“You make a living by what you take. Make a life by what you give.”

Quote by Winston Churchill

 

The Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association Fundraising Workshop

Here are some highlights of the presentation at the Fundraising Workshop Councillor Shaun Henry, Michelle German and I attended in Prince Albert. The presentation was made by Stephanie Hughes and Kathleen Crowther of DCG Philanthropic Services.

·         Why is the campaign important?

·         How much money is needed?

·         Include recognition costs – only 1%

·         Bridge financing (needed because all money will not be available on the first day; some people contribute over a period of time)

·         What is the cost to raise the money?

·         Marketing

·         Research

·         Financing, etc

·         Is the project feasible?

·         Campaign resources needed:

·         Job descriptions for volunteers

·         Confidentiality agreements

·         Develop a gift chart

·         Training manuals

·         Pledge forms

·         Tracking tools

·         Gift recognition strategies

·         Asset naming opportunities

·         Donor bill of rights

·         Types of gifts include:

·         Cash

·         Credit card

·         Regular payments over time

·         Stock

·         Gifts in kind

·         Planned gift

·         Need engaged chair and support

·         Involved board

·         Manage volunteer input to avoid burnout and over reliance on one group of people

·         When making the ask

·         Have the right person ask the right person at the right time for the right amount

·         The ask is a 3 Act play

·         The Problem: we need a pool

·         The Climax: you can make a difference, please donate

·         Resolution: enough money for a new pool

·         We are thinking of a three pronged strategy

·         Philanthropic – the big amount

·         Transactional – sponsorships including grant applications to corporations

·         Community – more modest donations

·         No such thing as too much communication

·         Plan the communications

·         Leverage all interested groups to communicate

·         Successful Communication Factors

·         Direct Mail – 1% - 5%

·         Phone & Mail – 15% - 20%

·         Home Visits – 50%

·         Peer to Peer Visits – 75%

·         Successful Campaigns are:

·         Volunteer led

·         Peer to peer asks

·         Specific targets

·         Team calls

·         5 year pledge period

·         Fundraising Campaign’s Tools for Success

     1.       Volunteer Guidebook

     2.       Volunteer Terms of Reference

     3.       Prospect Activity Forms

     4.       Campaign Case for Support

     5.       Quick Facts

     6.       The Pool Project Plan

     7.       FAQs

     8.       Gift Chart

     9.       Sponsorship Opportunities

    10.   Tax Benefits

     11.   Pledge Forms

     12.   Letters of Endorsement

·         Fundraising Campaign Principles

     1.       Why the project?

     2.       Be a supporter

     3.       Select potential donors carefully

     4.       See the best potential donors first

     5.       Have the right people talk with the right people at the right time for the right amount

     6.       Do appropriate asks

Boards Behaving Badly: How to Improve Board Room Culture & Mitigate Governance Risk

In February I sat in on a webinar hosted by the Conference Board of Canada. The presentation was excellent outlining board relations, power, and governance impacts. I'm not convinced it was value for the money though; lesson learned.

My notes from the webinar follow:

Boards Behaving Badly: How to Improve Board Room Culture & Mitigate Governance Risk

Conference Board of Canada

February 20, 2015  John T. Dinner

·         Focus:

     ·         Boardroom dynamics and relationships

     ·         Directors working better together

     ·         Sharing power and control with the CEO

     ·         Giving priority to board behaviours/culture

     ·         From governance inputs to impact

·         Increasing recognition of importance of boardroom culture

·         Passive boards: lack meaningful steps to foster cultural issues

·         Good intentions can lead to bad culture and governance

     ·         3 tips:

          ·         Sit somewhere else

          ·         Wait for others to speak

          ·         Rather than criticize give card and coach

·         A lot of elephants in the boardroom

     ·         Getting directors on the same page

     ·         Difficult to express contrarian views

     ·         Fear disrupting momentum

     ·         Difficulty addressing people dynamics

     ·         Legacy governance practices

     ·         Disconnect between board/management performance standards

          ·         Boards often not at same level as management for behaviour

·         How to get rid of elephants

      ·         Need a tool to hold each other accountable for behaviour

      ·         No rationalization for bad behaviour

·         Board performance doesn’t happen in isolation; there is context

     ·         Logic for Board culture

     ·         Stream of regulation, guidelines, best practices, etc

     ·         Little attention to human dynamics (task oriented)

          ·         How directors work together

          ·         How the board shares power/control (more structural than relational)

     ·         Addressing boardroom behaviour

          ·         Focus on board structure and process

          ·         Culture critical to how boards perform

               ·         Without culture good process and structure doesn’t get you far

·         Broader context

     ·         Board culture: lack of leadership, lip service, Director assessments

     ·         Risk Adverse: status quo vs disruption

     ·         Western Values: individualism vs group collective

     ·         Key Drivers: regulation/guidelines, group think

     ·         Focus on governance inputs: generic best practices, comply or explain “loophole”; some boards are handcuffed. (Do best practices help or hinder – because others are doing it doesn’t mean it is effective

