A Rainy but Warm August at SVP

One of the purposes of this blog is to record the activities and share with you the things we do and experience at SVP in a timely fashion. So this entry is just that with a few inspirations here and there that make my days here full of enjoyment and energy.

For the whole August, we are fortunate to be sponsored with a summer intern to help us with our 10 year Case Study Project. With a background in Communications, Scott spends his precious summer time with SVP before he goes and pursues a dream of creative design in Vancouver Film School in September.

Continuing from Diana’s volunteer work last summer, Scott gathers all the compiled raw data on each of SVP’s Investees and turns them into heartfelt short stories. Along with researching hard copy materials in binders, Scott and I have been conducting several interviews with Executive Directors of our current and graduated Investees and current and past Partners. The goal of these interviews was not only to capture personal stories and experience related to SVP’s impact and philanthropy at large, but also gave us a chance to re-connect with individuals that are part of the success that defines the SVP we know today. It was an eye opening experience and tons of fun! We learned so much about the history of the work and impact on the community and witnessed the outcome of long-term capacity and relationship building and dedication throughout the years.

One interesting thing I realized from chatting with so many people is that there isn’t really a formula to embracing philanthropy in one’s life. There were so many different kinds of involvement, emotions, motivations and styles of philanthropy – it’s a personal thing! And I think that’s the beauty of philanthropy because you can define it however you’d like and embrace it in your own lifestyle.

Just before Scott departs to Vancouver he came to me and thanked me for the opportunity for him to be involved with SVP and that he enjoyed the experience and learned so much about the industry. Then he said,

“I want to give back to SVP…and do something good for the community. I never really understood the real meaning of philanthropy but I see nonprofits and giving in a different way now and I really appreciate SVP for the amazing opportunity.”

I was speechless. There I was, with a short speech in mind, wanting to thank him for all his time and effort helping us with the Case Studies and bam – he totally stumbled me with his generosity and humbling thoughts. It took me about 30 seconds to come up with a proper sentence other than “wow, my goodness, thank you!”

His gratitude and action was huge and heavy in terms of the meaning and sincerity behind it. It is this kind of experience that makes me appreciate my daily work even more. How lucky I am to be able to offer my time and expertise to help the world become a better place and help others to understand what it means to give back to the community.

It is with great honour and pleasure that I’ve been entrusted with managing this project. I can’t wait to share with you what we have learned and captured with our 10 Year Case Study Project, so stay tuned

Countdown to SVP Give…

29 LOI applications, 6 final grant proposals, 3 site visits, and 1 new Investee! We’ve done it! We’re taking on a new relationship this year! We found a new Investee!

Remembering when we first started gearing up for the Investment Committee last summer (after a whole year of not taking on new granting), I’d be lying if I say I wasn’t nervous about how to make it work. We kicked off the fall with orientations and learning about the concerns and trends in the community. From the logistics of getting a group of interested Partners together, to inviting experts/speakers to our Get Smart sessions, to narrowing down to a more focused funding area and statement, we learned about various social issues in our community.

It wasn’t until after 29 LOI applications came in January did we realize that our work actually begins here. In the midst of trying to understand the work and structure of each applicant, battling between the passion, good work, and the needs of the organizations versus choosing the best fit with SVP’s resources, it was heartbreaking and extremely difficult when we had to pick some over others. While we examined the big pictures of how the applicants fit into the whole social and economical ecosystem, we also needed to take into consideration of various factors such as personalities, connections, and potential impact of our partnership with the agencies.

However, it’s not to say that we didn’t have fun during this whole selection process! We got to go on site visits witnessing the great work that these organizations do. We got to meet some wonderful people who bring hope to our community. We’ve had some heated discussions, and of course, coming to an conclusion in the end that every Committee member feels confident and excited about!

This post is not to show off how much work we’ve done nor is it to pat ourselves on the back for our accomplishments in the light of all the awesome work of nonprofit organizations out there. This post is to say that it was definitely not easy to choose a new Investee. It was definitely not simple to determine where our funding and resources could make the most impact and help build the capacity of an organization and our community at large.

Curious? Well, you’ll have to join us at Social Venture Partners Give - noon time on Tues, June 29 at Eau Claire Market – to find out who’s our newest Investee!

Do Nonprofit Boards Really Want Younger Members? The Answer is YES!

It is needless to say how essential Board members are to an organization, whether for profit or not for profit. They provide directions and guidance, they present opportunities to potential resources and networks, and some fund raise (36% according to the Assessing Not-for profits Boards: Governance Structures and Practices report done by Innovative Research Group in 2009).

In addition to the common topics around effective Board governance such as diversity of the member skills and development, fundamental training and retention, time commitment and fundraising, discussions and questions on the age of Board members are also on the rise recently. 

