ChristmasFuture
Storytelling
Posted May 27th, 2009 by Gena RotsteinI sit on several boards for a variety of charities and non-profit organizations. One of the groups that I am involved with is ChristmasFuture. What I like about them is how they collaborate with others and support the activities of organizations who are addressing some of the systemic social problems around poverty in the developing world.
The slideshow at the bottom of this post is about ChristmasFuture and Jay Baydala, their Executive Director. I share it with you for a couple of reasons, the most obvious is because I am personal engaged in the work that they do. The other reason is that this slide show is a great use of technology bridging the gap between the donor and the organization. For sure, without question this is a marketing tool. But, it is also an educational piece and an interactive storyboard. Viewers can comment, vote, share and connect with others who agree and disagree with the content and the process.
Societal fabric is created through storytelling. This is one story of many.
Enjoy the show!
The 1% Rule --> 10% Rule --> to the 75% standard
Posted April 6th, 2009 by Gena RotsteinLast weekend I was working on taxes... Well, the first half was spent thinking... (couched for procrastination)... Thinking because doing would imply that I actually pulled all the pieces of paper out of their respective files and assembled them in some sequence to give to my accountant. By the end of the weekend I did end up pulling papers out files and sorting the various documents.
But, while I was thinking about taxes I was also thinking about my own charity, both through Dexterity Consulting and me personally. My father taught me to, "Pay Myself First". You know, the idea that you put 10% of each pay-cheque aside (this was a reasonable request until I became self-employed... hmmm...). My conscience taught me, with distinct influence from our Judeo-Christian society, that I should also put 10% aside for "Repairing the World," however I determine what those repairs should be. Then I was introduced to Imagine Canada and their Caring Companies program. This is a group of corporate citizens who have committed to investing 1% of their pre-tax dollars into community organizations. A copy of the commitment document is attached at the bottom of this blog. I invite you to join Dexterity Consulting and 120 other companies across Canada is making this commitment.
A few months ago I had to submit my renewal to Imagine Canada for my commitment. I hadn't given much thought to what this would look like as it is just second nature to how I operate. I am proud to share with you that last year Dexterity Consulting donated over 75% of revenue in cash and services!!!
Dexterity Consulting provides a flexible workplace for its employees to engage in volunteer activities in the community during "regular work hours" as well as donating a portion of contract services time to charities that align with our corporate values of effective Community Economic Development. In addition to these in-kind supports, Gena Rotstein and Dexterity Consulting made cash donations of $1,644.
As a small company targeting individuals and other small and medium sized businesses to help them strategically and tactically invest in community projects it is important to me, and those who associate with Dexterity Consulting as staff and associates, that strengthening our communities (however we choose to define them) is at the core of our work. Thank you to everyone who made this amazing accomplishment possible.
Organizations we supported in 2008:
ChristmasFuture, The Safe Haven Foundation, The Calgary Inter-Faith Food Bank, Canadian Humanitarian, and programs/services supported Calgary Jewish Community Council.
We are currently reviewing our commitments for 2009 and will be updating the charities we support in the coming months.
Charitable Mutual Funds
Posted July 31st, 2008 by Gena Rotstein
You know how you get energy off of being around peo
ple who have great ideas. That is how I am feeling today - energized! I was at a wonderful luncheon today with some of my dearest friends and colleagues - Jay Baydala, CEO of Christmas Future; Alison Pidskalny, Director of Business Development for CAWST and Shauna Curry Director of International Project also from CAWST.
We got to talking about charitable investment models for individuals. One of the things that I have been promoting through Dexterity Consulting is this Philanthropic Brokerage model whereby individuals can make charitable investments through a "mutual fund" model. There has been much discussion from the Rockefeller Foundation and others on what a stock market for the charitable sector would look like. What we came up with is more of a Cause Marketing approach to philanthropic investments. We are still putting the pieces together, but in an hour and a half we have identified who we want to to be a part of this process. If you are interested please share your contact info with me. This is going to be an exciting ride, a movement of individuals and organizations to collectively change the world. I AM SO EXCITED!!!
Whew - now that I have that bit of unprofessionalism out of the way...
As I am putting together my book on Strategic Philanthropy, one of the topics that has come out of the interviews is the use of technology. In my next post I will be sharing with you how technology is empowering every-day people in generating large-scale global impact.
Something else to get excited about!
If You Build It, They Will Come
Posted July 25th, 2008 by Gena RotsteinI had to laugh as this is entirely opposite to the way North American organizations fundraise. Here we raise the funds, then build the project. And if we work for a transparent organization we are very clear with our donors when we are raising those funds when we anticipate spending them and on what.
I sit on the Board of Directors for an organization, Chrismas Future that provides funding to projects overseas. One thing that makes this organization unique from other international funding agencies is the Proof of Impact reporting that is provided to its donors. Recently, I received a notice saying that one of the projects was up and running. I thought this was interesting since the project had only raised a few hundred dollars of it's multi-thousand dollar budget. As someone who has travelled extensively and has been actively involved in projects in Africa, this attitude towards funding projects is not foreign to me. But, I can imagine that if I were someone who was not wholly familiar with how projects in the developing world were managed I might think that my funds were being misspent. I believe that Proof of Impact reporting is critical, especially when it comes to overseas funding and there is always the possibility of major mismanagement. What needs to happen more though, are explanations behind the funding stories - how culture plays into the decisions to move ahead with a project or not.
Consider how your charitable investment decisions are directly impacting those organizations that are managing the projects, and what it would be like for them if they had to wait for all the funding to arrive. In Canada, international development receives a mere 3% of total philanthropic giving each year. Imagine what state the developing world would be in if they had to wait for our funds when only 3% per year is contributed to improving their lives. Next time you make a donation to an organization doing international development, ask yourself, will you be okay with the funds being disbursed and the project started even if the sustainable funding threshold has not been reached? I find it amazing and inspiring what some of these organizations are able to do with so little. They have proven that the, "Build it and They will Come" approach works.
