Tackling anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the non-profit sector in Canada

An issue that has been pre-occupying those in the non-profit sector in Canada are the now substantiated and discouraging allegations of racism and racist incidents, that have occurred amongst the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), GTA. There has been incredible work done by many colleagues, especialy black colleagues, who have been the subject of these experiences, and who have done a huge service to the community here in Canada, by taking leadership on these issues.  Mide Akerewusi is someone who comes to mind in this respect, and who has agreed to take on the role of the chair of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Toronto Chapter. Under Mide’s leadership, there have already been a number of steps made towards apologies, downgrading the chapter status, and beginning to re-engage with the sector with a very strong anti-racist lens.

Relatedly, a report recently came out from Imagine Canada, that is based on a survey that involved 1,500 non-profit leaders across Canada, that dug deep into organizational commitments to equity, diversity and inclusion, and the extent to which changes have been made in the sector. A key finding of the report is that the degree of deep commitment and transformation taking place in organizations is much greater in organizations that are led by people of color or by other people who face some kind of marginalization or under-representation, as compared to white-led organizations, who are often the slowest to move on these issues and have made the least progress in terms of deep changes.

The report highlights that while non-profit leaders generally support equity, diversity, and inclusion, far fewer pursue it with deep intentionality, and that the success of leadership and management structures, such as equity working groups, are often dependent on where these groups are positioned and who they’re accountable to. Those that involve senior leadership and senior managers, that have really made a commitment at the organizational level, are the ones who’ve seen the most transformation.

Another important issue that is highlighted in the report is that funders themselves have a key role to play in advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion, by specifically supporting and funding black, indigenous and other racialized led organizations, as well as other organizations committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Reflecting on her years working in the federal service, Jesse reflects on the kind of transformation seen in the sector when the government of Canada announced the Feminist International Assistance Policy, which was a really transformational moment for the international cooperation sector, in terms of taking issues of gender equality and underrepresentation seriously. 

This highlights a really important lesson for this moment in Canada, vis-a-vis reconciliation, anti-racism, and anti-black racism particularly. There is a real opportunity for the government to take more leadership and action in  ensuring that organizations that work with them meet certain standards. That if the government is going to be funding organizations, these organizations reflect key equity and diversity standards, and that funding is targeted to building the capacity of the sector in those areas. 

As a firm, JN Clarke Consulting has been doing a lot of reflection on DEI, and are very committed to  following a strong framework for our own work in this area, cross cutting these considerations strongly in our ‘Building Equity” training series for example, in the context of fundraising. 

At JN Clarke Consulting, we are happy to support you by conducting this search, analysing the results and presenting it to you in a readable and clear format.

Would you or your team benefit from having our support to improve your government relationships? We offer strategic assessments, monthly support, workshops and training, depending on your needs.


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Tools to Support Your Government Relations Work

A relatively new government of Canada tool, developed by the Treasury Board Secretariat, is a data visualization tool that allows Canadians access to key metrics on government departments, how they spend their money, deliver on their programs, the impact of their programming, and information related to their human resources. This tool is the GC InfoBase, and is a great resource to inform organizations’ government relations strategy development. There is a bit of a learning curve to using this tool, but it’s always encouraging to see new transparency initiatives. As always, JN Clarke Consulting is available to support organizations in navigating this and other tools to inform their government relations work, and for many of the firm’s retainer clients, regulator monitoring of the tool is a service that we will be providing.  

A tool that is not new, but that many people don’t know about or use, is a public database of all of the projects that the federal government has funded, available on Canada.gc.ca. This resource is excellent to explore all of the different funding commitments made over the last 15 years from different departments in different sectors; another great tool to get a sense of what is going on out there, what is the government working on, what have they funded, and a resource to use when conducting your own homework on potential funders for your organization.

At JN Clarke Consulting, we are happy to support you by conducting this search, analysing the results and presenting it to you in a readable and clear format.

Would you or your team benefit from having our support to improve your government relationships? We offer strategic assessments, monthly support, workshops and training, depending on your needs.

Get in Touch Here!