·         Proof of Context

     ·         Lack of will for boardroom change: culture is ill defined but entrenched

     ·         Lack of leadership on gender balance issue: need for legislation, Board of Directors modernization bill

     ·         Lack of rigorous assessment: avoidance, everything is fine

·         Key drivers

     ·         CDN security Association, other regulations

     ·         CCGC guidelines

     ·         OSFI guidelines

     ·         Industry practices produce followers, not leaders

·         OSFI Guideline

     ·         Role of the board

     ·         Board responsibilities

     ·         Board effectiveness

           ·         Lack of definition for metrics

     ·         Proactive: accountable, ownership – addresses key drivers

     ·         Rigour: proof of effectiveness – outcome focused, beyond best practices

     ·         What serves Kindersley?

·         Outcome focused

     ·         Intended outcomes: rarely understood/defined

     ·         Poor orientation

     ·         Results?

     ·         Gaps

·         Transformational Questions – 5 questions, culture can be a strength

     1.       What does governance mean for your organization? Common understanding of the Board’s role and what governance means?

     2.       What would be lost if your Board ceased to exist The unique contribution the Board makes; the value it brings. – strategic, competitive,

     3.       What is the boardroom culture?

                    i.                                    Conduct themselves, relate to one another

                   ii.                                  Tenor and tone of meetings

                 iii.                                   Does Board model behaviour expected of management? Board owns and models values and expected behaviour

                 iv.                                   What are the Boardroom elephants? Look from a risk perspective; not intentional or deliberate poses lots of risk with poor decisions (be proactive and take ownership)

     4.     What’s the working relationship between the Board and the CEO? (better define)

                    i.                                    How power will be shared

                   ii.                                   How the Board and CEO will work together

                 iii.                                   How conflict will be addressed

                 iv.                                   Maintaining measured reliance on management

     5.       What does it aspire to become?

                    i.                                    What does the Board want to be able to say is true about its value, contribution?

·         Bad behaviour is not intentional

·         Board self-assessment tool? (Kindersley Council conducted a review of ourselves before Christmas including a review of the Mayor - the CAO was reviewed previous to this)

     ·         A process

     ·         Start with self-assessment

·         Human Resource: compensation, principles, not too engaged with implementation of policies

SUMA Convention 2015: Preventing Council Misconduct

One of the sessions Council Henry and I took in was Preventing Council Misconduct. The speaker, Saskatoon's former lawyer had six points summarizing his presentation.

1. Put public interest First‎
2. Know the rules
3. Follow the rules
4. Create a positive ethical environment
5. Provide access to professional advice
6. Pay yourself properly

Preventing Council Misconduct. Feb 3/15

Photos I Forgot to Add in SUMA Convention 2015

Community Safety Officer Session. Feb 2/15

FCM President Brad Woodside. Feb 2/15

Premier's Address. Feb 2/15

Tax Abatement Workshop. Feb 2/15

View from the Youth Panel. Feb 2/15

Another View from the Youth Panel. Feb 2/15

SUMA Convention 2015: Premier's Address

The following are some of my notes of the Premier's address.

• Revenue loss estimated $600m-$800m which is about 5%-6%
• No money for more, some same, some less
• Revenue sharing has worked well and has been consistent and stable
• Sask Party keeps commitments
• People expect politicians to respond to extraordinary conditions
• Last downturn saw main stream growth
• This time is not as bad with strong potash and agriculture
• Economic growth in 2015 expected to be 2%
• Only 2% of new jobs are in resource sector
• Provincial role is to set tone and good environment
• Budget Goal: keep strong
• Priorities:

·         low taxes,

·         income and education tax reduction,

·         new incentives,

·         controlled operational spending,

·         build infrastructure and reduce infrastructure deficit,

·         HR training, international engagement including municipalities,

·         competitiveness,

·         no deficit

• Working towards a tax revenue virtuous circle.

·         This is my understanding of the what the Premier means: where the growth in tax revenue is due to economic growth and is enough for government business and capital

SUMA Convention 2015: Community Safety Officer

• Purpose is a better more responsive model for local enforcement
• Priorities set locally
• CSO is about risk assessment and compliance
• Process for Approval

·         Request

·         Business case including enforcement priorities

·         Approval under CSO authority

·         MOU with local police jurisdiction including clear roles and responsibilities

·         Hiring process

·         Appointment

·         Evaluation of both local and provincial metrics

• CSO has limited powers of arrest
• Governance

·         Values?

·         What does success look like?

·         Map success strategy

·         Oversight through clear reporting

• Success?

·         Feels safe

·         Trust

·         Engaged

·         Explain

·         Training for mediation and de-escalation

• Strategic: define objectives and operating philosophy

·         5 Areas

·         Bylaw enforcement

·         Agency collaboration

·         Community Education

·         Provincial Statues: traffic weights

·         Ongoing development and accountability

• Communication Goals:

·         Why,

·         How (Inform, Educate, Enforce)

• Opportunity: Community priorities, define and set service levels, grow and develop community, control costs