Posted on Monday, 1st March 2010 by chris wignall

I haven’t made it public before now, but I recently accepted the role of Board Chair at Absolute.org. It’s an organization with phenomenal programs and a demonstrates desire to develop top level leadership and governance. It is my privilege to be entrusted with the responsibility of guiding our board and management team through this next [...]

Posted in Catalyst, Leadership, Partners, Philanthropy | Comments (0)

Posted on Monday, 1st March 2010 by chris wignall

Mark Petersen offers these comments on the Stronger Together project:
Last night at midnight, the application window for ST2010 closed.   Here’s some stats:

We received 131 applications.
The total amount requested in the 131 applications was $3,619,268.
The average ask was $27,628.   Very high for a permitted range of $5,000 – $30,000.

Now let’s do the math.  The eight partners [...]

Posted in Catalyst, Philanthropy | Comments (0)

Posted on Friday, 19th February 2010 by chris wignall

Kiva.org is one of the best innovations in poverty work I can remember. Taking the impact of microfinance and tying it to the power of the internet for awareness and individual engagement is nothing short of brilliant.
Unfortunately, along with the massive exposure have come several misconceptions about how Kiva actually works.
On the Social Edge blog [...]

Posted in Catalyst, Great Stories, Partners, Philanthropy | Comments (2)

Posted on Wednesday, 13th January 2010 by chris wignall

When I began work in my role at Catalyst one of the things I was told about representing a donor was “You’ll never pay for lunch and no one will tell you the truth.”
My experience so far largely contradicts both of those points, but there have been some exceptions.
I’m usually quite happy to pick up [...]

Posted in Catalyst, Leadership | Comments (0)

Posted on Tuesday, 5th January 2010 by chris wignall

As we enter our third year, Catalyst is becoming more committed than ever to encourage and support the dreams of our partners and the many other organizations, students, leaders, and friends that we interact with. We long to share in, hear, and tell amazing stories.
We are currently preparing for our annual strategic planning process. As [...]

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Posted on Monday, 9th November 2009 by chris wignall

A few weeks ago I posted an explanation that Catalyst is not a “Christian Foundation”. That has prompted some conversations both outside and within our organization.
Today I read an article from Dr. John Stackhouse that provided a well reasoned explanation of similar thinking. In part he writes:
I deliberately did not support the United Way Campaign [...]

Posted in Catalyst, Partners | Comments (0)

Posted on Monday, 9th November 2009 by chris wignall

It may be the economic issues, poor strategy, or just circumstance; but there are a lot of charities struggling to overcome revenue gaps these days. Over and over again I hear people describing the current fundraising climate as unprecedented. What none of us seem certain on is whether we’re in a period of chaos that [...]

Posted in Catalyst, Philanthropy, Resources | Comments (0)

Posted on Friday, 6th November 2009 by chris wignall

I have been waiting to be able to announce this:
(Click image for link to more info)
8 Canadian funders have together pledged $1Million to support capacity building for Canadian Christian charities next year. A single application process will give access to all the funders and grants of between $5000 and $30000 to support projects related to [...]

Posted in Catalyst, Philanthropy | Comments (2)

Posted on Tuesday, 29th September 2009 by chris wignall

The short answer is no.
The slightly longer answer is that while both the Executive Director and the founders of Catalyst are deeply committed to a life-changing experience of Jesus Christ we don’t work with only organizations that label themselves as “christian” and we don’t label Catalyst that way either. We are eager to work with [...]

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Posted on Tuesday, 29th September 2009 by chris wignall

In a couple hours I’m meeting with about 100 high school students inviting them to join in our Leadership Program where they’ll be challenged to discover, explore, and take action on their dreams of doing good for others. I really love the time I get to spend with tenagers in this program.
One of the stories [...]

Posted in Catalyst, Great Stories, Leadership | Comments (0)