UN-HABITAT Opportunities Fund - Dealine June 15

We're delighted to pass this forward - regret the short notice. And ... please pass along

The deadline for applications for the UN-HABITAT Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-led Development has been extended to 15 June 2009. If your organization is working on an innovative and sustainable project that will improve the lives of young people and make a positive impact on your community, you could be eligible to receive a grant.

The Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-led Development has been set up to support urban based Youth-led organizations in developing countries who are working to improve the living conditions of their communities. The Fund will give grants between $5,000 and $25,000 to organizations led by young people, aged 15-32 years.

The Fund is committed to support innovative youth-led projects in areas such as employment, education, environment, health and safety. Applications from organizations partnering with government agencies and the private sector are encouraged. Projects promoting gender equality are particularly welcome.

Application guidelines are here, and the deadline is June 15.
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Interested in learning more about social enterprise? Take a browse through the Vancouver Social Enterprise Book Store (Vancouver | United Kingdom | United States) and see what other social entrepreneurs recommend reading.

for:vsef, Social Economy, Nonprofit, Social Innovation

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[Comment] Georgia Straight - Charities muzzled in election

Pieta Woolley’s brief article raises more questions about the quality of civic engagement than the challenges of navigating CRA guidelines. There is an endemic over reliance on Canada’s primary funding mechanism, the charitable receipt, which encourages too many Board Directors and Executive Directors to spend time considering opportunities presented by generational wealth transfer than advancing the organizational mission.

The universe of Canadian civil society organizations is varied in voice, yet united in a self-limiting attachment to the primary funder – government. Instead of hand wringing over CRA, members of civil society organizations are better served by encouraging their leadership to explore sustainable revenue mechanisms.

In the UK, the government support for the growth of social enterprise acknowledged civil society as a critical dynamic in societal well-being. As a “third sector” in the economy, community organizations have a duty to fully express the needs of their constituency and be financially viable. The two are inextricable.

The CRA Charities Directorate offers a blunt attempt at public accountability for a sector that is under valued for its’ impact on the daily lives of all Canadians. Finger pointing in the direction of CRA misses a core issue.

It’s worth noting:

• CRA publishes a list of de-registered/annulled charities and the Canada Gazette provides added detail, which range from administrative issues to amalgamation.
  


• IMPACS, with Sisyphean effort under Ms. Sylvester’s leadership, attempted to spur robust community organization dialogue in partnership with the business community – most evidently through VanCity. IMPACS “Election Kit” should be on every Executive Directors desk.



• Paul Martin’s government had undertaken steps to invigorate civil society initiatives and encourage the development of social enterprises, based primarily on the successes in Quebec, as part of his last tabled budget.

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Interested in learning more about social enterprise? Take a browse through the Vancouver Social Enterprise Book Store (Vancouver | United Kingdom | United States) and see what other social entrepreneurs recommend reading.

Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Enterprise, Nonprofit, CRA

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Doonesbury marks a philanthropic generation gap. Way ... cool!

While BC Business extols the new face of philanthropy in British Columbia, Doonesbury notes a benchmark.

The image links to Sunday's strip, then you can read the exchange between the characters.

[A nod to Lucy for beating us to the post.]
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Interested in learning more about social enterprise? Take a browse through the Vancouver Social Enterprise Book Store (Vancouver | United Kingdom | United States) and see what other social entrepreneurs recommend reading.

Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Economy, Nonprofit, Philanthropy

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[Project] City Within

City Within is a citizen film project that is in development with the VSEF. We're very excited about it, and promise to share our learnings in the newsletter.

Thought it would be a good idea to share one of the ChipIn widgets being used to connect and include as many people as possible, while raising additional funds for this project.

Here's a full size version:


You can also see another on our sidebar.

If you'd like to encourage the VSEF film project, it's easy to "chip in".
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Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Economy, Video, ChipIn

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[Help] GiveMeaning and Global Cultures Television

Vancouverite Craig Volker has a vision to use images that foster cultural/environmental sensitivity and promote peace. His project is called Global Cultures Television.

After some consideration, Craig has decided to use another Vancouver based project, GiveMeaning, to build community and assist his project funding needs.

Here's where the help would be appreciated ...

GiveMeaning is using a 100 vote threshold to advance projects as "qualified fundraising projects".

Here's how Craig explained it to us:

What you're "voting" on is whether you feel the proposed project is worthwhile. When you vote, you're not making a financial commitment of any kind; you're simply indicating that you think it's a good idea and should go ahead.

With enough votes, I can work towards making the idea a reality.

Feel like helping?

Then please go here to vote for Global Cultures Television at GiveMeaning.

Thank you.

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Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Economy, Social Enterprise

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Heart of the World - Grassroots Theatre

Jhayne Holmes has a plan and you're invited.

If you don't know Jhayne, maybe you're acquainted with one of her "public art" projects ... the Zombiewalk.

It is Jhayne's intention to transform the, currently for sale, Raja Theatre into Heart of the World, a multi-disciplinary arts facility featuring inspiring work from all over the globe that recaptures and surpasses its previous glory.

The Raja Theatre, most recently a Bollywood movie house, has a history dating back to 1913, the theatre has been home to local theatre and live acts like Neil Young and Jane Siberry.

What's interesting is that Jhayne has opted to create fractional ownership to help raise capital for the purchase. Yes. You too can be a theatre mogul.

If the timeline was longer I'd suggest Jhayne connect with another local, Tom Williams and his organization GiveMeaning.

What GiveMeaning lacks in transparency (compared to Prosper or Kiva), it makes up in technology widgets and viral messaging.
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Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Enterprise, Nonprofit, Fundraising

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