Email Bulletin from March 21, 2007

In this email bulletin from the Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations you will find resources and news items for and about the voluntary sector.

Federal Budget Released

The federal government released the new 2007 federal budget on Monday, March 19. As part of the Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations’ (CCVO) work on policy issues, we have issued an initial response to the budget:

• We applaud changes to the Income Tax Act that will help support community philanthropy by eliminating capital gains tax on the donation of publicly-listed securities to private foundations.
• We are pleased that the government recognized the importance of reducing the administrative and tax compliance burden on small business. We hope to see the same kind of responsiveness on the part of the government in reducing the administrative burden on community nonprofits and charities by implementing the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Panel.
• We note that a number of new initiatives were introduced in the budget that will provide more financial resources for individual families but stress the importance of the government also supporting the community programs and services required by these families.

Related links:

View the budget summary at:  http://www.budget.gc.ca/2007/overview/briefe.html

View Imagine Canada’s press release here: http://www.cnw.ca/en/releases/archive/March2007/19/c4289.html

Your story on the impact of the budget

CCVO would like to hear from you about the impact of the budget on your organization, your sub-sector and/or the people you serve. Contact us at: admin@calgarycvo.org

Upcoming CCVO Events

April 5: Insight into the 2007 Federal Budget with The Honourable Jim Prentice, MP for Calgary Centre North  11:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., Fort Calgary

Is your organization’s work affected by the Federal Government’s policy and budget decisions? Join us on April 5 for a timely and informative overview of the new federal budget with the Honourable Jim Prentice, MP for Calgary Centre North and Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. (The Federal budget is slated to be released on March 19). See www.calgarycvo.org/events_sched.php for details and to register.

News

Need Summer Student Help? New Canada Summer Jobs Program Launched

Application Deadline March 30

Canada Summer Jobs is a new initiative of the Federal Government’s Summer Work Experience program. It provides wage subsidies to help Canadian employers of not-for-profit, public sector, and smaller private sector organizations create career-related summer jobs for students between the ages of 15 and 30 at the start of employment. Visit Service Canada online for details and applications.

Philanthropy in Canada hotter than ever: Record-breaking year pushes community foundations close to $3 billion

Community Foundations of Canada reports that Canada’s community foundations surpassed records on several fronts last year. Thanks to $271 million in new gifts and good investment returns, collective community foundation assets grew to $2.7 billion from $2.3 billion. In addition, grantmaking far surpassed the target set for charities by the government. Visit CFC to read the full release.

CCVO Communications Coordinator on Maternity Leave

Kim Mustard, CCVO’s Communications Coordinator, is now on maternity leave. We’re pleased to welcome Robyn Crawford as our interim Coordinator, who will join us March 26. In the meantime, please send all job postings to jobs@calgarycvo.org. Inquiries or information for CCVO’s email bulletin can be sent to admin@calgarycvo.org

New Resources

New Statistics about Alberta’s Volunteers

Volunteer Alberta has compiled the Alberta-specific statistics from the Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating. These numbers are very useful for seeing how your organization compares to the provincial averages, to use in funding/grant applications and reports, and to use when speaking to the media. Visit Volunteer Alberta online to download the report

Awards

2007 Human Services Worker Award March 29 deadline

Alberta has more than 1,500 frontline human services workers who lend a helping hand to Alberta children, youth and families. The Government of Alberta will recognize two frontline employees with the 2007 Human Services Worker Award. Nomination forms are available at any Child and Family Services Authority office. Submission deadline is March 29. For more information about this award, visit www.child.gov.ab.ca/hswaward.

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CCVO

STRONG VOICE . STRONG CONNECTIONS .  POSITIVE CHANGE

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