Cabinet Shuffle-what does it mean for you?

July may be winding down, and we may be heading into the dog days of summer, but that didn’t stop the Prime Minister from announcing a major cabinet shuffle on Wednesday July 26th . What does this mean for Canadian charities and non-profits?

A few thoughts:
 This is a major cabinet shuffle—23 out of 38 people are now occupying new positions in Trudeau’s cabinet. Some commentators are interpreting this as a clear pre-election signal, and that is certainly possible.
 7 ministers, including some fairly powerful ones, have been dropped from cabinet. 7 bright shiny new faces have joined.
 With new ministers, we can anticipate refreshed mandate letters arriving soon as well—keep an eye out for these always useful documents!
 Have any of your lead federal ministers changed? What about MPs local to your community or your programs? This is where you should focus your attention.
 A shuffle is a good opportunity to re-engage. Reach out to new Ministers to welcome them to their role, introduce your organization, and ask for a meeting.
 A shuffle means that many political staffers will also be moving jobs—pay attention to your key contacts and whether they are going or staying.

I also wanted to take a moment to announce an exciting change here within JN Clarke Consulting! Diana Apostolides, our Senior Associate, who has been with us for almost a year, has accepted the position of Vice-President Operations and Strategy. We are so excited to have someone of Diana’s experience and calibre stepping into this leadership role. With her 10+ years of experience in Canada’s international development sector, she brings wisdom, insights, dedication and enthusiasm to this new role! Welcome aboard!

At JN Clarke Consulting, we are happy to support you by conducting this search, analysing the results and presenting it to you in a readable and clear format.

Would you or your team benefit from having our support to improve your government relationships? We offer strategic assessments, monthly support, workshops and training, depending on your needs.

Get in Touch Here!

Special Edition Newsletter written by Diana Apostolides

Issue 1 of the “Canadian Chronicles of Charitable Innovation” series

New Research on Enablers and Barriers to Social Finance and a $755 million investment into the Social Finance Eco-System

JN Clarke Consulting was the content creator of the “Building Equity: Mobilization for Impact” training series, an initiative of the  Spur Change Program, that ran between March to June of this year. This past April, the third online unit of the training was launched, titled ‘Exploring Innovations,’ which provided participants with an introduction to the state of the social finance market in Canada. The unit explored different funding sources and models, including within the context of legally registered charities and the pursuit of earned revenue, to the range of regulated social enterprise models across Canada, and finally, the innovative finance market within the international development sector; the leveraging of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to catalyze private sector financing for sustainable development.

One of the resources that was consulted as part of the Unit’s development was Imagine Canada’s 2020 research report, “Are Charities Ready for Social Finance?, developed in support of the Government of Canada’s Investment Readiness Program.

Social finance, as defined by Imagine Canada, is “an investment that seeks a measurable social, cultural, and/or environmental impact as well as a financial return for the investor(s),” and is positioned in the report as a promising potential source of capital for charitable organizations, that could provide more financial resiliency in a funding environment that is largely grants-based. Findings from the report showed that the majority of charities have a low awareness of social finance, and many perceive there to be a number of barriers to its uptake, including risk-averse Boards.

As a follow-up to the 2020 study, Imagine Canada recently completed a second study, that sought to dig deeper into these perceived barriers as well as enablers to social finance adoption by the charitable sector, and presented initial findings in an online webinar last month. 22 case studies were developed, 9 of which included Investment Readiness Program participants. Enablers that came out in the research included an interest or need for scalability and sustainability; measuring and reporting impact; legal and regulatory compliance and maturity; and a growth strategy and business model to name a few. Barriers that were highlighted included having a limited financial track record; legal and regulatory constraints; high transaction costs; and limited capacity and resources.

