Posted on Tuesday, 29th December 2009 by chris wignall

Recently I was able to spend some time with a couple of our Catalyst Award winners from last spring. These are young leaders who graduated high school with a thoughtful, developing dream of how their life could be a benefit to others. They inspire me. While talking about how we keep ourselves reminded of our [...]

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Posted on Monday, 21st December 2009 by chris wignall

This is the time of year when the majority of charities are scrambling to get last minute donations from donors before the end of the calendar year. While most North Americans are trying to enjoy a little extra time off, many Executive Directors, Development Officers, and CEOs are spending hours trying to access and accomodate [...]

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Posted on Tuesday, 15th December 2009 by chris wignall

Thanks to the good folks at Strive: We encourage each of you to assess how long you ought to stay on the board.  Here are some questions and a rating system to help you decide. Use the following questions to honestly rate yourself from 0 to 5 (with 5 representing a firm ‘yes’ response and [...]

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Posted on Saturday, 12th December 2009 by chris wignall

What a great idea!! Playpumps International has come up with a way for African villages to access desperately needed clean water by rigging a pump with a children’s merry-go-round. As the children laugh and play together they provide life-giving water for their entire community. The perfect photo op is so many ways. It even gathered [...]

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Posted on Saturday, 12th December 2009 by chris wignall

Kiva has initiated something not far short of a true paradigm shift in donor relations; everyone else would be wise to pay close attention. By taking a model with some similarities to traditional child sponsorship (as World Vision and Compassion are well reputed for) and taking full advantage of the immediacy of the internet, Kiva [...]

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Posted on Tuesday, 8th December 2009 by chris wignall

When I work with students in our high school leadership program one of the things we talk about at some length is the challenge of figuring out the context in which each of us can be at our best; and how to respond when reality doesn’t match our ideal. The thing that truly excellent mentors [...]

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Posted on Friday, 4th December 2009 by chris wignall

We have a hard time getting our minds around relative poverty and wealth. Here’s one helpful idea. Dutch economist Jan Pen imagined a parade in which all of humanity walks past in order of wealth, from least wealthy to most. The parade lasts one hour and people’s heights are also determined by their wealth. (I [...]

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Posted on Thursday, 3rd December 2009 by chris wignall

“What charities other than your own do you personally give to?” Credit once again to Seth Godin: if you work for a non-profit and you don’t give money to charity, what exactly are you doing in this job? I’ve met some incredibly generous people in the charitable world, but I can also report that a [...]

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