Posted on Saturday, 6th September 2008 by chris wignall

The word Catalyst gets used in several nonprofits and ministries. One that I can recommend is the Catalyst conference and all the ancillary elements they’ve added. I’ve enjoyed their podcasts for a couple years and am disappointed that I won’t be available to accompany a group from our area to Atlanta next month to see [...]

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Posted on Tuesday, 2nd September 2008 by chris wignall

One of the factors we consider in evaluating grant applications is whether the proposal and the organization are scaleable. By that, I mean is there the possibility for the same system to be repeated either larger or smaller, ultimately serving and reaching more people. That might simply mean making it possible for Catalyst to fund [...]

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Posted on Friday, 29th August 2008 by chris wignall

“To give away money is an easy matter and in any man’s power. But to decide to whom to give it, and how large, and when, and for what purpose and how, is neither in every man’s power nor an easy matter” – Aristotle With that I have finished preparing the documents for our first [...]

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Posted on Friday, 15th August 2008 by chris wignall

Last week I recommended a book on microfinance. After a really good meeting on Wednesday with Opportunity International – Canada I was sent this article that breaks the idea down into a pretty manageable chunk while also exploring the edges of the approach. Microfinance is going to be a key piece to our strategy.

Tags: Catalyst, Partners, Resources
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Posted on Wednesday, 13th August 2008 by chris wignall

It only seems fair to acknowledge here that I also have another blog where I post things that relate less to my role here at Catalyst. The curious can feel free to visit: Worth Doing Poorly.

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Posted on Wednesday, 6th August 2008 by chris wignall

Two books are strongly shaping our approach to our philanthropy as we enter our September funding cycle (draft proposals due August 15th): Out of Poverty by Paul Polak, founder of International Development Enterprises. and A Billion Bootstraps by Phil Smith and Eric Thurman, who have had ties to Opportunity International. These two books, combined with [...]

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Posted on Sunday, 20th July 2008 by chris wignall

The real measure of an organization’s strategy is often not found in the results when they have their best people performing, but when the human resources are below the desired level. Top notch people can overcome the deficiencies of almost any structure. Mediocre people need the advantages of developed approaches to be effective. You can [...]

Tags: Catalyst, Leadership
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Posted on Sunday, 20th July 2008 by chris wignall

One of our highest values at Catalyst is synergy. We love to see compatible organizations and people drawn together to multiply their impact. Our hope is that as we become familiar with various aspects of ministry, relief, and development work we can help to make some of those connections; truly serving as a catalyst to [...]

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Posted on Wednesday, 28th May 2008 by chris wignall

Among the many areas in which we are trying to learn as much as we can as fast as we can is the nature of the relationship between Catalyst and the various organizations we support. The common term foundations seem to use is “Partner”, which we have also adopted. The intent is that we develop [...]

Tags: Catalyst, Partners, Philanthropy
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Posted on Friday, 9th May 2008 by chris wignall

Lunch today with Darrell Winger, Community Development Pastor at The Meeting House; one of the fastest growing and most intriguing churches in Canada. I blogged about a previous with their Teaching Pastor recently. I wanted to understand more about the uncommon leadership culture they have developed. Darrell (whose role makes him essentially the bishop of [...]

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