The announcement on May 29th, 2023 by the Government of Canada of a 16 year, $755 million investment into the Social Finance Fund, a foundational element of the Social Innovation and Social Finance Strategy and the Investment Readiness Program, opens up new, potential funding opportunities for charitable organizations across Canada. As the latest research from Imagine Canada shows however, there are still a number of challenges and opportunities charitable organizations need to grapple with before being able to take advantage of this significant funding opportunity. Support in policy and advocacy, impact measurement and evaluation, as well as market research and analysis are some of the capabilities charitable organizations would need to invest their time and energy in, but few charitable organizations have the time and human capital to spare. JN Clarke Consulting can support you in this endeavour, and offer services in organizational strategy development, research, monitoring and evaluation, grant application development and much more. 

At JN Clarke Consulting, we are happy to support you by conducting this search, analysing the results and presenting it to you in a readable and clear format.

Would you or your team benefit from having our support to improve your government relationships? We offer strategic assessments, monthly support, workshops and training, depending on your needs.

Get in Touch Here!

Adventures in Cross-Canada Travel and Training

In May and June 2023, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel across Canada and lead workshops on fundraising, equity, ethics, and decolonization for international cooperation organizations. These workshops part of the Building Equity series, which my team and I offered with Spur Change, the Global Affairs Canada-funded program focused on building capacity of small and medium-sized organizations working in the international cooperation sector across Canada. Each individual workshop was offered in partnership with regional or provincial councils for international cooperation, who organized the venue and logistics, invited participants and co-hosted workshops in their communities.

The in-person workshops began in Charlottetown on May 17th , continued in Toronto and Winnipeg on May 24th and 26th , and wrapped up in Edmonton and Saskatoon on June 4th and 6th . The workshops took place in a variety of venues, from community centres to business incubators. It was incredible to be facilitating in-person learning again! These workshops were followed by 2 sets of online workshops en francais and in English, which sparked meaningful and thought-provoking conversations.
In each location, I was deeply appreciative of the engagement and enthusiasm of the participants, all of whom are working hard to make change for communities in Canada and around the world. Participants represented a diverse group of organizations, everyone from financial literacy to youth leadership to women’s rights focused groups. We had engaging conversations on how to integrate principles of community-centric fundraising, localization & decolonization and ethical storytelling with effective tactics and practical strategies. We explored the challenges of communicating clearly about complex and nuanced international issues, while centering the voice, leadership and impact of local communities. We explored how to thoroughly and thoughtfully integrate anti-racist and decolonizing principles into our fundraising work. We practiced giving elevator pitches on our organizations and presenting a compelling case to different donor audiences. And we had lots of fun—laughing, learning and pushing ourselves to do better in all our work.
I love facilitating trainings and engaging with participants. At JN Clarke Consulting, we are increasing our training and workshop offerings focused on government relations strategy and content. We are also happy to create custom trainings for your team or organization based on your specific needs!

Feel free to reach out to learn more!

At JN Clarke Consulting, we are happy to support you by conducting this search, analysing the results and presenting it to you in a readable and clear format.

Would you or your team benefit from having our support to improve your government relationships? We offer strategic assessments, monthly support, workshops and training, depending on your needs.

Get in Touch Here!

Podcast Recap: The Small Non-profit

Our founder, Jesse Clarke, recently had the wonderful opportunity to be a guest on Cindy Wagman’s long-standing non-profit and fundraising podcast, The Small Non-Profit.  

Here are a few highlights from that conversation:

Key Takeaways:

  • The parallels between donor and government relations
  • The significance of government investment in the non-profit sector
  • Strategies to sustain and enhance funding from government sources
  • The importance of relationships in dealing with government funding
  • Navigating through the bureaucratic systems for effective government relations

Some Key Quotes from Jesse:

” Who is the person that I am getting emails from or I’m dealing with on a regular basis? Where are my reports going to? So start with that person. Right? And then what you want to try and do is find out, okay, so where do they fit into this system? What’s their job and what’s their role? What motivates them? How are they seen as successful by their bosses? Right? And I think that’s like, getting a really strong picture of all of that is really important. And I think that there are some fundamentals for many government officials that I think are relevant. I think often you want to be someone who is not creating headaches for anybody higher up the chain from you. Kind of a joke in Ottawa is that and I think it’s similar anywhere else is, you don’t want to land on the front page of the Globe and Mail. I mean, you don’t want your program to be high profile for the wrong reasons.” -Jesse Clarke

Make sure to check out the podcast and transcript for all the government relations tips and tricks! You don’t want to miss this chat between Cindy Wagman and Jesse Clarke.

