The Nonprofit Vote New Video and Election Resources
2023 Platform Priorities: Sign the Letter of Support
The provincial election is on May 29. Provincial platform priorities were created courtesy of The Nonprofit Vote members: Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations, Edmonton Chamber of Voluntary Organizations, FUSE Social, Volunteer Lethbridge, and the Rozsa Foundation. These five platform priorities will help to ensure essential nonprofit services are there for Albertans when they need them. They include:
Appropriate Funding: Invest $300 million over 3 years in a Community Prosperity Fund for nonprofits to address the impacts of the pandemic, inflation, and historic under-resourcing to ensure this essential sector is here for Albertans when they need it most.
A Workforce Strategy: Undertake a labour market study and strategy to stabilize the nonprofit workforce by addressing recruitment and retention concerns.
Better Data Collection: Collaborate on data collection to ensure government and nonprofits can be more effective through data-informed actions.
A Door To Government: Explore creating a dedicated space in government to share challenges, successes and opportunities with renewed partnership from the Government of Alberta to address them.
An Empowered Sector: Make funding go further by cutting red tape and sharing decision-making with nonprofits on the most effective allocation of government dollars.
Read more about the platform priorities here.
The Nonprofit Vote has launched a campaign in conjunction with the platform priorities. Sign the letter of support to tell the provincial party leaders that nonprofits are important and you want to see these priorities included in their platforms.
2023 Platform Priorities Updates
The NDP responded formally to The Nonprofit Vote’s Platform Priorities last week, acknowledging the strain the sector has experienced and committing to incorporate all five requests. Details are emerging about their financial commitments to the sector. So far this party has pledged to: 1) Increase the Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) and Family and Community Safety (FCS) programs by $80 million, from $160 million currently to $240 million; and 2) Increasing the Community Facility Enhancement Program funding from $50 million currently to $75 million annually, with an additional $100 million annual capital investment fund. View the NDP's full response here.
This positive response is encouraging, and we will keep you posted when we receive a response from the UCP. We look forward to seeing the details of these commitments, and will release an analysis of the NDP and UCP platforms once both are released.
The Nonprofit Vote made the cover of the Lethbridge Herald last week with a candidate forum hosted by NPV Director Volunteer Lethbridge. Supportive statements about the nonprofit sector were made by the UCP and NDP candidates in attendance. Read the story here!
This week the NDP responded to the Rozsa Foundation and The Nonprofit Vote’s VoteArtsAB campaign with a commitment to:
provide a 50% funding increase to the Alberta Foundation for the Arts;
provide a standalone Arts Capital Grants Program to support a range of projects in urban centres; and
create a Live Entertainment Advisory Council to showcase and amplify Alberta talent, and coordinate and attract world-class shows and events to Alberta.
The UCP have not yet responded to this campaign, and we will update you as soon as they do. We also look forward to analyzing all party platforms once released in terms of their alignment with nonprofit sector priorities.
Hear it directly from nonprofit leaders: our sector’s work is essential and needs support. We’re excited to launch the video below, with many thanks to our colleagues for sharing their time and expertise!
2023 #Nonprofitsvote Provincial Toolkit
We have put together a 2023 #Nonprofitsvote Provincial Toolkit for nonprofits to experience the unbridled joy of democracy. Below is a summary of the 8 step Toolkit.
Consider why nonprofit issues are election issues. Our ability to provide essential services requires productive collaboration with the Government of Alberta - so we want to know how parties intend to do so, if elected. If we don’t make an ask, we let other issues drive the agenda and we’re less likely to see commitments that support our essential work.
Learn what our sector needs. The Nonprofit Vote partners have established 5 Platform Priorities , that each party must include to ensure the vitality of our sector. Read the priorities here.
Join the Call. Ask your party leaders to incorporate The Nonprofit Vote priorities in their platforms. We have a letter of support you can sign here.
Click here for our Platform Priority communications toolkit, complete with a sample blog and social media posts.Learn what is in party platforms. COMING SOON! Platform analysis is coming soon. Check back on this page for more updates or sign up for the policy newsletter.
