(Declining Donations: What It Means for Charities) By: Mark S. Anshan (Beggar) “Alms for the poor, alms for the poor…” (Lazar) “Here, Reb Nahum, is one kopek.” (Beggar) “One kopek? Last week you gave me two kopeks.” (Lazar) “I had a bad week.” (Beggar) “So, if you had a bad week, why should I […]
Employment Agreements
Mark S. Anshan Employment Agreements are an essential feature of the employer-employee relationship in the for-profit sector. They should be considered equally important in the not-for profit sector A properly prepared employment agreement with senior executives will provide the basis for a positive working relationship with lay leaders. Of course, employment agreements are recommended for […]
Federal Continuance – Consequences of Not Filing
By Mark S. Anshan October 17, 2014 was a critical date for federally incorporated not-for-profit corporations and charities. That was the date by which corporations were required to adopt and file articles of continuance under the new Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act. Failure to have filed for continuance now places those corporations that have not filed and […]
Intelligence Tools and Business Analytics for Improving Performance
By Mark S. Anshan The basic organizational elements that inform how for profits and non profits function, evaluate and improve their operations should essentially be the same. Non profits operate as “businesses” with many of the same attributes as for profit organizations – budgets, staffing, governance, planning, accountability to name but a few. Accordingly, non […]
Reorganizing A Non-Profit/Charity to Secure Efficiency and Stability in Operations – A Current Case
By Mark S. Anshan In a series of articles here and here we discussed the importance of protecting a charity’s assets and organizing its activities to achieve maximum efficiency in operations and effectiveness in engaging with donors and volunteers. Long established charitable organizations sometimes find that they have a number of entities carrying on various […]
Securing the Future of Your Organization
Mark S. Anshan Non profit organizations (NPOs) are constantly looking for new talent to fill leadership roles that will ensure their ongoing viability and success. Leadership development and succession planning have become important issues being addressed by NPOs. There is competition for experienced and highly skilled leaders. The challenge for NPOs is to address the […]
Policy and Procedures in the Non Profit Sector
By Mark S. Anshan Recent events in not-for-profit institutions and organizations have raised the critical issue of the procedures followed to resolve conflicts and situations where the interests of the institution need to be balanced with the rights of individuals. In the last several months we have seen a number of universities in Canada having […]
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act (AODA) Part II
By Mark S Anshan In adopting a policy that will include practices and procedures setting out how goods and services will be provided to people with disabilities (a requirement under the Act), reviewing and adopting the elements set out in the Ontario government regulation enacted pursuant to the Act, Ontario Regulation 429/07 – Accessibility […]
Charity Board Responsibility
By Mark S. Anshan In following several not-for-profit and charity mailing lists, I have noticed there are discussions taking place among individuals serving as directors of charities and foundations expressing concerns about governance and apparent lack of proper controls and accountability. With news of charities coming under review and being subjected to government audits, directors […]
Donations In Kind and Appropriate Due Diligence
By Mark S. Anshan Charities need to be vigilant when accepting donations in kind. These include any non-monetary items, such as art, rare books, equipment and materials, personal objects of value, real property and computer-related assets. Receiving such donations is quite acceptable, but only after proper due diligence and professional advice is sought and followed. […]