Alberta Nonprofit Survey 2020: We want to hear from you!
CCVO’s annual Alberta Nonprofit Survey (ANS) launched on April 27! The ANS is here to support your organization by amplifying your voice in advocating for the nonprofit sector. This year, we celebrate 10 years of conducting the Alberta Nonprofit Survey in gathering meaningful data about nonprofits across the province. The survey is an opportunity for your organization to share the impact that COVID-19 has had on your nonprofit or charitable organization and help tell the story of the Alberta nonprofit sector.
Are We Up to the Challenge? Responding to and Recovering from the Pandemic
In the absence of a vaccine to help defeat COVID-19, we’re compelled to rely on the only available antidote: trust. In this blog post, CCVO President & CEO David Mitchell discusses the strength of civil society in Alberta and encouraging examples of resourcefulness and resilience in the nonprofit sector during trying times.
Government of Alberta’s Public Inquiry into Environmental Groups
Last month, Premier Jason Kenney announced that the government will launch a public inquiry into the foreign funding sources of environmental groups who are critical of Alberta’s energy sector policies. Before that, Premier Kenney promised to establish an ‘Energy War Room’ to respond to campaigns directed at Alberta's oil and gas sector. Here is what we know and how we think it might impact the nonprofit sector, particularly organizations that hold charitable status designation through the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
Calling all Alberta Nonprofits: Help tell the nonprofit sector’s story in 2019
The annual Alberta Nonprofit Survey opens on May 28. This survey is an opportunity to share your views and to help tell the story of the Alberta nonprofit sector. That story only gets told with your participation and submissions to the survey are instrumental in advocating for the sector. This year, the survey will once again be supplemented with data and personal perspectives gathered from focus groups and interviews, which will be conducted with nonprofit leaders across Alberta who complete the survey.
Join the #nonprofitsvote Campaign! Nonprofit Vote Kit Now Available
CCVO has launched #nonprofitsvote, an exciting campaign, to encourage nonprofit staff, board members, volunteers, and people who access the services of nonprofits to engage in the upcoming provincial election. The campaign is a nonpartisan effort to ‘get out the vote’ by increasing nonprofit voter participation in the Alberta 2019 provincial election.
The Alberta Nonprofit Election Toolkit Has Launched!
We’re excited to announce the release of the complete Nonprofit Election Toolkit - a practical guide for nonprofits to engage in advocacy during the 2019 Alberta election. We created this Toolkit to support nonprofits in engaging more deeply in public policy advocacy and to inspire conversations about the crucial role that Alberta nonprofits play in our communities.
'Decent Work for Women' in the Nonprofit Sector
In celebration of International Women’s Day, let’s take a moment to acknowledge the women who work tirelessly in the nonprofit sector – and also honour them by committing ourselves to reaching parity. We'd like to draw your attention to the exceptional work of the Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN) in a recent report: Decent Work for Women. This report is focused on the experiences of women working in the nonprofit sector in Ontario. In this post, we discuss its findings – and how we can take these findings into consideration in Alberta.
Get Out the Vote and Join #nonprofitsvote
With more than 26,000 nonprofits in Alberta, it’s not a stretch to say that nonprofits touch the lives of every single Albertan, whether it be as staff, volunteers, board members, or clients. Nonprofits have a responsibility to speak up about the issues that matter to us and drive us to make positive contributions to our communities. In the final post of our election toolkit, learn how we can use our collective voice to encourage #nonprofitsvote and make a difference.
My Reflections on CCVO’s Policy Lunch and Learn: Nonprofit Advocacy 101
We kickstarted our first lunch and learn with a short presentation, making the case on why advocacy work is critical to our success as a sector. The strength and impact of the nonprofit sector peaked a lot of interest, as several attendees were spotted taking photos of the presentation and jotting down notes around the impressive stats on the sector. I appreciated the overall positive tone of the conversation among participants and during the session, and later reflected on how advocacy can often be a long and difficult journey with road blocks along the way.
After the Election, the Real Work Begins
It’s important for nonprofits to recognize that advocacy efforts need to start well before the advent of an election campaign – and continue afterwards as well. After all, policy advocacy is a journey, not a destination. If a specific policy proposal finds its way into a political party’s election platform, it’s often the result of a lot of hard work in the months, and even years, prior to an election. Here are five critically important ways for nonprofits to follow up after the election.
Top Ten Nonprofit Policy Stories of 2018
Happy New Year! With 2019 upon us, we are happy to share CCVO’s top ten list of policy stories for the nonprofit sector. 2018 was a year that saw many policy developments at the federal level with wide-ranging implications for the nonprofit sector. This list, in no particular order, briefly highlights those developments as well as stories from the provincial and municipal levels.
Tips for Engaging with the Media
If your nonprofit is looking to increase its reach and awareness for your policy asks, you’ll want to consider engaging with media as part of your overall strategy. To help you effectively engage, we asked our trusted contacts in media for their best tips and now we are sharing them with you to help you get started and feel more confident in reaching out to media.
Developing an Engagement Strategy
If your nonprofit has spent time determining a policy agenda, it’s time to develop an action plan. The development and implementation of an engagement strategy is often when the work becomes publicly visible. Choosing to make your policy priorities visible is a significant step for your nonprofit and should be approached in a coordinated and strategic manner.
Premier's Roundtable for Nonprofits
Last week, Alexa Briggs, CCVO Manager, Policy & Research, was among 25 leaders in the nonprofit sector in Calgary who had the opportunity to meet with Premier Rachel Notley, the Clerk of the Executive Council, Marcia Nelsom, and senior staff from the Government of Alberta. Attendees were asked to reflect on trends in the sector, as well as the relationship with the government.