Posted on Wednesday, 22nd May 2013 by chris wignall

Although I’ve never attended the Catalyst Conference events I’ve certainly been aware of their growing impact on a generation of leaders in various fields. Catalyst Foundation has no association with that movement, though we have many similar values and dreams. When I saw that Brad Lomenick, co-founder of the conferences was releasing a book entitled [...]

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Posted on Tuesday, 23rd April 2013 by chris wignall

Watch this video. I’ll wait… Love it. It seems more and more charities and individuals are engaging in awareness campaigns with a focus on social media. Every once in a while one of them strikes a chord and goes viral (like the ambitious but ultimately undermined Kony 2012 project from Invisible Children). The majority of [...]

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Posted on Tuesday, 20th November 2012 by chris wignall

Many of us are relative neophytes in the world of social media, cell phone cameras, and amateur journalism. We still operate under the practices from a generation ago when it was commonly understood that some information and conversations were “in the family”. It allowed us to communicate more freely, use shorthand, and trust that we’d [...]

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Posted on Tuesday, 25th September 2012 by chris wignall

As we approach the end of our fifth year of philanthropy as Catalyst one of the things we are becoming more confident about is how we are best able to help. We’ve had experience with charities large and small, some brand new and others with long established history. We’ve also done some things that have [...]

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Posted on Thursday, 9th August 2012 by chris wignall

I’m occasionally asked to give some input to a charity on fundraising, especially on working with major donors. I’m happy to give my thoughts, but I’m not sure that my guidance is entirely helpful. I’m not confident that my perspective is representative of the majority of donors. My encouragement to charity leaders is to engage [...]

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Posted on Friday, 20th July 2012 by chris wignall

Yesterday this guy was out in the bush cutting trails with a chainsaw. This morning he painted a couple of signs outside the Dining Hall. He’s also the Executive Director of this camp bustling with over 200 people all summer long. His name is Bruce Dunning. It is surprising that Bruce is able and eager [...]

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Posted on Tuesday, 17th July 2012 by chris wignall

Continuing my thoughts on the great leadership lessons to be found while I volunteer this week at Medeba summer camp. Lesson #2: Pull Together In addition to the iintense heat wave this week, there is a stomach bug circulating among the staff that has all of us washing our hands frequently and regular discussions about [...]

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Posted on Wednesday, 20th June 2012 by chris wignall

A good friend pointed out to me that yesterday’s post on things learned from this year’s Stronger Together granting process were all directed to applicants. In fact, most of the best lessons are probably better directed to the funders side of the table. 1. Specific Criteria. Thanks to the diligence of Brent Fearon at Bridgeway [...]

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Posted on Thursday, 29th March 2012 by chris wignall

We would all agree that it is unethical to keep to separate sets of financial reports, targeted to get better receptions from certain people. We know that presenting ourselves as one thing on a first date that is really not true is a recipe for eventual trouble. And yet, in many situations the resolution of [...]

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Posted on Friday, 16th March 2012 by chris wignall

Last December I retweeted CBC host Jian Ghomeshi: Lots of other people retweeted it, which makes sense because it represents what has become common understanding in the development field. There are lots of reports supporting the idea that aid given to women results in benefits to their family and community, while aid given to men [...]

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