At JN Clarke Consulting, we are happy to support you by conducting this search, analysing the results and presenting it to you in a readable and clear format.

Would you or your team benefit from having our support to improve your government relationships? We offer strategic assessments, monthly support, workshops and training, depending on your needs.

Get in Touch Here!

Press Releases and Social Media

Governments like to share the good news of funding announcements. Almost all department websites have a section listing press releases. This is a great source of information about policy & program priorities and how the government talks about its work and funding. It can also be a great place to learn what kinds of activities and organizations are being funded. Most federal departments now offer you the opportunity to subscribe via email to their news updates which is definitely a helpful source of information. 

Although Twitter is rapidly losing credibility, it remains a helpful source of information on government announcements and activity. I would also recommend LinkedIn and Instagram, as government departments and officials are often active on these platforms as well.  

So, to summarize, there are many ways to find information about who is receiving government funding for what kind of work. The next step is to compare this to the kind of work your organization is doing. Is it comparable? Are there examples of this work getting funded? When and by who? Are RFPs related to your work issued on a regular schedule? By developing a detailed picture of government funding for work similar to yours, you can:

1. Be prepared for potential requests for proposal announcements
2. Understand who is getting funding and for what, and identify potential partners.
3. Find out about the many non-competitive ways that government can fund non-profits.
Checklist for finding funding:

At JN Clarke Consulting, we are happy to support you by conducting this search, analysing the results and presenting it to you in a readable and clear format.

Would you or your team benefit from having our support to improve your government relationships? We offer strategic assessments, monthly support, workshops and training, depending on your needs.

Get in Touch Here!

Special Edition Newsletter

The Government of Canada Renews its Commitment to Funding Women’s Rights Organizations Around the World

Written by Diana Apostolides

Last month, Global Affairs Canada (GAC) announced it would be renewing funding for its flagship ‘Women’s Voice and Leadership Program (WVL),’ committing to $195 million in funding over five years, and $43.4 million annually thereafter.
The WVL program was GAC’s first feminist pilot program and was a clear departure from the typical bilateral assistance programming GAC has funded in the past, especially pre-Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP). The pilot ran between 2018 to 2023 and represented a $150 million commitment, with 30 bilateral projects funded across 28 countries.

The WVL program is unique in that all projects funded were not prescribed a specific thematic focus but were required to abide by common program design features. All were coded as GE03 (gender transformative), they all had a common theory of change and the same anticipated outcomes, as well as the same key performance indicators. All projects were also required to include four types of programming interventions which included on-granting of core, multi-year grants and responsive grants to local women’s rights organizations (WROs); the provision of organizational strengthening and programming support; and finally, support for network and alliance building within each respective country context. Each implementing partner was also required to transfer at least 50% of project funds to local WROs and had a 37% cap on their management costs.

In May of last year, the Evaluation Division within GAC conducted a formative evaluation of the program. While most of the funded projects at the time had less than two years of implementation under their belt, a diverse range of WROs has already been identified for support by executing agencies, and 423 multi-year grants, and 366 responsive grants had already been on-granted. One critical finding of the evaluation however was that GAC’s own corporate processes and systems were not fit for purpose for feminist programming, and for the provision of direct support to local WROs; this is reflected in the fact that over 50% of executing agencies awarded with funding were Canadian based organizations, who ultimately had to absorb the administrative burden caused by GAC’s unwavering approach to risk management. As phase two of the WVL program is rolled out, it will be interesting to see what, if any adjustments are made to GAC’s risk appetite, and whether we will see a shift in the number of Canadian based organizations funded.