Explore our sector's diversity on issues. The Nonprofit Vote advocates for the sector as whole. But the issues our sector engages with are diverse. We’ve started to gather issue-based priorities published by Alberta nonprofits. Learn more here!
Make Your Vote Plan. Prepare the when, how and where of your personal vote plan. Find more information here on taking time off work to vote, voting by special ballot, mobile polls, and other voting accommodations.
Harass your friends (Get Out the Vote). We have swag! Remind your friends and colleagues to vote without having to say a word. Click here for downloadable stickers and tent cards. Don’t forget to follow and use our fancy hashtag, #nonprofitsvote.
Prepare for Doorknockers. Have questions ready in case you run into local candidates.
Provincial Election 2023: Policy Advocacy Guide for Nonprofits
The Provincial Election 2023: Policy Advocacy Guide for Nonprofits is a practical guide for nonprofits wishing to engage in advocacy during the 2023 provincial election. This Guide is intended to help inform a range of nonprofit stakeholders, including executive directors, staff, board members and volunteers, about the context, rules, and strategies that can be used to support nonprofit contributions to public policy dialogue and development.
No matter how you use this Guide, our intent is that it contributes to a healthy and participatory democratic process through the invaluable contributions of the nonprofits across Alberta.
Policy Updates
What Trends Will Impact Charities and Nonprofits in the Second Quarter of 2023
Cathy Barr, Ph.D. & Emily Jensen, Imagine Canada
Imagine Canada discusses the challenges charities and nonprofits are facing as a result of the climate crisis, a hard insurance market, recent data on donation trends and the opportunities for our sector in changing models of work.
Demand for humanitarian and disaster relief, both at home and around the globe, will increase as the incidence of climate catastrophes increases. Many nonprofits are already indirectly affected by the climate crisis through its impact on insurance costs and availability. We are in the midst of what the insurance industry calls a “hard market”.
Statistics Canada recently released preliminary estimates of charitable giving for 2021, based on donations claimed by taxfilers. The data shows that taxfilers claimed a total of $11.8 billion in donations in 2021, up from $10.9 claimed in 2020. Adjusted for inflation, this is an increase of almost 8%. The donor base continues to shrink though.
A recent Canadian survey showed that flexible work arrangements impact the decision of 81% of workers to stay at or leave a job. While nonprofits often struggle to offer competitive wages and benefits, in many cases offering more flexible working arrangements is within reach. In the economy overall, 32% of nonprofit employers plan to offer flexible scheduling over the next year, compared to 22% of all employers. See the full article here.
Learning Opportunities
Learning Opportunities
Income Tax Amendments - Not for Profit Webinar
May 23 | Online
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Board Development Program - Committees and Meetings Webinar
May 24 | Online
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Advertising on any Nonprofit Budget: Small Investment, Big Impact
May 25 | Online
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Expense Management in Challenging Economic Times
May 25 | Online
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Board Development Program - Building Strong Teams & Effective Relationships
May 31 | Online
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Unlearning Workshop Series: An Introduction to Unlearning
May 31 | Online
REGISTER
Funding & Grants
Operating Grant New Client Intake Program
The Operating Grant Program provides stable, predictable funding to non-profit arts organizations in Calgary. Operating Grant funds may be allocated to any area of an arts organization’s budget.
The Operating Grant New Client Intake Program is open to applicants who did not receive an operating grant from Calgary Arts Development from 2020 – 2022. Successful applicants will be streamed into the Operating Grant Program and will receive an annual operating grant of $10,000 – $30,000 confirmed for 2023 and 2024. The deadline for grant applications is June 21. Find out more information and apply here.
Student Work Placement Program
The Student Work Placement Program (SWPP) Powered by Magnet brings together employers, students, and post-secondary school stakeholders. The program provides employers with wage subsidies to hire post-secondary students for paid work experiences
The SWPP is open to registered Canadian nonprofits that are willing to provide a quality work-integrated learning experience to a Post Secondary student. Post secondary institutions and non secular institutions are ineligible.