How many Board members of your organization are under the age of 30?

Asking this question is not meant to disrespect all of the more mature Board members because of their age in any way, nor does it undermine the huge support and great skills that those members have given to our industry. The reason why there is an emphasis on “under the age of 30″ is because that age bracket includes all of Generation Y, which is the largest generational demographic behind the Baby Boomers at 80 million strong! Just imagine the amount of potentials and resources available in that sheer number!

Considering the pros and cons, the benefits of having young Board members include:
 - Fresh perspective on old problems,
 - Access and ability to new technology and networks,
 - Result-oriented thinking,
 - Passion for the mission,
 - and the willingness to try new things;

Some concerns about recruiting youn members may include:
 - Qualifications, accountability and commitment,
 - Concerns of isolation (of being the only young person the board),
 - The need to have younger generation on boards,
 - Or even where to find them!

From the perspective of providing services to those who make up our community, maybe it is time to re-examine who sits on your Board. From the stance of involving those who have potentials of being effective and dedicated with a fresh approach, perhaps we ought to think about which generation of audience and voices do our Board members represent, and consider expanding that scope to give us a bigger picture of our society today!

For young folks out there who are looking to give back to your community in a different way but not sure how - join a Board! Become a part and help steering that organization which always touches your heart, and be a voice in your community!

(Inspiration and some facts of this blog entry is from “Do Nonprofit Boards Really Want Younger Members?” by Rosetta Thurman in The Chronicle of Philanthropy.)

What does it feel like to live in poverty?

Can you imagine being a single dad, with a nine year old son with learning disability and asthma, and a twenty year old daughter who has her own one year old baby?  What would you do to make sure you have food on the table for them, a roof over their heads, clean clothes to wear, and a proper education?  What would you sacrifice over another to barely make ends meet? Tough questions! And those were the questions I had to ponder on a Sunday afternoon during a 90-minute Poverty Simulation exercise.

As a part of the Urban Exposure Project workshop, a group of 32 Calgarians experienced what it feels like to be living under poverty. The activity was a game-like simulation in a gymnasium – tables were set up  to act as service stations and chairs were placed in a circle representing homes. Our sense of reality was gone – and this struck my fellow participants and I very hard. With each person given a role and a scenario, we had to try our best to survive a “1 month” period divided into 15-minute “weeks” with short breaks in between. We were asked to live according to our scenario, as close to reality as possible. In my role as a dad, I was unable to consult my peer who played the 9-year-old boy - since in real life he wouldn’t be able to tell me how to budget!

Despite the fact that my group was organized (at least I thought we were) – we planned and calculated all the income and the expenses before we started – within the first two “weeks”, my 9-year-old and my granddaughter were taken away twice by social services due to child neglect (as I had to leave them alone at home while I went to work and couldn’t afford childcare!) I was sent home from work due to tardiness because I was running errands trying to pay for my utilities/food bill.   I had to put up with unethical interest charges at the quick cash station twice or else I couldn’t cash my cheque. My daughter had to pawn most of our furniture. And my family was evicted once because I failed to pay the mortgage on time!!! By the end of 3rd week, I was so stressed by the running around and trying to stay organized while scrambling around for available resources and keeping my family fed!  My daughter did not show up at her college class once because she had to help me run errands and take care of her baby. 

My story is not unique, other groups had their own surprises as they went through different scenarios and came up with desperate solutions (such as selling drugs) in order to support their families. Long story short, it came down to sacrificing many things we take for grants for our mere survival. Given the short time and limited knowledge on the services available out there, I had to make tough choices taking care of immediate and short term needs instead of having a long term plan or even a “dream”.  

The session definitely opened my eyes and got me thinking about what it feels like for those who are living under the LICO (Low Income Cut Off) line. It also shed some lights on the kind of things we (the fortunate) could help such as promoting helpful resources and agencies and making them available for easier access.

(For more information, the povery-simulation day was featured in the news. Click here to read more.)

Seeing Calgary with a different set of eyes

Last week’s Urban Exposure Project adventure was different from our first, and in a very real sense,  we saw downtown from an entirely different perspective.  Our downtown tour guides were Frank and his wife Elizabeth. They were both homeless when they became friends with Melanie, a participant of the same United Way project last year.  Frank and Elizabeth took a group of us for a walk on a breezy Sunday afternoon to tell us their story and give us a tour of downtown through their eyes.   Since a lot of my friends live in the Beltline area of downtown, I thought I was familiar with the area…until Sunday!

Have you hear of St. Francis Church? Or Inn from the Cold? Or The Alpha House? Do you know what they are or the kind of services they provide?”

Some people may know Inn from the Cold as they are a bigger organization with a reputation of providing temporary shelters for homeless people. But I bet not very many know about St. Francis Church and The Alpha House or the fact that Inn from the Cold is the only shelter that will take in an entire homeless families – with children AND men as well!

