IMPACS - No Longer

The Institute for Media, Policy and Civil Society (IMPACS) was committed to strengthening the voice and profile of civil society organizations in Canada and internationally.

The March 21 Statement from the board declares the ten year old organisation insolvent. A highly regrettable outcome.

IMPACS has been a friend to the VSEF since our inception. As a civil society organisation believing ...

that when not-for-profits, or civil society organizations, do a better job of communicating the issues that are important in their communities - such as environmental protection and social justice - those issues are more fully and better represented in public policy debates.

... we had areas of mutual interest.

We note the following portion of the board's statement:

The Board and management of IMPACS have worked hard over the last several months to keep the enterprise viable and solvent. However, a number of factors have combined to make that goal elusive.

While IMPACS had recently received word of some greatly appreciated new funding for some of its programs by a number of Canadian foundations and new federal funding for one of its international projects, the IMPACS Board has determined that the only responsible course of action available at this time is to plan for an orderly wind-up of IMPACS, assisting in the securing of new work opportunities for the organization's employees and to limit the adverse financial exposure of the organization and its valued creditors.

The experience of IMPACS is, regrettably, not an isolated instance. There are numerous non-governmental organizations and charities in Canada's community non-profit sector that are facing many of the same financial stresses. Chief among them is the lack of what is often called "core-funding,"i.e. revenue sources from operations or grants from governments or foundations that can sustain what is even the modest central management function at the heart of any organization.

There are lessons here.

Heads Up Credit | Rob Cottingham
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Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Economy, Nonprofit

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ReStore | Now Open in Vancouver

Yes. Instead of going to Burnaby, Vancouver home renovators need only drive to 69 West 69th Avenue to ... "save you $$$ on new and used building materials" ... and help fund the work of Habitat for Humanity.

What's ReStore?

Habitat for Humanity ReStores are building supply stores that accept and resell quality new and used building materials. They generate funds to support Habitat's building programs, while reducing the amount of used materials that are headed for overflowing landfills! They are an environmentally friendly store that makes sense!

Thanks to Anneke for the "heads up".
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Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Enterprise, Nonprofit, Habitat for Humanity

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[Opportunity] Room to Read

We're fans of John Wood and, his organization, Room to Read.

The organization was high on our favourites list before Fast Company annointed them as one of "43 Entrepreneurs changing the world".

As winners of a Fast Company Social Capitalist Award, the following was written about Room to Read:

Room to Read partners with local communities throughout the developing world to establish schools, libraries, and other educational infrastructure. We seek to intervene early in the lives of children in the belief that education is a lifelong gift that empowers people to ultimately improve socioeconomic conditions for their families, communities, countries, and future generations. Through the opportunities that only an education can provide, we strive to break the cycle of poverty, one child at a time. Organizational efforts are currently focused on Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam--all countries with a desperate lack of resources to adequately educate their children.

Room to Read is a dynamic, results-oriented organization. Since our inception in 2000, Room to Read has reached an estimated 990,000 children by building 197 schools, establishing over 2,900 libraries, and publishing 77 new local language children's titles representing over 700,000 books. Room to Read has also donated over 1.2 million English language children's books, established 92 computer and language labs and funded more than 2,000 long-term girls' scholarships.

John Wood, Room to Read's founder and CEO, quit his senior executive position with Microsoft to launch Room to Read after a trek through Nepal changed his life. John sought to weave proven corporate business practices with his inspiring vision to provide educational access to 10 million children in the developing world. His novel approach to non-profit management called for scalable, measured, sustainable results, low-overhead, challenge grants fostering community ownership and sustainability as well as strong local staff and partnerships.

Utilizing this business model, Room to Read has developed a holistic, multi-pronged approach to help children in the developing world gain the lifelong gift of education. With the School Room Program, Room to Read partners with villages to build schools utilizing active community challenge grants. The Reading Room Program establishes bi-lingual libraries and fills them with donated English books and local language books, creating a colorful space with posters, games, and child-friendly furniture. The Local Language Publishing Program employs local writers and illustrators, and publishes high-quality children's books. The Computer and Language Room Program provides labs to students with vocational skills and employment access, and the Room to Grow Girls' Scholarship Program funds long-term girls' scholarships.

