A joint message from our Board Chair and President & CEO
September 2020
This year began like many others, but if there’s one thing that’s constant, it’s change. The end of this past fiscal year was marked by the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact this would prove to have on the nonprofit sector in Alberta. In June, CCVO also bid farewell to David Mitchell, former President and CEO, and welcomed Karen Ball as the Interim President and CEO.
The majority of the year was business as usual and we would like to share with you a review of what did transpire in the areas of policy and research, events, and programs.
POLICY & RESEARCH
CCVO acted as an advocate on behalf of the nonprofit sector and provide the tools and context needed to empower the sector to meaningfully engage. Over the past year, we launched the Alberta Nonprofit Survey, capturing the common impacts of emergencies on the Alberta nonprofit sector, emergency preparedness planning, and resiliency strategies for the nonprofit sector – later released in our report From Emergency to Opportunity, supported by The Calgary Foundation.
We continued to move our policy priority areas forward throughout the year by conducting research such as the Alberta Nonprofit Survey and Boland Survey, participating in forums, engaging government, convening policy-related events, and providing regular updates and analysis on relevant news to the nonprofit sector through our bi-weekly Nonprofit News, weekly Policy Updates for Alberta Nonprofits, social media, and website.
This past fiscal year encompassed the federal election. CCVO worked on multiple initiatives to engage the Alberta nonprofit sector. As a result of a successful effort to encourage nonprofits to vote during the 2019 provincial election, CCVO redeveloped the #nonprofitsvote campaign. The campaign was undertaken to empower all nonprofit stakeholders to learn about election issues, and to encourage them to vote with the nonprofit sector in mind. CCVO launched the Federal Election Vote Kit to bolster voter turnout among nonprofits, containing tools to support #nonprofitsvote efforts during election campaign times. The 2019 Federal Election Nonprofit Advocacy Guide was also created during this time to provide nonprofits with advocacy resources that could be used leading into the federal election.
EVENTS
In October 2019, CCVO hosted the Innovation Awards presented by Cenovus, celebrating nonprofits across Alberta who have inspired others and strengthened the community with creative solutions to enduring challenges. The 2019 awards recognized ten finalists and three awards recipients – CUPS Calgary, Goodwill Alberta, and Fresh Routes – in front of a sold-out audience.
We were proud to host two Nonprofits at Noon luncheons presented by CIBC, one in May and one in November of 2019. In May, we were joined by former Calgary Police Chief, Roger Chaffin, and Pam Krause, President & CEO of the Centre for Sexuality, who engaged in a conversation around the theme of Building a Culture of Respect. In November, we launched the 2019 State of the Alberta Nonprofit Sector report, and panelists Elsbeth Mehrer from Boys & Girls Clubs of Calgary, Patti Pon from Calgary Arts Development, and James Stauch from the Institute for Community Prosperity at Mount Royal University discussed what civil society meant in the current political climate, and how it impacts nonprofits in Alberta. The sold out attendance at each event reminds us of the need to convene in person to network and share ideas.
Our annual Connections Conference supported by the Muttart Foundation and PWC, scheduled for April 11, 2020, was cancelled out of concern for the safety and health of attendees. We will for now concentrate our efforts into online events including the expansion of Nonprofits at Noon gatherings to occur regularly year-round.
PROGRAMS
In January 2020, CCVO programs expanded to include webinars as part of our strategy to make information accessible more broadly to the nonprofit community. Sponsored by LAN Solutions and Altitude Communications, the first four webinars focused on change management, conflict resolution, compensation planning, and leadership during uncertain times.
Our Executive Directions nonprofit leadership development program continues to help organizations address generational and demographic change, and the cohort-based learning model has further allowed individuals to expand their network and build connections beyond their own subsectors.
CCVO’s Communities of Practice (CoPs) – focused in the areas of human resources, communications, and evaluation – help participants build knowledge based on peers’ experiences, learn best practices, and share and overcome challenges. Executive Directions and Communities of Practice are now in an online format.
CCVO continues to operate Reach Hire, Alberta’s nonprofit career source, which annually sees over 1,000 job postings and over one million job seeker page views. CCVO staff also attended post-secondary institution job fairs, allowing us to promote not only the service but the nonprofit sector as a place for students to find meaningful, long-term employment.
We sincerely thank the CCVO community who makes our work possible, including our staff, board, supporters, volunteers, and members. We acknowledge and thank our generous core funders: the Anonymous Donor, The Calgary Foundation, Government of Alberta, The Muttart Foundation, Suncor Energy Foundation, and The United Way of Calgary and Area for continuing to support CCVO and the nonprofit sector this past year and as we steer through these times, adapting and changing as necessary.