One thing that is clear is the funding model and approach of the WVL program is already influencing other funding initiatives; take for example the Together for Learning Campaign and associated call for proposals launched in 2021. Regardless of the model, partners will still need to ensure that whatever projects they submit for government funding not only adhere to the principles of results-based management but can adapt to the new programming approach GAC is prioritizing in support of its localization agenda. For proposal development support or government relations support more broadly, reach out to the team at JN Clarke Consulting, and set up a quick consultation call with us, to see how we can best support your organization in its strategic objectives with government!

At JN Clarke Consulting, we are happy to support you by conducting this search, analysing the results and presenting it to you in a readable and clear format.

Would you or your team benefit from having our support to improve your government relationships? We offer strategic assessments, monthly support, workshops and training, depending on your needs.

Get in Touch Here!

WE’VE SUBMITTED OUR PROPOSAL, NOW WHAT?

Congratulations! You followed all of the necessary steps!  You have met all the requirements and submitted your proposal on time and through the correct channels.

Mostly what is left to do is wait—but while you are waiting, you can reflect on your experience. You should never stop engaging with government partners and learning more about their priorities, as well as promoting your organization.

Some final steps at this stage include:

  • Reflecting on what worked and didn’t work with the process. What would you do differently? What systems or processes do you need to set up to make the next submission easier?
  • Are there other similar opportunities you can apply for, using some of the planning and reflection you have already done?
  • Reaching out to your organization’s political contacts or champions, to let them know you submitted a proposal and would like their support.
  • Reach out to others who have submitted to compare notes and share information. 

At JN Clarke Consulting, we are happy to support you by conducting this search, analysing the results and presenting it to you in a readable and clear format.

Would you or your team benefit from having our support to improve your government relationships? We offer strategic assessments, monthly support, workshops and training, depending on your needs.

Get in Touch Here!

SO WE HAVE DECIDED TO APPLY, NOW WHAT?

Congratulations! You have determined that your organization is eligible to apply for a funding opportunity and that applying is a good strategic decision. Now the fun begins!

Proposals for government funders vary widely in complexity, length and planning and design requirements. Each opportunity is unique and will require a different
level of effort and will have a different timeline. While it is impossible for me to give you detailed instructions on how to write your proposal, what I can offer is a set of generic steps that you can further adapt for your own specific needs.

Step 1: Do your homework!

1.1 Read through the call for proposals or government website in detail.
Does the RFP link to any other background documents, policy frameworks etc.? If so go through these documents as well. 

1.2 Do you have everything you need to demonstrate that your organization is eligible for funding? If you don’t have access to all the documents (board charter, financial statements etc.), make a plan for how to get them.

Step 2: Analyze your organization’s qualifications:

2.1  What kind of organization and program is the funder wanting to fund?
What kind of skills, experience?

2.2 List all the characteristics they identify

2.3 List all the qualifications and specific examples your organization has that match this list.

2.4 Organize this list according to how the RFP is structured. This will become a basic outline.

Step 3: Create a work plan

3.1 Identify the submission deadline, and confirm how you will submit your proposal. Will you email it? Will you upload it through a portal? Don’t forget to confirm the time zone if the proposal is due at a particular time.

3.2 Create a work back schedule and a roles & responsibilities chart. A work back schedule can take various forms. You may wish to use a gantt chart to plan out your timelines, or you may wish to use a simple table.

Step 4: Design your program (if you are submitting a new initiative)

4.1 Plan activities: Decide what activities you are going to deliver, who will be responsible for them, and when will they be delivered during the project? When will community members need to be involved? What about partners?

4.2 Identify required resources and inputs for each step. These typically include: staff time, expertise, physical resources, logistics etc.

4.3  Prepare a budget: What will it cost to deliver the program? What staff and office costs should be included? Does the total budget match the available funding?

STEP 5: Review, review, review

Make sure you have included EVERYTHING requested by the donor. Make sure there are no typos! Make sure you are fitting within required word & character limits, and ask a colleague to read it over one last time. 

At JN Clarke Consulting, we are happy to support you by conducting this search, analysing the results and presenting it to you in a readable and clear format.

Would you or your team benefit from having our support to improve your government relationships? We offer strategic assessments, monthly support, workshops and training, depending on your needs.

Get in Touch Here!