To increase the likelihood for success and long-term sustainability, Room to Read enlists community involvement and co-investment through our Challenge Grant model. Villages often raise a significant portion of the overall expenditure and provide dedicated space (land or an existing room), labor, materials and/or small amounts of cash. These challenge grants act as catalysts for community building while also maximizing the local participation and expertise to ensure our programs are run efficiently and effectively.

A key aspect of our ability to achieve results is our local staff. We hire local people who are personally vested in their nation's educational progress and we empower them to make key programmatic decisions within their country. They are already familiar with the language, conditions, customs and governments and understand the specific needs of the educational system and work to ensure that we craft new solutions to existing problems.

Here's the list of the opportunities at Room to Read - as listed at Business for Social Responsibility:

Chief Program Officer

Development Director, Asia-Pacific

Technology Strategist

Accounting Manager

Chief Expansion Officer

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

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VanCity Award Announced

Earlier we mentioned the VanCity Award.

Well, today's the day. The VanCity Award has been announced.

And the award goes to ...

Well, before that ... a note of congratulations to the VanCity members. The VanCity Award is selected on the basis of the VanCity membership voting to support a shortlist of candidate organisations. By way of reminder the shortlisted organisations were:

AIDS Vancouver Island and Cool Aid Society

Atira Women’s Resource Society

Crisis Centre

Quest Outreach Society

Given VanCity is a cooperative, that's a solid illustration of returning value back to the community.

So .. about that winner ...

Quest Outreach Society was selected.

You can read the VanCity press release, BC’s only food exchange program gets $1-million grant from credit union, for yourself. But here's a snippet:

A program that rescues high-quality food, keeping it out of landfills and redistributing it to non-profit agencies that feed hungry people across the Lower Mainland, has won a $1-million award from Vancity.

This year's $1-million Vancity Award goes to Quest Outreach Society for the expansion of BC's only food exchange program.

Last year, Quest Food Exchange diverted 6.6 million pounds of surplus high-quality food from Lower Mainland landfills, which added up to $7 million worth of food. Each day the organization fills, then empties, its Vancouver warehouse providing food to more than a hundred social service agencies feeding more than 45,000 people a month.

With the help of the Vancity Award, Quest will purchase a warehouse that will enable them to triple their capacity over two years. A larger space will mean the potential to rescue nearly 20 million pounds of high-quality food each year and redistribute it to nearly 150,000 people in the Lower Mainland each month.

"Quest would like to thank Vancity and its members for voting for us," says Shelley Wells, executive director of Quest. "As a result of campaigning, we have gained new food suppliers, new social service agency partners, new volunteers and now the funding for a new facility. With these new partnerships and the continued support of our donors, we can more strongly address the Lower Mainland's food distribution problem and connect high-quality, healthy food with those who need it most."

The $1-million Vancity Award, the largest corporate gift of its kind in Canada, was established in 2001 by Vancity's Board of Directors to support the social, environmental and economic well-being of the community by funding a project that would make a major, long-lasting impact on people's lives.

[...]

"These were all great projects and it would have been our privilege to support any of them, but in the end it was our members who decided the project that most resonated with them," says Elain Duvall, chair of Vancity's Board of Directors. "Quest's Food Exchange program fits both Vancity's environmental and social objectives. We think the idea of keeping good food out of landfills and into hungry bellies is inspirational."

[...]

Quest partners with non-profit organizations in Lower Mainland communities, including Vancouver; Burnaby; New Westminster, North Vancouver, Richmond, Surrey, Tri-Cities and Maple Ridge.

Before I forget ... VanCity is accepting applications for next year, until December 23, 2006.

Here's how the CBC covered the award.
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Tags for information about: for:vsef, VanCity, Nonprofit

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