September 2021

In many ways this past year has been a year of firsts.  It was the first year in our roles as Board Chair (Cyril) and President & CEO (Karen).  It was also our first year of presenting our virtual speaker series, Nonprofits at 2:00, and the first year in many that we have not been able to bring our community together for the annual Connections Conference. Above all, it was the first (and hopefully not one of many) year of operating during a prolonged, grave health crisis and working to address its impacts on our community

The entire CCVO staff and Board are united in our overwhelming appreciation and respect for Calgary and Alberta’s nonprofit sector, in its ability to mobilize under extremely challenging circumstances and rise up to meet the increasing demand for programs, services, and supports.  Through a deeply uncertain time where it has seemed like a clear path forward was never in sight, our sector has moved forward.  We are proud to call ourselves advocates for and champions of Alberta’s incredible nonprofit sector.

community prosperity

We have spent much of the past fiscal year focused on our work as an advocate for Alberta’s nonprofit sector by identifying and advancing a collaborative path forward for community recovery – released in our reports From Emergency to Opportunity and Community Prosperity Now: A Blueprint for Community Recovery supported by The Calgary Foundation.  The development of this work brought CCVO virtually into communities across Alberta speaking with leaders in the nonprofit, private and public sectors.  Through research and conversations, we identified a gap in our provincial recovery plan that has the potential to leave community largely out of Alberta’s Recovery Plan.  The leaders we have spoken to strongly endorse our recommendation that the Government of Alberta invest 3.5% of its recovery plan budget towards community focused recovery.  

the nonprofit vote

This endorsement and our plan lay clear the direction of our continued advocacy moving forward.  In support of this work, we are excited to announce a new central home for nonprofit advocacy, The Nonprofit Vote, launching at our 2021 AGM. We will continue to use this platform and our collective voice to ensure that the needs of our sector and the communities we serve are met. 

events & programs

Building and strengthening connections is a big part of our work at CCVO and we have been fortunate for the ability to gather virtually to share learning, information, and connections over this past year.  We welcomed over 1,000 people to our regular Nonprofits at 2:00 speaker series, which continue to be available free of charge for viewing on-demand. Thank you to the over 45 leaders that took the time to share their insights, knowledge, and experience on important and impactful topics including systemic racism, advocacy, corporate investment, social finance, and mergers. The move to online also allowed us to shift our training programs to webinar format and to continue to build a bank of engaging, original training content around relevant subjects such as branding, human resources, policy, government relations, crisis management, and change management. These resources remain popular with over 1,000 views and ongoing downloads for this engaging and informative material. 

boland survey & reach hire

We remain committed to continuing our investment in the development and growth of our social enterprises through recent improvements to the platforms for both the Boland Survey, a comprehensive nonprofit sector compensation survey, and the Reach Hire job board. We look forward to welcoming CCVO members and nonprofits across Alberta and Canada to explore how these tools can support their ability to build, support, and sustain strong teams.

Looking to the future, we are excited to be convening nonprofits across Alberta through the upcoming virtual 9th annual Connections Conference presented by Suncor Energy Foundation and RBC. This year’s conference will bring nonprofit organizations and stakeholders together to discuss how we can work toward a more equitable and transformative recovery – one which includes all Albertans.

Thank you

Thank you for all that you do each and every day to build the prosperity of our communities.  We are proud to be a part of our nonprofit community and look forward to the next chance to connect, be it virtually or in person through the year that lies ahead.