St. Francis Church is one block behind the busy trendy shopping area on 17 Ave SW. Tucked behind where people stroll around – enjoying the sunshine, a cup of Starbucks coffee and shopping – is this church that opens once a week to homeless people (providing the best hot meals, according to Frank).  People line up as early as 2 o’clock in the afternoon even though they open the doors at 3:30pm.   Being homeless before, Frank said for many living on the street this may very well be the only hot meal available in a week.  This was the only place that they’d serve you a meal without asking you a single question or turning you away.

With the hope of speaking to those lining up, to hear their stories, we joined the line up too.  We received a lot of curious and sometimes “discriminating” looks (a bunch of youngsters wearing clean trendy clothes with our camera bags on our backs, and some of us wearing brand name sunglasses, and mostly girls), of course!  Unfortunately, when the volunteers  found out we were a group from United Way, we were asked to leave (due to privacy issues). We understood the concerns of the church, but at the same time, we were disappointed by a missed opportunity.

During our stop at the Inn from the Cold, staff member Carla said that she finds that there are homeless people who come in, having issues with addiction of alcohol or drugs, but it does not exempt anyone from being one pay cheque away or being one accident away from living in poverty or on the street.  She told the story of a past client who came to the shelter with her daughter fleeing fom an abusive husband.  They became homeless overnight regardless of whether they live in a luxurious house or not.   Fortunately, they found appropriate help in a timely fashion.

At the end of our tour, we stopped by The Alpha House.  Frank told us The Alpha House is usually the last resort among the shelters.  They accept homeless people who are on drugs or drunk that are often turned away from other facilities.  Frank’s wife, Elizabeth, described to us how she once had to pretend to be high on some drugs in order to be accepted into the shelter because she had no where to go – as all the other shelters were full.  It came down to desperate measure just to find a place to sleep at night.  The irony is that the Alpha House is located right beside the Victoria Park c-train station and by the newly-developed Sasso condominums.

It was an eye-opening experience to see places which I thought I was familiar – but in a  different light.   Frank made a candid comment that “poverty lives right here in Calgary”.   It lives right by the park and right on your doorstep. Don’t forget about the people in your very own community.

My Experience with Poverty in the Community

Urban Exposure Project 2010: Poverty in the Community is a volunteer project that I am a part of, using photography to document my own learnings and reflections on this social issue in Calgary. As part of the learning process, I went out on a little adventure with a few friends over the weekend, walking in downtown on Stephen’s Ave, all the way to Chinatown and looping back along the c-train line, observing and hoping to be inspired.

I went out with an optimism that there are people out there who are doing their best to overcome poverty and all they need is just a little bit more understanding and help from the society to guide them onto the right track. I also went out with an open mind eager to learn about the stories behind each person wondering on the street or busy working on a weekend. The outcome at the end of my adventure was bitter and sweet.

I met a young man on 8th Ave near Flames Central, his name is Henry. He’s 20 years old originally from Ontario. He just got laid off a month ago and is now living in the Homeless Shelter because he couldn’t afford rent on his part time job delivering papers for the Calgary Herald. He was energetic, clean groomed and dressed, and very open to answer all of my questions. He has 5 years of experience working in kitchens, but now having a real hard time finding a job due to the economy. He also mentioned the discrimination he’s experienced as soon as people find out that he currently does not have a permanent home address.

During our short conversation, he asked me to spare him 40 cents for a phone call. He said he needed to call some restaurants where he applied for jobs. I was sympathetic of his situation and also hopeful to see someone living in poverty is still trying hard to turn things around. I was optimistic in that whatever we (the people who want to help in society) do have a positive effect in some ways. He was almost the ideal example I could find and I felt good about stepping outside of my comfort zone to understand what poverty means to this young man.

I left with satisfaction and a sense of wanting to contribute more. When I was waiting to cross the street at a traffic light two blocks down, a street cleaner sweeping the curb came up to me and said

“How much did you give him, young lady? He fooled ya!”

I was confused…and I replied “5 bucks.”

Then he said, “Oh perfect! Just enough for a beer!”

Chatting with the street cleaner, I learned he has been sweeping 8 Ave for two years now and he had heard Henry asking for money and telling people the same story many times already. The street cleaner showed contempt towards Henry saying that he was just lazy regardless of having a healthy body, intact limbs that are more than enough to find a job to support himself. He claimed that Henry is an alcoholic who rather bag for money than getting back on his feet. In contrast, he’s doing everything he can include sweeping the street on a Saturday afternoon in order to feed and support his entire family.