Organizations can receive 50% of the wages (to a maximum of $5,000) for each net new placement or 70% of the wages (to a maximum of $7,000) for each net new placement for under-represented groups including women in STEM, Indigenous students, newcomers, and persons with disabilities, visible minority as well as first-year students. Organizations must have the financial capacity to pay the student for the duration of the placement as the wage subsidy will not be administered until after the placement.
Funding is limited and administered on a first-come, first-served basis wherein completed applications are prioritized in the order they are received. Find application details here.
CATAMOUNT Fellowship for Emerging Changemakers
The Catamount Fellowship is currently accepting applications for community partners. The fellowship brings together a cohort of 10-12 aspiring changemakers. These are senior level students from across academic disciplines who share a passion for a more just and equitable future for all. Students are selected based on their academic maturity and demonstrated interest in fostering community well-being. Participants are matched with a community partner and faculty mentor who will help inform and steward their research that addresses a systemic community-wide issue.
Role of the Community Partner:
Identifying a systemic community-wide issue that your organization is involved in tackling, either directly or as part of a collaboration or coalition. The issue identified will be used during the application process
Meeting with the student fellow at various points throughout the program (late-September 2023 through April 2024) The frequency can be determined by yourself and the designated fellow and is anticipated to be no more than 4-8 hours per month.
Working with the student fellow as the lead, host a community conversation related to the research topic. The community conversation can happen anytime between November 2023 and the end of January 2024.
Attending the welcome gathering in September (Date TBD)
Learn more and apply to be a community partner here.
Blogs & More
Changing the Conversation: Research, Surprising Findings, and the Volunteer Screening Program
Volunteer Alberta
During 2022, the Volunteer Screening Program conducted various evaluations and research activities to deepen their understanding of Alberta's volunteer screening and engagement practices. This included identifying shared understanding, gaps in knowledge, and drawing connections between the lived experiences of the volunteers and the organizations that engage them. From these evaluative conversations, they have identified evolving good practices and issues to consider further. This webinar details Volunteer Alberta's approach, methods, analysis, and dives into what was asked and what was heard from our various evaluations and research activities, including focus groups and large benchmark surveys. Watch the video →
"We Can't Refuse to Look at Artificial Intelligence Until It Passes Us By" : A New Survey Finds That Most Charities Don't Understand How They Could Use Artificial Intelligence
Sharlene Gandhi Future of Good
A significant majority of charities surveyed responded neutrally to two important statements posed to them in the survey: “AI will fundamentally change how the charitable sector operates” (38.8 per cent neutral) and “AI is not relevant to the work of our organization” (29.6 per cent neutral). 36.1 per cent also responded neutrally to the statement of AI helping charities to more effectively target their programs and services. Most respondents also felt neutral about the risk of AI perpetuating bias and discrimination, leading to job displacement, and posing a risk to data privacy or security for charities and their clients.
This on one hand does suggest that a lot of charities don’t know enough about artificial intelligence to comfortably feel that they can voice an opinion, but on the other hand, the survey also shows that some do recognize its potential: for example, 77.8 per cent of those surveyed agreed on some level that AI could help them analyze large datasets. Read more →
Women, Work, and Parenting: How The Mental Load of Motherhood Impacts The Nonprofit Sector in Canada
Lacey Kempinski, Charity Village
We need to normalize supporting parents, parental leaves, and a holistic understanding of the empathic and (often) emotionally exhausting work that happens in the sector.
Eliminating the constant revolving door of turnover can lead to longstanding, trust-based donor relationships, cost savings related to reduced recruitment and onboarding efforts, and projects uninterrupted by staff changes and learning curves.
As a sector built on showing empathy and working to solve the world’s biggest problems, it’s critical that we show empathy to our staff and teams, which will in turn impact revenue and profit loss. And, at the very heart of it, if we lead with compassion and kindness, we will get it in return. It should be that simple. Read More →