Posted on Tuesday, 1st May 2012 by chris wignall

The majority of the time we are very pleased with how our grants work and the organizations with which we work. Occasionally things get messy. When we find ourselves frustrated or it becomes obvious that there are real problems happening I find it helpful to have a basic approach that ensures that I accomplish what [...]

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Posted on Wednesday, 27th July 2011 by chris wignall

Many years ago now a friend of a friend helped me get a job doing contract work for an exciting company doing training and team building programs. Many of my fellow employees were active in churches which made for some fairly profound conversations driving to and from programs.I loved the work and corporate culture, I [...]

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Posted on Friday, 29th April 2011 by chris wignall

I am very aware that there is a certain level of risk involved in a male grantmaker publically commenting on the development of women as leaders in the nonprofit sector, particularly around the Christian context in which there has been so much debate and division. All the same, the conversation is happening in so many [...]

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Posted on Saturday, 6th February 2010 by chris wignall

The Catalyst office will be closed from February 7-15th. Neither email nor phone messages will be accessed during this time. I look forward to following up with you when I return.

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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 Friday, 21st August 2009 by chris wignall

The global humanitarian crises are desperate and sadly appear all too permanent. Statistics and stories from boooks like Billion Bootstraps, Out of Poverty, and Dead Aid reveal the lasting ineffectiveness of the billions we’ve poured into the developing world for decades. There has to be a better way. At the recent Willow Creek Leadership Summit [...]

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Posted on Monday, 17th August 2009 by chris wignall

Catalyst is now requesting submissions for our fall granting cycle. Details are available at: http://www.catalystfoundation.ca/applications If you or anyone you know is involved with a Canadian charity that is facing a specific leadership hurdle and needs $2000-7000 to reach a higher level as an organization please consider an application. Past Encouragement Grants have supported staff [...]

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Posted on Tuesday, 28th July 2009 by chris wignall

I am giving serious consideration to adding revenue streams as a criteria for Catalyst funding. I wonder how nonprofit leaders would respond to a question like this on the application: “What are your current revenue streams other than receiptable donations and subsidized user fees?” To clarify; I am interested in what organizations are doing that [...]

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Posted on Tuesday, 14th July 2009 by chris wignall

As my exposure and experience in diverse non-profit organizations grows I find my self increasingly convinced of the enormous potential of an effective board. I am also increasingly frustrated by how few effective board there are and how little understanding I see of how to improve. Cathie Leimbach of Strive writes an article that neatly [...]

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Posted on Monday, 6th July 2009 by chris wignall

Each of the winners of our Catalyst Scholarship this year was given a copy of this book by Chris Widener. As with many business/leadership/inspirational books it is formed as a parable. I’m inviting all of the recipients to post their brief reflections on the book as comments here before I add my 2 cents.

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