A combination of emotions flood over me. Anger that I was fooled and that I was too naive, sympathy towards Henry’s situation nevertheless, apathy because of the lies and human nature, and a faint memory of slightly smelling that alcohol 0n Henry…

Obviously, Henry and the street cleaner are just two examples of the different perspectives of poverty out there in our community. After the emotions fade away and calming down, I recognize that there are many layers of issues contributing to the root of poverty, both internal and external problems. My friends explained it as that Henry didn’t lie intentionally, he was just too desperate for his current needs that he would make up stories to get alcohol, which is probably the main reason why he’s impoverished. His act of lying does not erase the fact that he is in poverty and he still needs help.

I wonder, is it simply a matter of personal choice or is it deeper than that? No surprise that there is a tension out there between those who dedicate their lives to help end poverty and those who are skeptical about whether all the charitable works have a impact or not when personal choice is really the determining factor! Now, if it’s really a matter of personal choice, is it realistic to have a goal to end poverty someday? I mean, it’s scary to think that a small decision could set back all the effort people put in trying to help! Perhaps it’s part of human nature that we keep hope and strive towards that goal.

Even though I work in the non-profit sector, I am still learning. For others who contemplate these same questions, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Provincial Budget affects the Nonprofit/Voluntary Sector

The new budget presented by Government of Alberta on February 9, 2010 offers mixed results for the nonprofit/voluntary sectory – maintaining same level of funding in some areas and deep cuts in others.

Click here for a great synthesis by the Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations (CCVO) on how the budget affects the sector.

Attracting Young Leaders of Tomorrow – Let’s get Creative!

When I tell people I work in the non-profit sector, many come back with questions like: “Can you make a living out of it?” or ”Do you go help people like you feed the hungry?” or “Did you choose your job because it give you a good feeling at the end of a work day?” As superficial as these questions sound, they show that there is a skewed understanding or stereotypes of non-profit work and the voluntary sector. Especially for the “Y” generation or “Millennials” (those who are born after 1980), working for a non-profit may not be on the top of their list of desirable career paths as the most glamorous jobs offering high pay or a well established corporate ladder to climb! In 2009, an annual survey conducted by the HR Council based in Ottawa suggests that:

“[In] a total sample of 16,688 students from 50 post-secondary institutions across Canada. The majority – 84% – were university students, most pursuing an undergraduate degree.

A total of 1,732 students surveyed (10%) indicated an interest in a nonprofit career in response to a question that allowed multiple responses; in this summary report, this group of students is identified as “Nonprofit Sector: A Possible Career Choice.” When asked which (one) type of organization they would prefer to work for following graduation, 988 students (5.9% of the total sample) chose “non-profit/charity/social enterprise”; this group of students is identified as “Nonprofit Sector: A Preferred Career Choice.”

Statistics like this have the soon-to-be retired Executive Directors, Managers, recruiters, and workers in the non-profit sector worried – who will be the leaders of tomorrow? Without a definite answer, perhaps it is time for us to get creative! In the past two weeks, it just happened that I was informed of many of such creative attempts to encourage the young and the motivated to get involved in their community by promoting the voluntary sector in a different way. To name a few:

• HR Council is looking for young nonprofit employees to profile in new video series to promote the nonprofit/voluntary sector as career choices.
• Urban Exposure Project 2010: Poverty in Our Community - a project of United Way’s 2335 initiative encouraging interested photographers between the age 23 and 35 to give their time to document and express what they learn about poverty.
• PhotoPhilanthropy.org - an online space and forum recognizing photographers around the world pushing for social change through their images of local non-profit works. 

Perhaps it is difficult to change people’s perception on the characteristics of nonprofit jobs and voluntary work, it is possible to encourage and excite people to be involved in many other innovative and non-traditional ways.

What’s Next? – 5 Trends Reshaping the Social Sector

According to a recent research done by La Piana Consulting and the James Irvine Foundation based in California, the landscape of the social sector will dratically change in the next five years.

Research identified five key trends converging to reshapre the social sector. While each dynamic has profound implications for how nonprofits will do business in the future, it is their convergence that will transform the sector. These trends include:

• Demographic Shifts Redefine Participation
• Technological Advance Abound
• Networks Enable Work to Be Organized in New Ways
• Interest in Civic Engagement and Volunteerism Is Rising
• Sector Boundaries Are Blurring

Click here to read more on the Research Report titled “Convergence: How Five Trends Will Reshape the Social Sector”

In order to survive and thrive, we the non-profits, the funders, the capacity builders alike must become futurists - to understand and be prepared to embrace the changes!

Are you ready?

A “smart” way to Volunteer

Watch the video by The Extraordinaries to find out what is Micro-Volunteering.  

While the opportunities now available on phones are still very limited, imagine the possibilities! I am not sure if this style will fit everyone, but it adds to the accessibility component we always emphasize (that’s IF you have a Smart Phone and know how to navigate it!)