I just read a press release issued by the British Cabinet office of the Third Sector announcing the appointment of philanthropist and thought-leader, Dame Stephanie Shirley to the new post of Ambassador of Philanthropy.  read more »

Imagine Canada released its annual review of the Ethical Code of Fundraising. A copy of the report is below, listing the charities that have adopted The Code.

The Code is one of the many items that you, as a donor, should be looking for when you consider investing in a charity.

Currently there are over 240 charities that have adopted this code. For more information please see the documents below or go to www.imaginecanada.ca/en/ethicalcode.

It's been a while since I posted something about the Ethical Code of Fundraising.  Attached to this blog post is a copy of Imagine Canada's Code and click here for how this information pertains to donors.

To date there are 180 organizations in Canada that subscribe to the code.  Have the organizations that you support adopted this code or something like it?

There are over 161,000 non-profits and charities in Canada with less than 1% of them formerly adopting Imagine Canada's code what does this say about the sector?  Or perhaps, what does it say about the role that Imagine Canada can play in strenthening the sector?  Should adopting the code be linked to the two year participation fee?  What role can donors play in encouraging their recipient organizations to adopt this code?  How can we encourage organizations to promote other similar ethical standards?

Last 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.

Next week Prime Minister Stephen Harper is going to release his budget to Parliament.  As our country, alongside the US, are looking at multi-billion dollar bail-outs for various for-profit sectors, the importance of a strong non-profit and charitable sector is ever more apparent.

The Calgary Herald reported in today's paper that the charitable sector is a $112 billion industry employing 2.1 million Canadians and comprises 8.6 per cent of the nation's GDP.  This is a sector that has been filling in where government has fallen short and has managed to function, for better or worse, during the booms and busts of our economy for decades.

If we are looking at a stimulus package - perhaps the for-profits that are turning to government for bail-out funding should take a page out of a charity's operating handbook.  How many organizations have generated innovative and far-reaching programs and services based on shoe-string budgets?

In Alberta, the incentives for donating are great - almost a 50% tax deduction for charitable giving.  With over 19,000 charities and non-profits in Alberta the financial power is quite significant.  Perhaps, in addition to (or instead of) bailing out the for-profit entities, the government should also look at increasing the capacity supports for the organizations that are filling the gaps where government and business has fallen short?

While they are at it, this might be a good time to review the approval process for registering charities and non-profits.  One thing they might start looking at is the issue of duplication of services and stop issuing registration numbers to organizations that are not adding to the sector, instead using their extensive database to link similar organizations in order to share resources and do even better work? 

Just a thought during our tighter financial times...