community-run projects and installations, opportunities for local artists and culture makers, events, activations in winter months,
Strengthen the local economy and contribute to community spirit and wellbeing.
The deadline for applications is September 13. Full details and application forms are available here.
CSEC Inclusion Program
The CSEC Inclusion Program fosters greater inclusion and access to sport for BIPOC individuals, people with disabilities, women and girls and the LGBTQ2S+ community.
Registered charities in southern Alberta that are working to increase access to spontaneous or organized sport for the above communities are welcome to apply for one time funding. Find the application here.
AWS InCommunities Calgary Fund
The Amazon Web Service (AWS) community grant program supports initiatives focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEM/STEAM) Education, Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity—with an emphasis on Truth and Reconciliation, Homelessness & Food Insecurity, and Health & Well-Being.
Organizations and individuals can apply for grants ranging from $500 up to $10,000 to launch a new or expand an existing community project that aligns to at least one of the five themes. Applicants can also apply for funding to introduce established community programs with proven impact in other communities across the world. Applications will be assessed and scored against funding criteria and the positive impact to the community, especially underserved populations.
AWS has committed CA$100,000 to the fund and applications for the AWS InCommunities Calgary Fund will be accepted until October 6, 2023. All successful applicants will complete a 30-day challenge, which includes mentorship and other resources, to kick-start their idea and take their first steps towards making their project a reality. find further grant application information here.
Mount Royal University Volunteer Fair
Mount Royal University's Volunteer Fair connects nonprofit organizations to MRU students who are seeking volunteer opportunities.
This is an opportunity to:
Recruit students from all programs for paid/unpaid volunteer positions
Showcase your organization
Attend the industry keynote and networking event: Fund a Student’s Future: How to Fund Your Student Workforce
The registration fee is $375 including GST. The fee includes a table, lunch, organization profile on Career Services website for September and October, organization name on student promotional materials and volunteer assistance throughout the day. The keynote starts at 9am with the exhibitor hall running from 10am-3pm. The registration deadline is August 21. Find more information here.
Blogs & More
What Trends Will Impact Charities and Nonprofits in the Third Quarter of 2023
Cathy Barr, Ph.D. & Emily Jensen, Imagine Canada
Summer is in full swing, and as much as we’d all love to go to the beach and forget about the news for a while, there is a lot happening that will impact our sector. The climate crisis is intensifying, with its impacts making themselves known on a weekly basis. Although Parliament is on break for the summer, nonprofits engaged in advocacy and policy work should be thinking about what an upcoming federal election means for their work. Finally, a new study shows that nonprofit organizations led by Black and Indigenous people and those from other underrepresented groups are doing much more to advance EDI than white-led organizations. Read More →
Why I'm No Longer Donating to Your No-good, Very Bad Nonprofit
Vu, Nonprofit AF
For the charitable organizations that want to improve their relationships with donors like me, here is how they can go about doing that:
Be prompt in your responses: Whenever you get a donation, immediately stop whatever you’re doing, such as helping a child find food during the summer or saving democracy or whatever your mission is, and make sure the donor feels properly thanked.
Have ongoing communications with donors: We don’t just want to hear from you when you need money, which seems to be curiously often. However, it’s important to honor donors’ wishes and communication preferences. For example, I only want to receive emails on Tuesday afternoons and phone calls when the moon is full. Read more →