Posted on Friday, 30th January 2009 by chris wignall

Last night I attended the “very soft launch” of Word Made Flesh – Canada. When Mark Petersen gets this motivated by a charity it is always worth checking out; and it was. But the best part of the night came earlier, before I left home. I was telling my 5 year old son, Ben, that [...]

Tags: Great Stories
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Posted on Friday, 23rd January 2009 by chris wignall

Yesterday I had lunch with David Sweet, Member of Parliament for the riding of Ancaster/Dundas/Flamborough/Westdale (where I live). He is a Conservative backbencher and the former CEO of Promisekeepers Canada. In the interest of honesty I should say that I have never attended a Promisekeepers event and I did not vote for Mr. Sweet in [...]

Tags: Leadership
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Posted on Wednesday, 21st January 2009 by chris wignall

Building on a recent post… Being intentional about your own leadership development is important. That doesn’t mean responding to every networking opportunity, reading every book in your field, and participating in every course and conference. Eventually the breadth of opportunities that is helpful in expanding your understanding in the beginning must give way to more [...]

Tags: Leadership
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Posted on Tuesday, 20th January 2009 by chris wignall

People have asked whether Catalyst is a Christian foundation. I don’t really like the question. The founders are committed followers of Jesus and I am also; in that respect everything we do is in some way Christian. But we are somewhat reluctant to identify Catalyst with that adjective. The reasons are slightly complex, but basically [...]

Tags: Catalyst
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Posted on Monday, 19th January 2009 by chris wignall

I tend toward the optimistic side of most issues, occasionally to my detriment. The state of the economy is undeniably bad the world over, but I’m reluctant to spend much time lamenting the situation. Doing so serves mostly to distract us from mission and probably contributes to the self-fulfilling prophecy of doom that is simultaneously [...]

Tags: Leadership, Resources
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Posted on Sunday, 18th January 2009 by chris wignall

Nonprofits sometimes struggle to justify leadership development. It may be a lack of funds, time, or inclination; though the reason given is almost always budget. One of the things that motivates us is to challenge those excuses by lessening the costs to access high quality training. In our current economic uncertainty many charities are facing [...]

Tags: Leadership
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Posted on Thursday, 15th January 2009 by chris wignall

One constant topic of discussion with both funders and charities is the fundamental power imbalance between the two sides. However we try to minimize it, there is a basic reality that charities need resources that funders can provide. While I appreciate the outstanding efforts of many charities to develop mutual value in the interaction the [...]

Tags: Partners, Philanthropy
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Posted on Tuesday, 6th January 2009 by chris wignall

On my 2009 to do list is to start reading things by Malcolm Gladwell. All the more after reading this article by Fred Smith. He takes off on Gladwell’s book Blink and describes how there are philanthropists who have the innate ability to ascertain the value of applicants with remarkable intuition and speed. As most [...]

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Posted on Tuesday, 6th January 2009 by chris wignall

Making charitable giving more accessible and intimate is a great thing. Kiva has been standard bearer for changing the way we give. In recent months I’ve seen some family members become enthusiastic about being able to connect much more directly with people and issues. It may well be that start of a revolution in charity. [...]

Tags: Philanthropy
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