Research and Education
Giving Resources
Writing and Articles
Pennies for Charity and Copper for Government?
Canada getting rid of the penny has given me some good food for thought over the past few days, particularly since there has been promotion of charities using their 'drive' mentality to collect pennies from the public as a fundraising mechanism. The thought of charities competing for all of...
Pursuing Legacy
“I hate it when people call themselves “entrepreneurs” when what they’re really trying to do is launch a start-up and then sell or go public, so they can cash in and move on. They’re unwilling to do the work it takes to build a real company, which is the hardest work in the business. That’s how...
Beyond Micro-credit: What’s Next?
I had the privilege of helping to open the Calgary Microcredit Conference this past weekend on a panel with Mark Durieux, University of Calgary, and Rupert Scofield, FINCA where we provided our thoughts to answer the day’s question and conference theme: Microcredit and Beyond - The Emerging Wave...
The Privilege of Doing Good
I winced slightly during the opening session of SOCAP and wondered if I’d wandered into another variation of dealing with white man’s guilt. Phrases like “changed forever”, “southeast Asia”, “compelled to do something”, and “Peace Corps” sounded like the clichés of philanthropy and of...
Is Canada Immune?
It's easy to get a bit self-satisfied North of the border - especially, when we look South and think, "at least that's not us." The past two days of the market and guidance from world institutions show us that it's not as rosy as our glasses would like us to see. Good Labs new 'no-charts' let me...
Just Swing: Does golf really have lessons for everything?
My husband is a very good golfer. I played on my high school team. But that was ages ago. Yesterday, at the driving range, in hopes of improving my swing and shots I kept asking my husband for pointers. Should I move my feet? Are my knees bent? Am I moving too much? Usually a very exacting...
How do we shift from online fundraising to online engagement?
Remember a few years ago when Facebook introduced the Causes application? It seemed very exciting that you could at once show off the causes you supported and use the "social" part of social media to connect your friends. Because of your support, the reach of non-profit organizations opened up...
Can we really measure our way to Utopia?
To what ends are we measuring? For which purposes do we evaluate? In a recent board meeting someone said, We can measure. We can seek to tally our impact. But will it change us? If only one child is hungry, will we not still feed them? It's fascinating for me to sit inside the picture frame of...
How does it feel? Update: Small Change Fund Thank You Notes
A couple weeks ago, I wrote about my interest in how online giving platforms "feel". My interest is in an attempt to understand how we can better humanize online giving and make the peer-to-peer connection stronger. In my example, I talked about a donation I made through Small Change Fund for the...